Terms and Abbreviations:
ART - Assisted Reproductive Technology
CDC - Centers for Disease Control (home) ; reporting body for ART treatment and success rates (here) in the United States as well as many other health related concerns and topics in general.
DE IVF - donor egg in vitro fertilization ; IVF (fertilization eggs outside of the body) with another woman's eggs and typically partner or spouse's sperm. Occurring when a woman can not produce eggs (age, medical problems including cancer treatment, POF/POI, etc) or her eggs are believed to be poor quality or other similar circumstances.
NIAW - National Infertility Awareness Week. This occurs at the end of April. I believe this is sponsored by Resolve. Resolves home page can be found here (also a great resource for those with infertility or that know someone with infertility).
NIH Study - This was ongoing for a while but it appears they are no longer recruiting for the study. They are researching and looking at women with POF/POI to find the best treatment plans. Information found here.
PCOS - Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome ; I won't pretend to be an expert here but basically this is a common endocrine condition that causes hormone imbalances and often infertility. Often characterized by small cysts on the outer edge of the ovaries, excessive body hair, acne and obesity (although this is not always the case). This causes problems with ovulation either in timing or in anovulation (no ovulation). It also is related or carries a risk of other medical issues including Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. POI / POF is often mistaken for PCOS by the person and sometimes by medical professionals.
POI / POF - Primary Ovarian Insufficiency or Premature Ovarian Failure ; basically the ovaries are not ovulating properly or at all (aka Early Menopause). The average age for this diagnosis is 27 years of age however it can occur earlier and be diagnosed up to age 40. Before age 20 it occurs 1 in 10,000 before age 30 it is 1 in 1,000 and before 40 it is approximately 1 in 100. This can be cause be autoimmune disorder, chemo therapy and other radiation treatments, surgically, unknown causes, etc.
PVED - Parents Via Egg Donation (here) provides information and support to those considering and those who have become parents through egg donation.
SART - Society for Assisted Reproductive technology (found here). SART along with CDC report IVF success rates of clinics in the United States.
SAHM - (just because I am using this as tag on my blog) Stay At Home Mom
