The pandemic put many pregnancy plans on hold. Some women can’t wait anymore

On a Thursday morning in May, Christine Hodgdon entered a doctor’s office and glanced at the nitrogen tank that contained embryos that could one day become her babies.

Epidemic restrictions in her Long Island city were easing at the time and vaccination rates were climbing. But the 32-year-old was still not ready at that time. She decided to postpone trying for her third child.

Mrs Hodgdon said of her decision, “I had been working from home with my two children for almost a year without any child care.” “It just felt like a mental overload that I couldn’t keep to myself.”

Mrs. Hodgdon’s dilemma is occurring throughout homes and in doctors’ offices around the world.

Some women who put off planned pregnancies during the lockdown wait for stability. The rise of the Delta version has only increased their concern.

Other women who once stalled are rushing to speed up their delivery plans. Many are aware of a rapidly running biological clock that could make further postponements risky. Some of these women are betting there is now a small window open for them to resume their stalled pregnancy plans before the shutdown returns.

Renee Haines, a mental health counselor in Columbus, Ohio, said the availability of vaccines convinced her to start a postponed pregnancy.

She and her husband had initially shelved plans to become pregnant for fear of the impact of COVID on the newborn. Then, Mrs. Haines, 33, realized that her job was at risk in 2020 when her workplace faced financial constraints.

In January, Mrs Haines learned she would be among the first Americans to have access to a vaccine, given her work in healthcare. She and her husband began trying for their second child in February.

“I think a vaccine is a protection. It’s not a cure,” Mrs. Haynes said.

Data on any increase in pregnancies is not yet available, as most governments and hospitals measure births. Any increase would be due to the historically low birth rate last year.

Tomar Singer, medical director of Shady Grove Fertility in Manhattan, said he has seen a surge in patients since March and April, when most adults in the tri-state area began to have access to the COVID-19 vaccine.

“There’s almost like a feeling of a lost year,” he said.

Shady Grove Fertility reached an all-time high for new patient scheduling during the month of June, tracking a 34% increase compared to June 2020. Their fertility center is part of US Fertility, the largest fertility center in the country, with 42 locations. Country.

Fertility experts say patients are restarting family planning for a variety of reasons. Some families are trying again because they have a new sense of security. Others feel that time is running out.

“A few months here or there isn’t going to make a huge difference, but could six months to a year make a difference? Yes, it could,” said Kimberly Thornton of Reproductive Medicine Associates of New York.

Arden Cartrett, 28, gave birth to her first child, two weeks before the pandemic hit her hometown of Siler City, NC.

Mrs. Cartrett had trouble getting pregnant the first time around, so she and her husband knew they wanted to start trying for a second child as soon as possible. Even under that pressure, he stayed until he got the vaccine.

“Once I got vaccinated, I felt more comfortable,” said Mrs. Cartrett, who works as a doula for women who have had miscarriages. She knew that breastfeeding mothers could transmit vaccine antibodies to their newborns through breast milk, so she planned to start trying as soon as the vaccine appeared.

“My son actually stopped breastfeeding right before the vaccination, so he didn’t get any antibodies from the breast milk and it was always something I regretted,” she said.

Females are born with all the eggs they will ever have. As women age, their fertility declines: Experts refer to that fact of life as “advanced maternal age,” which they say begins at 35.

Still, healthcare providers and fertility experts said many patients are unaware that fertility begins to decline around age 30 and around age 37. Dr Singer said some doctors are noticing the urgency of their patients and referring them directly, rather than doing the initial fertility tests themselves.

“They’re calling me, [saying] ‘Well, I have this 36-year-old. They’re so nervous, just put everything up front’,” said Dr. Singer. It takes them about a week to fully work on their patients, which includes semen analysis, fallopian tube tests, an ultrasound and tests. Measuring the hormones FSH and AMH.

There may be discussions about intrauterine insemination, or IUI, and in vitro fertilization, or IVF. She added that there is a growing demand for fertility treatment with and without a partner, including women seeking to become pregnant now and those who wish to preserve their options for the future.

For parents in a time of pandemic, unpredictability is a lesson learned.

Back on Long Island, Mrs. Hodgdon recently decided to go ahead with a possible pregnancy.

She was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome at the age of 27 and took quick steps at the time to preserve her fertility. She was very excited when the pregnancy resulted from a recent frozen embryo transfer. Then, she suffered an early miscarriage last month.

“It, to me, makes me feel like I shouldn’t have waited,” said Mrs. Hodgdon. She is concerned about the quality of the embryo she has left.

“It’s such a gamble,” she said.

Mrs Hodgdon takes some comfort to learn that the COVID-19 vaccine she has received reduces the risk of serious illness. Because her twins are too young to take the dose, she sees that getting herself vaccinated is the best way she can protect them—and any future siblings.

“I’ve done everything I could to get the vaccine, and if things start to take off again, it’s like, I can’t stop forever,” Mrs Hodgdon said. “I want another child.”