#Fertility Clinic

[mostlysignssomeportents]

A "secure" system can be the most dangerous of all

Two decades ago, my life changed forever: hearing Bruce Schneier explain that “security” doesn’t exist in the abstract. You can only be secure from some threat. A fire alarm won’t protect you from burglaries. A condom won’t protect you from mass shootings. It seems obvious, but how often do we hear about “security” without any mention of who is being made secure, and from which threat?

Take the US welfare system. It is very “secure” in that it is hedged in by a thicket of red-tape, audits, inspections and onerous procedures. To get food stamps, housing vouchers, or cash aid, you must navigate a Soviet-grade bureaucratic system of Kafkaesque proportions. Indeed, one of the great ironies of the post-Cold War world is that the USA has become a “Utopia Of Rules” (as David Graeber put it), subjecting everyday people to the state-run bureacracies that the USAUSAUSA set endlessly ridiculed the USSR for:

https://memex.craphound.com/2015/02/02/david-graebers-the-utopia-of-rules-on-technology-stupidity-and-the-secret-joys-of-bureaucracy/

(The right says it wants to “shrink the US government until fits in a bathtub — and then drown it” — but not the whole government. They want unlimited government bloat for that part of the state that is dedicated to tormenting benefits claimants, especially if its functions are managed by a Beltway Bandit profiteer who bills Uncle Sucker up the wazoo for rubber-stamping “DENIED” on every claim.)

The US benefits system has a sophisticated, expensive, fully staffed anti-fraud system — but it’s a highly selective form of anti-fraud. The system is oriented solely to prevent fraud against itself, with no thought to protecting benefits recipients themselves from fraud.

And those recipients — by definition the poorest and most vulnerable among us — are easy pickings for continuous, ghastly, eye-watering acts of fraud. These benefits are distributed via prepaid debit cards — EBT Cards — that lack the basic security measures that every other kind of card has had for years. These are simple magstripe cards, lacking basic chip-and-pin defenses, to say nothing of contactless countermeasures.

That means that fraudsters can — and do — install skimmers in the point-of-sale terminals used by benefits recipients to withdraw their cash benefits, pay for food using SNAP (AKA Food Stamps), and receive other benefits.

It’s impossible to overstate how widespread these skimmers are, and how much money criminals make by stealing from poor people. Writing for Businessweek, Jessica Fu describes the mad scramble benefits recipients go through every month, standing by ATMs at midnight on the night of the first of every month in hopes of withdrawing the cash they use to pay for their rent and utility bills before it is stolen by a crook who captured their card number with a skimmer:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-06-28/ebt-theft-takes-millions-of-dollars-from-the-neediest-americans

One of Fu’s sources, Lexisnexis Risk Solutions’s Haywood Talcove, describes these EBT cards as having the security of a “glorified hotel room key.” He recounts how US police departments saw a massive explosion in EBT skimming: from 300 complaints in January 2022 to 18,000 in January 2023.

The skimmer rings are extremely well organized. The people who install the skimmers — working in pairs, with one person to distract the cashier while the other quickly installs the skimmer — don’t know who they work for. Neither do the people who use cards cloned from skimmer data to cash out benefits recipients’ accounts. When they are arrested, they refuse to turn on their immediate recruiters, fearing reprisals against their families.

These low-level crooks stroll up to ATMs and feed a succession of cloned cards into them, emptying account after account. Or they swipe cards at grocery checkouts, buying cases of Red Bull and other easily sold grocery products with some victim’s entire SNAP balance.

Some police agencies are pursuing these criminal gangs and trying figure out who’s running them, but the authorities who issue SNAP cards are doing little to nothing to stop the pipeline at their end. Simply upgrading SNAP terminals to chip-and-pin would exponentially raise the cost and complexity that thieves incur.

Indeed, that’s why every other kind of payment card uses these systems. How is it that these systems were upgraded, while SNAP cards remain in mired in 20th century “glorified hotel room key” territory? Well, as our friends on the right never cease to remind us: “incentives matter.”

When your credit card gets cloned, it’s your banks and credit card company that pays for the losses, not you. So the banks demanded (and funded) the upgrade to new anti-fraud measures. By contrast, most states have no system for refunding stolen benefits to skimmers’ victims.

In other words, all of the anti-fraud in the benefits system is devoted to catching benefits cheating — a phenomenon that is so rare as to be almost nonexistent (1.54%), notwithstanding right wingers’ fevered, Reagan-era folktales about “welfare queens”:

https://blog.gitnux.com/food-stamp-fraud-statistics/

Meanwhile, the most widespread and costly form of fraud in the benefits system — fraud perpetrated against benefits recipients — is blithely ignored.

Really, it’s worse than that. In deciding to protect the welfare system rather than welfare recipients, we’ve made it vastly harder for benefits claimants who’ve been victimized by fraudsters to remain fed and sheltered. After all, if we made it simple and straightforward for benefits recipients to re-claim money that was stolen from them, we’d make it that much easier to defraud the system.

“Security” is always and forever a matter of securing some specific thing, against some specific risk. In other words, security reflects values — it reveals whose risk matters, and whose doesn’t. For the American benefits system, risks to the system matter. Risks to people don’t.

It’s not just the welfare system that prioritizes its own risks against the people it exists to serve. Think of the systems used to fight drug abuse in clinical settings.

Medical facilities that use or dispense powerful pain-killers have exquisitely tuned, sophisticated, frequently audited security systems to prevent patients from tricking their doctors or pharmacists into administering extra drugs (especially opioids). “Extra” in this case means “more drugs than are strictly necessary to manage pain.”

The rationale for this is only incidentally medical. Someone who gets a little too much painkiller during a medical procedure or an acute pain episode is not at any particular risk of enduring harm — the risks are minor and easily managed (say, by keeping a patient in bed a little longer while they recover from sedation).

The real agenda here is preventing addiction and abuse by addicted people. There’s a genuine problem with opioid abuse, and that problem does have its origins in overprescription. But — crucially — that overprescription wasn’t the result of wimpy patients insisting on endless painkillers until they enslaved themselves to their pills.

Rather, the opioid epidemic has its origins in the billionaire Sackler crime family, whose Purdue Pharma used scientific fraud, cash incentives, and other deceptive practices to trick, coerce, or bribe doctors into systematically overprescribing their Oxycontin cash cow, even as they laundered their reputation with showy charitable donations:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/07/12/monopolist-solidarity/#sacklers-billions

The Sacklers got to keep their billions — and people undergoing painful medical procedures or living with chronic pain are left holding the bag, subject to tight pain-med controls that forces them to prove — through increasingly stringent systems — that they truly deserve their medicine.

In other words, the beneficiary of the opioid control system is the system itself — not the patients who need opioids.

There’s an extremely disturbing — even nightmarish — example of this in the news: the Yale Fertility Clinic, where hundreds of women endured unimaginably painful egg harvesting procedures with no anaesthesia at all.

These women had complained for years about the pain they suffered, and many had ended up needing emergency care after the fact because of traumatic injuries caused by undergoing the procedure without pain control. But the doctors and nurses at the Yale clinic ignored their screams of pain and their post-operative complaints.

It turned out that an opioid-addicted nurse had been swapping the fentanyl in the drug cabinet for saline, and taking the fentanyl home for her own use.

This made national headlines at the time, and it is the subject of “The Retrievals,” a new New York Times documentary series podcast:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/22/podcasts/serial-the-retrievals-yale-fertility-clinic.html

If the pain medication management system was designed to manage pain, then these thefts would have been discovered early on. If the system was designed so that anyone who experienced pain was treated until the pain was under control, the deception would have been uncovered almost immediately.

As Stafford Beer said, “the purpose of any system is what it does.” The pain medication management system was designed to manage pain medication, not pain itself.

The system was designed to be secure from opioid-seeking addicted patients. It was not designed to make patients secure from pain. Its values — our values, as a society — were revealed through its workings.

If you’d like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here’s a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/13/whose-security/#for-me-not-thee

[Image ID: A down-the-barrel view of a massive, battleship-gray artillery piece protruding from the brick battlement of a fortress. From the black depths of the barrel shines a red neon 'EBT' sign.]

Image: Bjarne Henning Kvaale (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oscarsborg_28cm_Krupp_cannon_4_-_panoramio.jpg

CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en

[awesomefringey]

what's the Sono from a fertility clinic? what happened?

Brianna posted a pic of her sono/ultrasound when pregnant with Freddie that turned out to be from a fertility clinic. It exclusively deals with parents who struggle with pregnancy and provides fertility and surrogacy programs. Their clients are literally on the opposite side of “I’m so fertile I got accidentally pregnant in a one night stand” if you know what I mean.

The printout had a few more flaws. See a post about it here.

[dailybehbeh]

Behbeh

[darreinhardt]

Advertising Rental Mommy Services

Fem!Darren leaning back seductively wearing only a black T-shirt that reads “RENTAL MOMMY” in grey/white letters. They’re in a white hallway with wood flooring; a white door, presumably to an exam room; and a pink and blue bird maternity-themed abstract poster.

Fem!Darren at the fertility clinic she works at as a surrogate and showing off the services they both offer. Xe likes to, just, walk around the clinic during check-in/up days, showing all their maternally parental curves (best to do it naked or, like here, near-naked). This has led not just to an increased clientele, but a few maiesiophiliac awakenings and some bi/pan awakenings as well (sometimes both at the same time).

Happy Maternity!

[bestivfcentreindubai]

Infertility is a sensitive and challenging journey for couples dreaming of parenthood. With advancements in medical science, solutions like fertility treatments are now accessible and highly effective. In Dubai, you can find world-class fertility doctors equipped with cutting-edge technology and a compassionate approach to help you realize your dream of starting or expanding your family.

One such renowned fertility expert is Dr. Mazen Dayeh. His expertise, coupled with his patient-centered care philosophy, has made him a trusted name in reproductive health. Here’s everything you need to know about finding the right fertility doctor in Dubai and the services they offer.

[pacificivfcenter]

महिला र पुरुष दुबैको लागि बाझोपनको समाधान। ✔ नयाँ प्रविधिहरू, उन्नत उपकरण र अनुभवी चिकित्सक। ✔ Pacific IVF Centre मा सम्पूर्ण फर्टिलिटी सेवाहरू उपलब्ध।

📞 9801324281 📍 Kupondole, Lalitpur, Nepal 🌐 pacificivf.com.np

[whatisinfertility]

What is Infertility and What Causes It in Men and Women?

At Lakshmi Fertility Centre, we know how confusing and frustrating infertility can be. If you’ve been trying to get pregnant for over a year without success, you might be dealing with infertility. But don’t worry—you're not alone. In this article, we’ll explain what infertility is and some of the most common reasons why it happens, for both men and women. 

What is Infertility?

Infertility means being unable to get pregnant even though you’ve been trying for at least a year. It can affect both men and women, and there are many reasons for it. The good news is that there are treatments available, and knowing the cause can help you find the right one. 

Causes of Infertility in Women

Infertility in women is often linked to problems with ovulation (releasing eggs) or issues with the reproductive system. Let’s break down the most common causes.

1. Problems with Ovulation

If a woman isn’t ovulating, it means she’s not releasing eggs regularly, and no egg means no chance of pregnancy. Ovulation problems are one of the top reasons women have trouble getting pregnant.

Some common causes of ovulation problems are: - Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS): This is a common condition where hormone levels get out of balance, which affects how often you ovulate. - Stress or Weight Changes: Extreme stress, rapid weight loss, or excessive exercise can mess with your body’s ability to release eggs. - Early Menopause: Some women experience menopause much earlier than expected, making it hard to conceive.

2. Endometriosis

Endometriosis happens when tissue similar to the lining inside the uterus grows outside of it. This can cause pain and sometimes block your fallopian tubes, making it hard for the egg and sperm to meet.

3. Blocked Fallopian Tubes

Fallopian tubes are like highways that the egg travels on to get from the ovary to the uterus. If these tubes are blocked, it can stop the sperm from reaching the egg or keep the fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus. These blockages can happen due to infections or previous surgeries.

4. Issues with the Uterus or Cervix

Sometimes, problems with the uterus or cervix can stop a pregnancy from happening. Fibroids (non-cancerous growths) or abnormalities in the uterus can make it harder for a fertilized egg to implant and grow.

Causes of Infertility in Men

Men can also have fertility problems, and the most common issues relate to sperm—whether it's not enough sperm, sperm that doesn’t move well, or no sperm at all. Let’s go over the main causes.

1. Low Sperm Count

A low sperm count means there aren’t enough sperm in the semen, making it harder for one of them to reach and fertilize the egg. This is one of the most common reasons for male infertility.

2. Poor Sperm Movement or Shape

Even if a man has enough sperm, they might not swim properly or might have an unusual shape, which makes it harder for them to reach and fertilize the egg.

3. Blockages

Just like women can have blocked fallopian tubes, men can have blockages in their reproductive system that prevent sperm from being released. This can happen because of infections, injuries, or surgeries.

4. Testicular Varicocele

A varicocele is when veins inside the scrotum get larger, which can reduce sperm production. This condition is treatable and is one of the more common, fixable causes of male infertility.

Unexplained Infertility

Sometimes, doctors can’t find any clear reason why a couple is having trouble getting pregnant. This is called unexplained infertility, and it affects about 1 in 5 couples. Even if the exact cause isn’t known, there are still treatments that can help.

Age and Fertility

Age plays a huge role in fertility for both men and women. Women’s fertility starts to decline around age 35, and men’s sperm quality also starts to drop after age 40. So, the older you are, the harder it can be to get pregnant.

Lifestyle and Fertility

Certain lifestyle choices can affect fertility for both men and women. Here are a few things that can make it harder to conceive: - Being Overweight or Underweight: Weight can affect hormone levels and ovulation in women and sperm production in men. - Smoking: Smoking is bad for fertility. It damages eggs and lowers sperm count. - Excessive Alcohol: Drinking too much alcohol can also reduce fertility in both men and women. - Stress: High stress levels can mess with your body’s natural fertility cycle.

Conclusion: We’re Here to Help at Lakshmi Fertility Centre

If you’re struggling with infertility, don’t lose hope. There are many reasons why you might be having trouble getting pregnant, and there are many solutions. At Lakshmi Fertility Centre, our team of experts is ready to help you figure out what’s going on and guide you through the next steps on your journey to becoming parents.

[ivflondon]

Top Fertility Clinic in Nairobi | Expert IVF Treatment Kenya

Discover Nairobi's top fertility clinic for expert IVF treatments. Trusted specialists in Kenya offering personalized care and proven success rates.

[arnavswami905]

Premier Fertility Center For Your Parenthood Journey | Nova IVF Fertility

Choose a fertility center known for success, innovation, and care. Their specialized team is here to support you with a range of advanced fertility treatments. https://www.novaivffertility.com/

[avisaivf123]

Fertility Clinic in Mulund: Avisa IVF for Your Path to Parenthood

If you are looking for a leading fertility clinic in Mulund, Avisa IVF is the place to seek help with expert care and advanced treatments for the fulfillment of your dream of parenthood. Our fertility clinic is known for providing personalized and sensitive care, focusing on your both medical as well as emotional needs. Fertility challenges can be overwhelming; hence, the Avisa IVF firm understands that. The team of experienced specialists provides an all-inclusive range of services, including IVF, ICSI, egg freezing, and genetic testing, which are given solely customized to your needs for the highest possible success rate in every treatment plan. Our clinic in Mulund is well-laden with cutting-edge infertility treatments to ensure your utmost care. From the consultation to the successful completion of your treatment, you are assured of maximum support and expertise provided by our team. We not only provide advanced medical treatment but also emotional support so that you feel comfortable throughout the process. For us at Avisa IVF, the journey with you in the journey to parenthood is paramount. If you are looking for a reliable fertility clinic in Mulund, Avisa IVF is here to support you. Let us guide you and help you make your fantasy of having a family a reality with our expert care and advanced fertility treatments.

[audubonfertility]

Discover compassionate care at Audubon Fertility, the leading Fertility Clinic in Louisiana. Our experienced team in New Orleans provides personalized fertility treatments, including IVF, IUI, and egg freezing, tailored to your unique needs. With a focus on advanced reproductive technology and holistic patient support, we're here to guide you every step of the way on your journey to parenthood. Schedule your consultation today and start your path to growing your family. 

[nurtureivfcentre]

Top 10 Factors Affecting IVF Success Rates | Expert Insights from Dr. Archana Dhawan.

In vitro fertilization (IVF) offers hope to many couples struggling with infertility. However, the success of IVF is influenced by a combination of medical, lifestyle, and environmental factors. Dr. Archana Dhawan, a leading fertility expert, outlines the top ten key factors that can determine whether an IVF cycle will result in a successful pregnancy.

1. Age of the Woman.

Age is one of the most significant factors influencing IVF success. Women under the age of 35 generally have a higher chance of success due to better-quality eggs. As a woman ages, both the quantity and quality of her eggs decline, which can reduce the likelihood of successful fertilization and implantation. For women over 40, egg quality becomes an even more critical concern, and IVF success rates tend to decrease significantly.

2. Ovarian Reserve.

Ovarian reserve refers to the number of eggs a woman has remaining in her ovaries, and it's closely linked to IVF success. Women with a higher ovarian reserve tend to respond better to ovarian stimulation during IVF. This can result in more eggs being retrieved, leading to higher chances of success. A fertility specialist can assess ovarian reserve through tests like an ultrasound or blood tests measuring levels of hormones such as AMH (Anti-Müllerian Hormone).

3. Sperm Quality.

The quality of sperm is just as important as the quality of eggs in determining the success of IVF. Factors such as sperm count, motility (the ability to move), and morphology (shape) all play a role. Low-quality sperm may affect fertilization rates, while poor motility or abnormal sperm shapes can lead to implantation failure or miscarriage. For this reason, male fertility assessments are as crucial as female fertility evaluations during IVF planning.

4. Embryo Quality.

The quality of the embryos is a critical factor in IVF success. Not all fertilized eggs will develop into high-quality embryos, and this can directly affect implantation rates. Clinics often grade embryos based on their appearance and developmental stage, with higher-grade embryos having a better chance of successful implantation. Advances in genetic screening technologies, such as preimplantation genetic testing (PGT), have also helped identify embryos with the highest potential for success.

5. Uterine Health.

The health of the uterus is essential for the implantation and growth of an embryo. Conditions like fibroids, polyps, or a thin endometrial lining can interfere with implantation. A fertility specialist will evaluate the uterus using ultrasounds, hysteroscopy, or other diagnostic methods to ensure that the uterine environment is conducive to a successful pregnancy. Ensuring uterine health is key before transferring embryos during IVF.

6. Treatment Protocol.

Every IVF patient is unique, and treatment protocols should be tailored to the individual. A personalized approach to IVF, taking into account factors like age, ovarian reserve, and response to previous treatments, can improve outcomes. Fertility specialists may adjust hormone dosages or choose different protocols based on how a patient responds to initial treatments. The success of IVF largely depends on these carefully planned protocols.

7. Lifestyle Choices.

Lifestyle choices such as smoking, alcohol consumption, diet, and exercise play a significant role in fertility and IVF outcomes. Smoking can reduce both egg quality and sperm count, while excessive alcohol or caffeine intake can interfere with hormone levels. A healthy, balanced diet, regular exercise, and avoiding toxins like smoking can help optimize the chances of IVF success. Maintaining a healthy weight, particularly for women, is also essential.

8. Stress Management.

Stress can impact fertility by influencing hormone levels, which in turn affects ovulation and implantation. High levels of stress can lower IVF success rates by affecting both physical and emotional well-being. Fertility specialists often recommend stress management techniques like yoga, meditation, and counseling to help patients stay calm and balanced throughout the IVF process.

9. Clinic Expertise.

The fertility clinic's experience, expertise, and success rates play a major role in the outcome of IVF. Clinics with highly skilled specialists, state-of-the-art laboratories, and a comprehensive approach to care tend to have higher success rates. Researching a clinic's success rates, patient reviews, and the experience of the medical team is crucial when choosing where to undergo IVF treatment.

10. Technological Advancements.

Advances in IVF technology have made the process more successful than ever. Techniques like ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection), embryo freezing, and genetic screening (PGT) have greatly improved the chances of success. Additionally, improvements in laboratory conditions, such as the use of time-lapse imaging to monitor embryo development, have allowed for better selection of embryos for transfer. Staying updated on the latest technological advancements can improve your chances of success.

Conclusion

While IVF offers hope to many, it’s important to understand that the process is complex, and success rates can vary from person to person. By working closely with a skilled fertility specialist like Dr. Archana Dhawan, patients can address these key factors and optimize their chances of a successful IVF outcome. A personalized approach that takes into account all of the factors above is essential to achieving the dream of parenthood through IVF.

Published Date:- November 20, 2024 Address:- Dr Archana Dhawan Bajaj's Nurture IVF Clinic, B-125, Naraina, New Delhi 110028 Business Mail:- dhawanarchana@rediffmail.com Phone:- +91-9810265066 Website:- https://www.nurtureivf.com/

[ottawafertilitycentre]

Meet Our Physicians – Conceive Fertility Centre

Discover the dedicated team of expert physicians at Conceive Fertility Centre. Specializing in advanced fertility care, they bring compassion, innovation, and personalized approaches to help patients achieve their family goals. With years of experience and state-of-the-art techniques, their commitment ensures the highest standard of reproductive health services. Learn more about their expertise and supportive care.