| Author | Subject: fertility and dialysis |
| vanessa | Posted At 17:47:28 05/18/2002 I am a 29 year female on dialysis for almost six years, because of my first transplant I am now highly sensitized and hard to transplant. Recently married, my husband and I are looking to start a family. We would like to have our own children and are looking into gestational caring,because I was told that being pregant on dialysis is too dangerous. I wnated to know if anyone had any experience either being pregant while on dialyis or gestational caring. (that is when someone caries the child for you) Risks, complications etc.. I love to hear it all. does any one have any experience with this while on dialyis? Also I have heard of a treatment for highly sensitized patients called plasmapheresis, does anyome know about this? any information on either subject would greatly be appreciated. thanks, vanessa |
| Beth Witten | Re: fertility and dialysis (Currently 0 replies) Posted At 15:10:02 05/24/2002 Although it is a rare occurrence, women who have normal periods can become pregnant with better dialysis and medications available today. These pregnancies are considered high risk both. Peritoneal dialysis patients are less likely to become pregnant than those on hemodialysis. Hemodialysis patients who dialyze at least 20 hours a week give their babies much higher survival chances (85%). Data on peritoneal dialysis is much more limited, but experts believe that increasing PD by having daytime and nighttime dialysis would help although close monitoring of lab results would be necessary Babies are likely to be born early and weigh less than other babies their gestational age. Pregnant dialysis patients are likely to become hypertensive and need medication during the pregnancy. Anemia is also likely to get worse and pregnant dialysis patients need more Epogen. Women on dialysis who have difficulty conceiving (and their husbands) must feel many of the same feelings that infertile couples feel, except they have the added burden of kidney failure. Because conception is difficult and pregnancies are high risk, women on dialysis may consider not having children, adopting, becoming a foster parent, or even using a surrogate. In additional to emotional issues, the some factors involved with using a surrogate include costs, availability of a surrogate and clinic whether the dialysis patient is producing healthy eggs. If not, the couple would need to decide whether to have the husband's sperm fertilize another woman's egg. I'd suggest that you talk with your nephrologist and ask if he/she knows anyone in your area who specializes in pregnancy in dialysis. An infertility group might also be a helpful resource for support and information. If you would like to read a profile of a dialysis patient who became pregnant, you can find one on the iKidney web site at: www.ikidney.com/lifestyle_tips/anitem.cfm?AnnID=73 |