It’s no secret that Dr. Walden has two beautiful sons. Recently making the move from New York to Austin, Dr. Walden chose to be closer to her extended family for her twin sons, Houston and Rex. And if you’ve visited her new practice, the walls are lined with embossed photos of her beautiful children. The only secret, regarding her two children, was her journey. In the May 2012 issue of Austin Woman Magazine, Dr. Walden opens up about her experiences with in vitro fertilization (IVF) in the article “Motherhood (By Other Means).”
“In my 20s and 30s, my only priority was to become a well-trained plastic surgeon,” Dr. Walden says in the article. As a dedicated surgeon, marriage was always lower on Dr. Walden’s priority scale. Not uncommon though, more than half of adult women in America are unmarried, according to a recent story in the New York Times, and many report being perfectly content. At the age of 38, when Dr. Walden felt her career was in a stable enough place, she decided to explore her options of conceiving using donor sperm.
Dr. Walden knew her internal clock was ticking, and that it would be difficult to conceive, so she quickly set out to find the right donor. After selecting her match, Dr. Walden began rounds of intrauterine insemination (or IUI, in which concentrated sperm are placed in the uterus after natural ovulation), with no results. As a surgeon who is accustomed to seeing immediate results, the process of IUI proved to be painstakingly slow.
Without any luck during IUI, Dr. Walden explored other means of conception. “I knew immediately that I would pursue in vitro fertilization (IVF). I’m the kind of person who works for what I want. It became my passion. It had to happen,” said Dr. Walden.
IVF can seem daunting to many women because it is a very physically and emotionally draining procedure. Women who are 39 – Dr. Walden’s age at the time – have a 22-percent chance of success. With such disappointing rates of success, many women try for years to conceive using IVF, yet after only three IVF cycles, Dr. Walden not only conceived, she also gave birth to twins.
The road to motherhood by alternative methods is an extremely difficult process, emotionally, physically and economically; but the gift of life, outweighs all the hardships a mother may face when conceiving by other means.
To learn more about Dr. Walden’s personal journey with IVF, as well as other alternative methods for conception and how you can take control of your own fertility, please continue to read “Motherhood (By Other Means)” in Austin Woman Magazine!
