Seldom does a day in L.A. go by when someone doesn’t recommend something to me. The best Pilates studio. The best spin class. The best juice bar. Word of mouth goes a long way in this town (after all, name-dropping here is an art form).
So I guess it’s no surprise when you hear someone discuss the doctor who they swear can cure whatever ails you. In fact, that’s how I first heard of the fertility specialists of the Southern California Reproductive Center. The place is legendary among the legions of women who are trying to get pregnant on purpose.
In certain circles you will hear the names Surrey, Danzer, and Chang come up quite often in conversation. Doctors who some refer to as ‘miracle workers’ in their quest to conceive. It took me some time to connect all of the dots… but come to find out, those above mentioned doctors all work their ‘magic’ under the same roof.
The Southern California Reproductive Center is what I like to call a ‘one stop shop’ when it comes to making a baby—from diagnosis, to procedure and all of the fertilization and ultrasounds in between. In fact, Parent Magazine has named SCRC one of the top ten Fertility Centers in the United States.1 These good docs deliver results (although they won’t deliver your baby… seems you need an OBGYN for that laborious task).
I first walked through the doors of the SCRC nearly five years ago. As a television reporter, I was there on assignment. But, truth be told, I had an ulterior motive. I had just turned 40. My career had kept me busy… so busy, it appears I overlooked having a baby. It was something I had put on the back-burner. But when the big 4-0 hit… I suddenly realized I was running out of time to get a bun in the oven.
So I did what comes naturally, I reported on the problem. I figured I wasn’t the only 40-something out there who forgot about family planning. Seems I had bought into all of those People Magazine covers featuring ‘older’ celeb Mom’s smiling with their newborns. If it could happen for J-Lo, Mariah and Halle… why couldn’t it happen for me?? But come to find out, much of what happens in Hollywood is smoke and mirrors (or in this case, in vitro-fertilization and frozen eggs).
And that’s what this blog is going to be all about: being candid about what it takes to conceive, reporting the facts about fertility, and musing about whatever else comes to mind (because what is a blog without random musing?). And even though fertility science can be complicated and convoluted to the virgin (and by that, I am referring to your fertility, not carnal knowledge), I promise to keep the science simple so you can understand what options are available to you.
Along the way, I’ll share my personal experiences of trying to get pregnant (we’ll call those blogs: “The Hard Knocks of Trying to get Knocked Up”). I’ll introduce you to the doctors and the talented team of professionals at SCRC, and give insight into why they work around the clock to beat your biological one. I’ll also introduce you to some of the unique couples who come through SCRC’s doors (who you will find have stories very similar to your own).
In the end, I hope you will find these “Wednesday’s with Wendy” as a place you can visit to learn a little something, laugh a lot and find some direction in the path that will lead you to your baby. Because before you can get to that ‘village’ that it’s going to take to raise your child… you first have to find yourself at the right Center. I recommend the Southern California Reproductive one.
1 http://www.parents.com/getting-pregnant/infertility/treatments/best-fertility-centers/
