Category: Gynecologic

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That Time I Wrote a Book…

book cover

Dear Readers,

I have extremely exciting news to share with you that will explain my blog’s silence these past few months. Blood, sweat, toil, and tears have been expended. (Nope, that’s overly dramatic Truthfully, I have only been expending toil, effort, energy, and love) into a different literary project that has been beckoning my attention. The project I am referring to is the book that I have been working on for several years, entitled “The Inside Story: The Jewish Woman’s Guide to Lifelong Pelvic Health.” 

That’s right, I have written a book which will be available for purchase within the next few months, with God’s help. My goal in this book is to help ease life cycle transitions for Jewish women. I want to share information about pelvic floor dysfunction and women’s health so that those suffering in silence can seek out appropriate treatment.

I feel so passionately about these topics and have the privilege and pleasure of helping individual women in my professional life. This book will enable me to bring help to an even larger audience. My hope and prayer is that God will help me educate as many women as possible, so that every single woman can have a satisfying and gratifying physical relationship with her spouse and with her own body.

As the title implies, the target audience of this (first) edition of the book is geared towards Jewish women, although the majority of the content is relevant and applicable to all women.

Please don’t get me wrong! I love and respect all women, and I embrace and look forward to the opportunity to share valuable information with EVERYONE in the next edition. That being said, I recognize that there are certain sensitivities that, as a proud, self-identifying Orthodox Jewish woman, I am capable of addressing. I also acknowledge that certain topics that I discuss in the book are considered taboo/uncomfortable, perhaps even more within my community than others. I hope that my affiliation with the Jewish community will help potential readers feel comfortable to read and benefit from my experience. And now that I have expressed in writing that this is only a first edition, you can all hold me accountable to ensure that a follow up version ensues.

So, please stay tuned for further details. I look forward to sharing more information about the book release and how to purchase it in the coming months, and I appreciate your patience with me while I diverted my attention elsewhere.

Yours in educating, enlighting, and helping many women in the coming months and beyond, 

Riva

 

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The Incredible, Reimbursable Egg

Someone extremely powerful must have read my recent article, Why Being a Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist Inspired Me to Freeze My Eggs…And to Tell You All About It (link to article), because I have an exciting update about fertility treatment. I know, I know…I’m not that vain…I definitely know this law’s not about me. My blog alone can’t take credit for the Department of Financial Services of New York State’s decision, but a girl can dream.

I am happy that many important conversations ensued, both publicly on Facebook and privately, and I am grateful to the many women who shared their personal experiences. The more we discuss and share, the more we can support each other and normalize this process. I am thrilled to report that our voices are being heard and incredible changes are underway.

As of January 1, 2020, the New York State’s budget mandates that large group insurance plans (a group consisting of more than 100 employees) cover up to three cycles of in vitro fertilization for patients with a medical diagnosis of infertility. The definition of “infertility”, according to the Department of Financial Services is “a disease or condition characterized by the incapacity to impregnate another person or to conceive, due to the failure to establish a clinical pregnancy after 12 months of regular, unprotected sexual intercourse or therapeutic donor insemination, or after six months of regular unprotected sexual intercourse or therapeutic donor insemination for a female 35 years of age or older.  Earlier evaluation and treatment may be warranted based on an individual’s medical history or physical findings.” The new phrase included this year is “therapeutic donor insemination,” which finally provides coverage to same-sex female couples and to single women, two demographics that were excluded in years past.

The new law also mandates coverage for “medically necessary” egg or sperm freezing procedures. These fertility preservation procedures are deemed “medically necessary” for patients at risk of iatrogenic infertility, or infertility resulting from an unrelated medical procedure (ex. chemotherapy, radiation, endometriosis surgery, or sexual reassignment surgery). The fertility preservation coverage under these circumstances applies to even small group and individual plans.

Insurance companies can require prior authorization, so if you are considering exploring this option, please contact your insurance company to inquire into their specific requirements.

True, certain groups won’t be covered under these laws (ex. women who elect to freeze their eggs without medical necessity and IVF treatment for individuals who do not have a large group employer). So yes, we still have more work to do. But overall, this is massive progress. The new, more inclusive laws are a giant leap for womankind. I look forward to the opportunity to share more positive updates on women’s sexual health and reproductive rights as they develop, hopefully sooner rather than later.