Ptoooooooey
So – did you know that when you move embryos from an (uncovered, loose on a plastic tray) petri dish into a surrogate mother’s uterus, it’s called ‘Implanting embryos’?
And did you know that although your IVF doctor tells you it might take a couple of days after “implanting embryos” to get a positive reading on an HPT, if you stand on your head for a few hours first, you can get a positive on the same day as the procedure?
And – hey! – while we’re at it, didja know that an IVF procedure using a surrogate costs only $16,000 in New York City?
I know the rest of the Western world has already experienced Phoebe’s foray into surrogate motherhood on Friends, like a decade ago, and so has already been exposed to this ridiculousness, but really, I must ask:
DOES THIS SORT OF NONSENSE IRRITATE EVERYONE ELSE AS MUCH AS IT DOES ME?
I know I should be grateful that the show dealt with these issues as gracefully as they did. I know I shouldn’t quibble about the fact that a 45-year-old woman would be a thousand times more likely to need an egg-donor than a surrrogate uterus. I know I shouldn’t sneer at the writers’ complete lack of attention to details that aren’t important to the show (it’s a sitcom, for heaven’s sake, get over your self-righteousness already, Sprogblogger!)
BUT STILL.
It’s annoying, and it’s frustrating and I wish that my back didn’t hurt so much, so that I could comfortably throw things at the tv screen for the rest of this season, every time the writers put something stupid into the mouths of these characters.
Maybe I’ll have to practice target spitting. Easier on ye olde sacroiliac joint than a full-body pitching-of-the-remote-control-at-the-screen maneuver.
Ptoooooey.
Yep, I’m with you super annoying!! I’ve heard the phrase “implanted embryos” way too many times to count and every single time I correct them by quickly explaining the biological difference between transferring and implanting. I’m sure I lose most people, but it makes me feel better to educate them rather than letting it go. It’s just one of the few misconceptions floating about the fertile circle that drives me insane! I say get a straw and use spit wads–this practice seems to give my high school students seriously good aim and should allow you to land a few good blows to the characters heads!
haha–remembering back to when I saw these episodes, I think it gets slightly less annoying as the time fast forwards during her pregnancy. Then the writers take the usual liberties with pregnancy that annoy everyone, rather than focusing their energy on inaccuracies in the infertility world.
YES!!! This ep drives me nuts!!!
Drives me nuts too. They made the same error in the Brothers& Sisters surrogacy storyline as well. Another annoying thing is that they always use footage of ICSI when they talk about regular Ivf on the news.
The “implanting” thing really, really bugs me. Whenever anyone IRL says it, I always point out that the embryo does the implanting, not the doctor. He/she just puts it in there.
You really should find some way to launch (soft) things at the tv. Perhaps a slingshot? Later on Phoebe will have a vaginal birth of those triplets with only one doctor and no NICU time. HA!
If this stuff on “Friends” bugs you, you really should NOT watch “Private Practice”. They play all kinds of fast and loose with IF treatments.
YES! I totally cannot stand it. It makes it seem like fertility treatments are a walk in the park, instead of the expensive, nerve-wracking, scary & frustrating ordeal that they really are! Plus, yes, I hate that they use terms improperly (especially “implant”). I think those of us having to deal with this are much more sensitive than the general population. Still, it will always irk me.
Even though I recall that this article used the word “implant” (which bugs the FUCK out of me, too!), I found it to be the most balanced, straight forward article about conception over 40 I’ve ever seen in the main stream media:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/05/27/late.pregnancy.risks/
That kind of thing drives me NUTS! Just makes you wonder who is sitting around the table making decisions.
Luckily for my rage-o-meter I watched that story line way before I knew my implant from my ICSI, BUT, the movie baby mama drove me nearly nuts! She has a major uterine problem, but somehow loving Greg kinnear solves that? I think not! I warn you, there is one more ‘not so realistic’ infertility issue that arises in teh last two episodes. Just ready your sling shot and breathe. Otherwise, they do much much better later (after Courtney cox goes through her own IVF’s!)
Whatever you do, don’t go see The Back Up Plan… I about lost it.
Just once, I would love to see some of this portrayed normally.
Of course, little did I know back when I was actually watching Phoebe go through that, that one day it would be me…