Local mom talks about the struggle of infertility
Typically women who call themselves moms don’t openly admit to having infertility problems. Jeri Egbert of Idaho Falls breaks that mold as she and her husband have three beautiful kids, despite struggling for seven years to start a family.
“It’s hard to talk about it without crying,” said Egbert. “It’s funny because it’s so many years later, and it still hurts.”
Egbert and her husband first got married in the early ’90s and couldn’t get pregnant despite desperately wanting to have kids of their own.
“Probably one of the biggest struggles during that time is no one talked about it,” Egbert said. “No one told me ‘hey there’s others like you’ or ‘here’s a place that can help.’ I felt very alone and there was a bit of shame involved in it too.”
The fact is people like Egbert are not alone. “About 12 percent of couples have infertility challenges. Half of those are male problems, and about half are female,” said Dr. James Heiner, a reproductive endocrinologist based out of Sandy, Utah.
Dr. Heiner specifically worked with Egbert and her husband back in the late 90’s when the in vitro fertilization (IVF) was still relatively new. Eventually the Egberts had three beautiful children through the IVF process.
“I would tell them (people) that there’s hope. There’s a lot of hope,” said Egbert. “The advancements in medical procedures today are amazing. Even my journey that started 20 years ago to now, I’m amazed at the progress in medicine.”
Currently Heiner and his team travels to Idaho Falls on a regular basis to work with other couples struggling with the challenge of infertility.
“There is really good hope for almost any young couple to be able to have a baby,” said Heiner. “Over 90 perdent of our patients end up having a baby if they go through the IVF process.”
Heiner said in many cases people don’t have to go straight to the IVF process to have children. When a couple first comes in, Heiner often performs a few tests like semen, blood, and ovarian tests, to help determine what the initial problem is.
“Based on those results we might prescribe ovulation induction medications, or insemination” said Heiner. “We start with basic treatment, and hopefully it works. If it doesn’t there are further treatments available.”
While Heiner’s team has been working with people in eastern Idaho for almost 20 years, often for more intricate procedures people had to travel to the Salt Lake Valley for treatment. That’s now changing as Heiner’s team is opening a new state-of-the-art lab in Idaho Falls.
“We’ll be driving up there, and we’ll be able to do everything in Idaho Falls,” said Heiner.
The lab is expected to open and be fully functioning in June. People interested in contacting or working with Heiner can find the information on his websiteHERE.
Another local option in Idaho Falls is the Idaho Fertility Clinic associated with EIRMC. A link to their website can be found HERE.
