Immunotherapy May Bring Hope for Infertility Patients

Time and time again women experience the tragedy of pregnancy loss. It has become so prevalent that sometimes the rest of society shrugs it off as a common occurrence, and we don’t really connect with the woman’s devastating heartache of losing a child. We hear of miscarriages, but we seldom hear of the women who have carried their babies for five months until something goes wrong, again. Sometimes these women are delivering their first born child only to watch this tiny life die in their arms minutes to hours later.

For the most part it’s standard practice for the doctor to wait until after the third pregnancy loss to begin testing for causes. Doctors will typically check for chromosomal defects, hormonal problems or abnormalities of the uterus; however, when the losses cannot be attributed to any of these causes, the problem gets labeled as ‘Unexplained Infertility’ or ‘Unexplained Recurrent Pregnancy Loss.’ There is still hope though. Research is being done, and more test results are indicating that immunological factors may cause recurrent pregnancy losses. Intravenous Immunoglobulin Therapy (IVIG), although still considered controversial in its benefits to some, could bring hope and full-term babies to couples suffering from unexplained infertility. Read more