I Called and an Embryo Picked Up the Phone

By Fred Liccicardi, M.D.

This is the truth.

Everyone’s job is at times difficult, including mine. We are overworked, don’t get enough sleep and basically tired. As interested as we are with the task at hand, we have to worry about the ongoing tasks and the upcoming tasks. It is rare that we can really think and reflect about the purpose of our labor, and the long-term permanent effects that may follow.

So my job is to help people get pregnant. Sounds great, and it is. With all of the demands of a busy medical practice it’s sometimes hard to appreciate that we in infertility are not just helping people get embryos, or heartbeats, or even deliveries and c sections. It’s obvious that it goes well beyond that, but for us, once we are happy about your heartbeat, we need to get happy about the next patient’s heartbeat etc.

Well, the other day I needed to call one of my past patients. Who picked up the phone, and said “hello, this is …..” ? Yes, it was the embryo. First it was a spec of an embryo, then a heartbeat. It then went on to be a 2 dimensional cute photo.

This is all wonderful and miraculous, but it took the phone call to really drive home the meaning. I was now interacting with the embryo. There was cause and effect. My task, the phone call to her mom, was dependent on the decision making of the embryo turned little girl. What a great day for me.

I hope that all of you reading this can someday have these types of experiences with your own families.

Comments

[Marna Gatlin]

Ha ha! This made me greatly smile and laugh! You are doing such great work for many people, you are making we mom's who are the mothers of these little embryos very happy:)

Our RE who helped us have our son can't believe that almost ten years gone by when our child was indeed an embryo:)

Keep up the great work!