REI

We had a half day in REI clinic or reproductive endocrinology and infertility. I had an awesome time. It was incredibly educational. I worked with an excellent preceptor who demonstrated how to counsel couples trying to get pregnant. We reviewed the work-up of infertility, from sperm analysis to imaging to menstrual abnormalities. And I began to get a sense of how to decide treatments like intrauterine insemination, in vitro fertilization, intracytoplasmic sperm injection. I think equally important was understanding how to talk to couples who were frustrated with the inability to have kids. I realized the limit of our technologies; there were people who came in who we could not offer anything to. I was struck by the coincidence that the women's options center was a floor below, that there were women who already had half a dozen children and did not want anymore entering the same building as women who desperately wanted a child but were unable to conceive.

I was also able to observe an egg retrieval. An egg donor had her ovaries stimulated, and an infertility specialist removed them transvaginally by ultrasound guidance. It was a fast but fascinating procedure. I then toured the embryology lab, an amazing place where they are able to preserve sperm, embryos, and most recently eggs. They do pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, semen analyses, and in vitro fertilization. Though I witnessed our limitations, it's amazing what modern technology can offer.