I have to admit: Yes, we have “consulted” with Dr. Google, PHD. Many times, too many times… And the consultation was normally done following the “referral” of Dr. Myfriendknowsbetter, Md.

I believe I am more pragmatic than my wife is when it comes to our infertility so, right or wrong, I would rarely take into consideration the infamous Myfriendknowsbetter, Md counsel. Therefore, I would get irritated and uncomfortable every time she would bring someone’s “new find” up. And even more upset when I was told to read an article of some sort. For me, trusting the doctor was my way to take control over the treatment and the simple notion of questioning him was very hard for me to take. I always felt as if I was at a crossroads, with no real good option to choose from, when presented with Dr. Google’s PHD findings…

If I chose TO FOLLOW the lead of a friend’s story that miraculously solved a couple’s infertility and dived into the web in hope to find the article that would change our lives, I would be challenging and doubting the professional we have chosen to help us. In doing so, I felt that I was questioning my own judgment by thinking that the doctor that had studied and practiced medicine for so long (and to whom we were paying a significant amount of money to) would miss-out on a very simple aspect of the treatment. So simple that I could find the solution myself, just by surfing the net. On the other hand, if I chose NOT TO FOLLOW the lead, I would be left feeling that I could in fact be missing on a very important detail that would give me control over the situation and lead us to a potential successful pregnancy. Either way, I felt that there was no good option when it came to use Google as a supporting tool to our treatment…

That Google is an amazing search engine, there is no question about it. But the content it directs us to can’t be taken as the ultimate truth on a subject, particularly when it deals with medicine and health. Good practitioners would caution you regarding the inevitable desire to find yourself the “cure” or the “fix” by searching the Web. Of course that there is no harm in wanting to get better educated on the condition that was (and still is) affecting us so deeply, but I always felt that we needed to take all findings with a grain of salt. In doing the “research” ourselves and questioning the doctor’s approach and / or the treatment we were receiving, we added the unnecessary stress of distrust on the one person we should be absolutely comfortable with in this process. Not to mention the tension that rose on the couple at a time when we should be optimistic and confident about the outcome of the treatment.

But the tales that someone found the “fix” over the net and then used his or her findings to challenge the doctor to finally get them pregnant were, and still are, inevitable to be told. And I admit that the promise of “taking control” over the treatment is indeed very appealing to me, thus why I make an effort to keep an open mind about it. But, even though I believe that this could happen, I also believe that such occurrence is rare. At least, it has never happened to us…