New research appearing in the American Journal of Human Biology suggests that a woman’s reproductive functions may be tied to her immune status. While previous studies have found this same immune and reproductive association in men, this is the first time the association has been found in females.

Beginning by speaking of animals in general, Kathryn Clancy, anthropology professor at the University of Illinois who led the research, said that first and foremost, “an animals energetic resources must be carefully allocated. The body’s first priority is maintenance, which includes tasks inherently related to survival, including immune function.” From there, Clancy said, that any remaining energy is dedicated to reproduction. And due to a “resource allocation” to maintenance and reproductive efforts, often times environmental stressors can lessen the available resources.

In the case of human reproductive and immune system status, Clancy and her team of researchers studied healthy, premenopausal rural Polish women who participated in traditional farming practices. Researchers collected saliva samples and urine samples from each woman during the harvest season, when physical activity levels for each woman were at their highest. They found what previous studies had shown: the highest levels of ovarian suppression occurred during the harvest season due to the fact that the physical work constrains available energetic resources.

Researchers measured each participants’ salivary ovarian hormone levels daily over the course of one menstrual cycle and tested urine samples for levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), which is a common marker of inflammation. But researchers observed a negative relationship between CRP and progesterone in the Polish women: when CRP was high, progesterone was low. Clancy said, “Depending on the other factors that you look at alongside it, CRP can tell you about immune function or it can tell you about psychosocial stress, because CRP has been correlated to both of those things in other populations.” Researchers also found that estradiol and the age when a woman first started menstruating were the strongest predictors of CRP levels.

While Clancy noted that it is still too early on in the research to tell whether or  not these correlational relationships could indicate a causal relationship in which inflammation suppresses ovarian hormones, she does believe that there are two possible explanations for why these inflammations suppress ovarian hormones: “One is that there is an internal mechanism, and this local inflammation drives higher levels of CRP, and that is what’s correlating with the lower progesterone. The other possibility is that there is an external stressor like psychosocial or immune stress driving allocation to maintenance effort, which in turn is suppressing ovarian hormones.”

Clancy believes that her research will help women understand their bodies better — and understand why they reproduce when they do. “From an anthropological perspective,” she said, “these trade-offs are really important because they help us understand the timing of different life events: Why does someone hit puberty when they do, why do they begin reproducing when they do, why do they space babies the way they do? It’s really interesting to see the interplay between a person’s intentions about when and why to have children, and then their own body’s allocations to reproduction or not,” Clancy said.

What do you think of Clancy’s research? Is she right in thinking that our bodies reproduce due to harmony with our immune system?

Plus, more from The Bump:

8 Surprising Facts About Male Infertility

The Vitamins You’ll Need to Conceive

6 Ways to Tell You’re Fertile

Sadly, I broke up with my OB/Gyn this week. She was like an older sister minus the fighting and stealing my clothes. It was a tough decision, as you can imagine — we had a good run for over a decade. There was no botched medical advice or a front desk mishap. I left for a reason though: we were in a long distance relationship. It was nearly a 45 minute drive to and from her office. I just couldn’t swing that anymore given the increasing frequency of our appointments.

I wasn’t necessarily on board with this idea at first –my husband was actually the one that suggested it. He saw what it took for me to work from home, schlep the trek there, wait in the room, finally get seen and then travel all the way back. It was an ordeal.

So, given my close proximity to the hospital and the fact that my mother-in-law works there, it’s pretty obvious where I should be going, right? Right. I knew that my mother-in-law would gather a few good names, but I wanted to take matters into my own hands and perform some of my own research.

So I had to put a plan into place. How would I find a new doctor?

Step 1: Social Media is Your Friend: I checked tweets, Facebook and local listings to see what former patients had to say about their visits with the doctors. I did what any new mom would do… I asked for help. I used social media as my networking tool. From a few status updates, a tweet, a message board post here on The Bump, a group message on another mommy site and some good ole’ fashioned word-of-mouth activity, I felt like I was equipped with some good leads. I couldn’t imagine just looking on Healthgrades.com or doing some Internet search to randomly pluck out a promising candidate.

Step 2: Do Your Due Diligence: Don’t be afraid to do your own online research and even call the office. You’ll be surprised by what you can glean just from a simple phone call! From there I looked into the 12 leads I was recommended. I read their profiles on the hospital site, checked out the practice’s site, and called each of the offices to get more information. Right off the bat, I eliminated several practice’s based upon that I had to rotate to see all doctors. (I almost forgot to mention that I was only willing to see a female Ob/Gyn, no males allowed. No offense men, but it’s just what I prefer and have more comfort with). So, with this nugget of information, several practices were eliminated right away. I settled on calling four practices. One was not accepting new patients, another was not able to see me for eight weeks, but I was able to see two of the practices for consultations to meet ‘n greet with my new prospective lady doctors within the next two weeks.

Step 3: List Your Important Questions: Your doctor is going to be with you every step of the way, so don’t be wary of asking the important stuff. You’ll be so glad you did. Before my appointments, I wondered what I would talk about with them. What do I ask? Should I feel like I should want to go out for drinks with her? What exactly was I looking for? So I found a handy list of questions that would help me remember what to ask and prioritized all the questions I felt were important to me.

Step 4: Meet ‘n Greet: Self-explanatory. Meet with the doctor and get to know each other, no harm in that. When I met with my two possibilities, They were both cordial, knowledgeable and took the time to speak with me. However, my first meet ‘n greet felt very clinical, while my second was a little more personal. She even took the time to hear my baby’s heartbeat… just because. I was sold! It also helped that she knew my MIL and mentioned, “We will take very good care of you.” Isn’t that what everyone wants to hear?

Step 5: Decision Time! After feeling right at home with the second doctor, I knew my decision had pretty much already been made for me. Sometimes, it’s that easy!

Are you currently looking for a new doctor? Have you had to switch your doctor during your prenatal care? What steps did you take?

Plus, more from The Bump:

What to Ask Your OB

Checklist: Prenatal Tests

Group or solo OB?

The Latest on Khloe Kardashian’s Journey to Get Pregnant — Us Weekly

21 Adorable Etsy Finds Perfect for Your Little One — MSN

Celebrity Moms Share Their Mother’s Day Plans — CelebrityBabyScoop

Is It Safe to Bring Your Kids to Work With You? — MSN

Kate Hudson Dishes on Life With Two Funny, Rowdy Boys — People

8 Educational Apps Your Kids Will Love (and You Won’t Feel Guilty Letting Them Play With!) — POPSUGAR Moms

Do Economics Influence Your Fertility Rate? – MU Study

Dad’s Sweet Lunchbox Illustrations Are the Perfect Afternoon Treat! — MSN

Why Amber Rose Feels Like She “Missed Out” On a Natural Birth — CelebrityBabyScoop

20 Creative and Cool Summer Crafts for Your Kids — POPSUGAR Moms

NICU Treatments Linked to Intellectual Disabilities — Reuters

Proud parents Kara DioGuardi and her husband, Mike McCuddy, welcomed a son Greyson James Carroll via a gestational surrogate in early January of this year. The new family-of-three even took off on a cross-country road trip from California (where baby boy Greyson was delivered) to the family’s home in Maine to settle down and enjoy baby’s firsts at home. At the time, Kara was open about her four year struggle with fertility, admitting that after undergoing three separate rounds of IVF treatments, the couple decided to look into surrogacy. On the first try, it worked!

But now, mom is coming forward and sharing how even more of her personal story. Two years ago, Kara learned that she was a carrier for the BRCA2 gene mutation, a mutation that is linked to hereditary ovarian and breast cancer.

In December of last year, Kara underwent surgery to remove her uterus, ovaries and fallopian tubes, a move which, according to her doctors, greatly reduces the risk of developing these cancers in the future. Kara says she opted for the surgery because her grandmother had breast cancer and her mother passed away from ovarian cancer.

In an exclusive, heartfelt and brave interview with People, Kara opens up about how her cancer gene changed her path to parenting.

Kara shares that  it was by chance while she was in New York that she heard a journalist talking about people in her own family who had been diagnosed with breast and ovarian cancer. The journalist, Stacey Sager, shared that she had a genetic test done. It was the testing that got Kara listening. After returning to L.A. and undergoing her won genetic testing, Kara realized just how lucky she was to have answers — before it was too late. She says that the finding she had the BRCA2 gene mutation made her “think about my own mortality a lot earlier. It stopped me dead in my tracks and made me prioritize my health. I had to think about it in conjunction with the fact that I was trying to have a baby. I knew I was at an increased risk for cancer and it’s bringing me back to seeing what my mother went through and how hard that was on me at a young age and how I don’t want to put my child in the same predicament if there’s some way I can stop that from happening. It made me approach it like it was something I had to deal with right away so I could figure out what my options were.”

After realizing she was carrying the genetic mutation, Kara said, “I started trying to get pregnant at 38. I did a lot of things: I had surgery for endometriosis. I had polyps removed. When I was on Idol I actually got pregnant, then miscarried. We tried IVF.”  Her doctor told her that the surgery could reduce her chances of getting cancer by a significant amount. At first, Kara wasn’t going to have the surgery right away. She recalls that she and her husband wanted to do one more round of IVF to see if she could get pregnant. When she didn’t, she realized that to go on like this — to keep trying and trying and trying — was only pushing her luck. She admits knowing she had the BRCA2 gene and putting chemicals into her body was only prolonging what would eventually need to happen. She said the choice to have the surgery was a “calculated risk.”

Kara recalls hiring an adoption attorney before ever considering a surrogate. “Then… I knew this woman, a friend and on a whim I asked somebody to bring [gestational surrogacy] up and get her thoughts on it and she seemed open to it. She came over with her husband, talked it through and we negotiated it together,” she said of opening the door to gestational surrogacy. She went on to say, “Over the course of three years, [my husband and I] had done seven embryo transfers. The eighth one was transferred into our surrogate and it took!”

Of her decision to have the surgery and use a surrogate, Kara says she has “absolutely no regrets! I felt it was my obligation to do something about it, kind of to honor my mother in that way. What would a mother want for her daughter?” she said, “To take the test and take it seriously. And live — live the life she couldn’t live.”

Were you touched by Kara’s journey to conception?

Plus, more from The Bump:

Remission and Getting Pregnant?

Ovarian Stimulation for IVF May Increase the Risk for Ovarian Tumors

Cervical Cancer During Pregnancy?

Think you’ve seen the best pregnancy announcements out there? Think again!

This amazing “Miracle in a Box” video is probably the sweetest thing I’ve seen all month. It’s so fun to feel like you’re a part in mom and dad-to-be’s baby-on-board reveal, to see the way each family and friend reacts and to finally see what’s hiding in that beautiful box! As daddy-to-be (and filmmaker!) Raul Betancourt said, “This is what happens when people find a miracle inside a box.”

Ready to see the miracle for yourself? Watch, right here:

How sweet is this? How did you announce you were expecting?

Plus, more from The Bump:

Real Reactions to Positive Pregnancy Tests

How to Tell Your Partner You’re Pregnant

First Trimester To-Dos

When you’re giving yourself a shot of estrogen in a Starbucks restroom or couch-bound for two days straight after being put under anesthesia to have 20 eggs harvested, it’s hard not to feel like you are the only woman alive living through the pain of infertility.

To make it worse, sometimes it feels like each and every woman you pass by has the most perfect baby bump and everyone is pregnant. There are pregnant women standing under street lights and perched near lamp posts, pregnant women hailing a cab on the corner, pregnant woman strolling into and out of every baby shop on the street; hell, even the stop sign seems to be telling you, “STOP trying and it will happen.”

It’s such a 21st century cliché to cry, “Everyone else is pregnant except me!” But in the thick of treatment, there is no persuading yourself otherwise. I remember at one point in our own infertility journey texting my husband a list of about 14 girls I knew on a very close basis who were all pregnant, punctuating the message with a self-pitying “WHY NOT ME?” (I’m sure my plummeting self confidence and a deep sense of despair were incredible turn-ons.)

But once you allow yourself to open up, you find that you’re not at all as alone as you felt. For me, the moment I begin speaking about our struggle, women leap out of the woodwork, revealing their own battles to me. Perhaps it’s an age thing: More of us are waiting to have children, or maybe it’s a result of chronic environmental insults: Crop-enhancing pesticides, air and water teeming with pollution, canned tomato sauce brimming with fertility-sapping BPA. As one of my acupuncturists once opined, “You think hick girls living on the family farm in Arkansas are having trouble getting pregnant? Of course not.”

This week is National Infertility Awareness Week. Whether you are in the midst of a #CLOMIDFAIL, en route to @injectable_drugs or about to post a pic of your IVF baby’s 12-week ultrasound to Facebook, please know that you are not alone. For every woman who conceives on her honeymoon, another needs gobs of help to make it to her babymoon or is hunkered down on an adoption waiting list, eager to meet her beautiful child.

Despite the fact that you have received three baby shower invites in the past week and the cover of People features a 64-year-old actress and her newborn twins, remember that there are hundreds of thousands of other women lurk in the shadows, quietly chugging FertiliTea while en route to their morning ultrasound to see how thick their uterine lining has bloomed overnight.

Don’t be afraid to talk about it — like an HCG test, there is strength in numbers.

Did you share your journey to conceive with others?

Plus, more from The Bump:

Infertility Warning Signs

How to Deal When Everyone Else Is Pregnant (and You’re Still Trying)

How Much Fertility Treatments Cost

My husband and his father celebrate an annual tradition of attending the Final Four together. Two years ago, he left for their 13^th straight trip, in Houston, just as the two of us were embarking on our 17^th month of trying to get pregnant.

When you’ve been trying that long and that hard to make a baby, and your husband is about to spend four nights 938 miles away from your ovaries, you make a contingency plan. In this case, it involved my being prepared to pay an obscene amount of money to book a last-minute flight to Texas, then sending his father for a massage so we could use their joint hotel room for a little March Madness of our own.

Two years later, we have a little girl, and I am happy to say that her conception story does not involve a Marriott double bed, nor is she named after any of the Connecticut Huskies (although “Shabazz Goldman” does have a nice ring to it).

And just for fun, a little March Madness lingo:

Air ball: Sex that fails to result in pregnancy.

Benchwarmer: A husband forced to sit on a waiting room couch as the doctor inseminates his wife with his sperm.

Buzzer beater: Frantic, desperate sex that takes place minutes or hours after a positive ovulation predictor test.

Draft: The selection process during which your reproductive endocrinologist decides which embryo(s) to place in your uterus.

Dribble: The melted white progesterone goo that leaks out of your vagina during an IVF/injectable cycle.

Double dribble: The light blue combination progesterone/estrogen goo that leaks out of your vagina during an IVF/injectable cycle.

Elite 8:Octomom’s brood; an undesirable IVF outcome.

Layup: The post-coital act of lying in bed with your legs in the air in order to give those swimmers a gravitational edge.

Rebound: The period after a failed month of trying during which you psyche yourself back up to give it another go, often with the assistance of copious amounts of Pinot Grigio.

Shot clock: The timer that starts ticking the moment you give yourself your HCG trigger shot and ends with you lying with your legs in stirrups for an insemination or embryo transfer.

Three-point play: Putting in three embryos because at this point, you don’t even care if you get pregnant with triplets – you just want something to stick.

Triple-double: Double-digit figures in three categories of infertility treatment (Example: 14 months of trying on your own, 12 months of Clomid or injectables, 10 weeks of acupuncture)

Slam dunk: To get pregnant during your first IVF cycle.

Plus, more from The Bump:

Getting Pregnant Checklist — Start Here!

Pregnancy Prep for Moms-to-Be

March Baby Madness: How Basketball Inspired My Triplets’ Names!

It is November when I find out.

I’m 32. When is this going to happen? Oh, Jesus. I’ve waited too long. I can’t believe it. What are the odds that I wait until I’m ready, and now that I am, it won’t happen. I knew my eggs were gone. Plus there was that time Nick racked himself on that pole at the playground. His balls were ruined, I know it. 

It’s what I think every month for six months, hoping my period will just stay the eff away. November is the month. While showering, I notice my boob seems a bit heftier than usual as the loofah makes its usual path. That’s weird. Damn it… I’m already gaining weight and it’s not even Thanksgiving. I cop a jiggle and a squeeze just to be sure — on purpose this time — only to discover, my boobs are in fact full of what I can only describe as firm girth.

Don’t get excited. It could mean anything. You really haven’t worked out in a few weeks.

Thanksgiving creeps closer. I sit at Panera having lunch with my parents. Mediterranean Veggie with an apple and ice tea. The usual. As I chat, I feel the unmistakable sensation of hot molten liquid burning the inside of my throat immediately following my delightful meal. I crumple my eyebrow and put a hand absently to my throat.  Dad asks me what’s wrong.  ”Acid reflux.” I mutter. Despite the fact that I’ve never felt such a thing, I know it’s acid reflux. Something I’ve never had. My brain kicks into overdrive.  Do the math.  Heavy boobies + out-of-the-blue acid reflux = … 

Don’t get excited.  Don’t get excited.

The first chance I get, I rush to the store and buy, yet another, home pregnancy test.  I haven’t missed my period yet, but it’s due in just a few days. I wait for my husband to leave. I can’t bear the thought of us finding out together — mainly because I like to control every situation, and don’t want to be caught licking my wounded pride in front of him. I make a pee pee. My heart pounds. Chloe, our maniac dog, is quietly laying on the landing just watching me. I decide to not think about the test. I check my email. Has it been three minutes?

You moron, you know it takes about 30 seconds to get a result.

But I don’t want to look. I shuffle slowly into the bathroom. Ho-ly [bleeeeeeeeeeeeep]. I start to sweat and my breath quickens. I run downstairs to down a ginormous glass of water. I make another pee pee a few minutes later. I’m shaking. This time I wait and watch the misty rose tint of the test working.

There it is.  The second line.  On two tests.  Bam.

“Oh-my-god-oh-my-god-oh-my-gaaawd!”  I squeal at Chloe, our dog. She hops up and smiles her goofy dumb smile, half afraid of me, half thinking I’m about to take her for a walk.  I grab her sweet fury face and just keep saying it over and over.  ”Oh. My. God.” I’m smiling and laughing. Chloe is really getting into the vibe. She paces around the landing outside the bathroom with me, panting and wagging her tail. She’s the only one there. I just keep looking at her, sharing my blissful excitement with her as I pat my tummy and coo to my developing baby that I love him/her so very much. My words stream together in incoherent blutherings. “Oh God thank you thank you for everything… I will take such good care of this baby… God thank you, I love you little baby, I love you so much already… oh God I love you, too, thank you!”

I wait for Nick to get home. While waiting, I document the moment by snapping a picture of the pregnancy tests. I can’t bear saying the actual words to him. It’s too lame. I’m weird, I know, but I hate gushy stuff like that, so I’d rather avoid it if I can, despite my tickled guffaws at the new situation at hand. After the pee stick photo shoot, I strategically prop the tests on the bathroom sink where Nick will see them. I hop in the shower, knowing he’ll be home any minute and pop in to say hello like he always does when he gets home and I’m in the shower.  I hear him run up the stairs and…and…what the hell?  Ugh. He goes to the computer instead. I stand there steaming away in the shower, the anticipation killing me.  Finally, he opens the door.  He’ll see them for sure!

“Ummm, Chris?  Is there something you want to tell me?” I’m confused. I know he hasn’t looked at the tests yet, because they’re across the bathroom.

“What?”

“The pictures?  On the computer?” I realize then that I never closed my digital preg-test photos, so he’d seen them. I smile at him.  The rest is a lot of laughing, and sighing, and wonderment.

When does the incredulity come in you may be asking this Incredulous Mom? Just wait. Foreshadowing: despite my bliss, the other me — the one who squints skeptically at the world — can’t help but join the party. Sometimes I despise that part of me, but on some occasions, I’m glad she’s there.

Baby makin’ time is over. Baby bakin’ time is here.

How did you find out you were pregnant?

Plus, more from The Bump:

When to Tell People I’m Pregnant

Are You Pregnant? Find Out Now!

Ways to Tell Your Partner You’re Pregnant

In a teaser for the coming episode of Kourtney and Kim Take Miami, it’s little sister Khloe Kardashian-Odom who steals the show (and as usual, our hearts). The always outspoken, spunky and 100 percent daring Kardashian lets the light shine on her personal life and her struggle to conceive.

While talking with her stepbrother, Brandon Jenner, and his wife, Leah Felder, Khlo opens up about just how long she and her basketball star husband, Lamar Odom, have been trying to conceive. She says that they’ve been trying for a baby, “Since I married Lamar,” on September 27, 2009 — almost four years ago.

Since then, Khloe admits that they’ve tried fertility treatments but just recently decided to try their luck at conceiving a child naturally. “About a year ago, we were like, ‘Let’s just see what happens.’ And then when it didn’t happen, Kim was like, ‘Let’s go to the doctor,’ Khloe tells them.

And while there has been so much speculation surrounding her fertility issues, Khloe clears the air on what doctors suggested for her, and how she’s moving forward. “I found out I don’t ovulate,” she says, “and my my uterus lining isn’t thick enough and I have to take pills to make my uterus lining thicker. If that doesn’t get thicker, then I cannot carry a baby.”

Let’s pretend for a second that Khloe isn’t a super celebrity. She’s just a woman trying to conceive and struggling to do it. But since she is a celebrity (and, mind you, the only Kardashian sister I can stand), I can see how frustrating it must be that her pregnancy has almost become public policy. I feel for her, especially since her sisters are building and growing their families, too, while her struggle to conceive continues on. But, to give her credit where credit’s due, I think it’s uplifting to her and other women that she’s remained honest, optimistic and positive — a task not easy to do. And I think she could become a spokeswoman for other women who struggle to conceive and feel alone in the process.

Even big sister Kourtney, mama to Mason and Penelope, struggles to bring up the topic to with Khloe. She said, “I overhear Khloe talking about her pregnancy drama, and she never really talks to me about it anymore. I kind of don’t really ask her, because I don’t want to always bother her. It just makes me sad that she has to struggle with getting pregnant.” It actually makes me sad, too.

Did you struggle to conceive? Was it hard to stay positive?

Plus, more from The Bump:

How Much Fertility Treatments Cost

High-Tech Ways to Conceive

New research sheds light on why babies born from in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments have shown a higher risk for developmental delays. In the past, low birth weight, issues with brain development and premature birth have all been correlated with fertility treatments. Researchers are now noticing that while it’s possible the treatments themselves are contributing to the alterations in development, it’s also time to factor in infertility as one of the precursors to these developmental issues.

The study, published online in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood, involved 209 children born to parents who had struggled to conceive. Researchers reported that infertility may be largely responsible for the neurological differences found in children born from fertility treatments. But from the study, the data researchers collected supported previous data, which found that the techniques associated with IVF were not linked with an increased risk of neurological issues for children at age two.

In order to come to these conclusions, researchers focused on a group of couples enrolled in a study of assisted reproductive techniques. These couples were considered “subfertile”, or unable to conceive after 12 months. These parents took between 1 year, 6 months and 13 years to get pregnant, producing 209 children. After these 209 children reached age 2, each child was evaluated for mild neurological and developmental problems, which included movement issues, muscle tone, hand-eye coordination and posture.

They found that 17 of the 209 toddlers showed minor neurological problems, and these children were more likely to be born of parents who took the longest to conceive. Researchers found that taking a longer time to get pregnant was associated with a 30% greater risk of having a child with mild neurological issues, even though other factors like parents’ education and age are also known risks.

From the data collected, the results imply that the factors linked to poor fertility (which, for parents, contribute to taking a longer time to conceive), played a larger role in the child’s poor neurological and developmental than the fertility treatments would have. And while these minor delays have been noted, the authors of the study still stress the importance that none of the issues in the study are debilitating or life-threatening; simply minor abnormalities that don’t affect overall behavior or development in a child.

Sudy author Mijna Hadders-Algra said, “Suboptimal neurological condition does not imply overt problems in daily life. It does, however, indicate an increased vulnerability for developmental problems such as learning and behavior problems. This means that our findings do not have significance on the level of the individual child, but that they do have significance for the population at large.”

Hadders-Algra hopes that the results from these studies will help inform reproductive health policies around the world. She also hopes that as more studies similar to this are conducted, the better the research will be to inform doctors and policy makers so that guidelines can be created to better suit the benefits and risks of assisted reproductive techniques, such as IVF, for both parents and babies.

How do you feel about the latest research?

Plus, more from The Bump:

Can I Reduce the Side Effects of Fertility Drugs?

How Much Fertility Treatments Really Cost

High-Tech Ways to Conceive