Interviewer: 60 Minutes presents a live interview with Lisa and Jeff Body.
Interviewer: Lisa and Jeff thank you for talking to us tonight, in our live online chat room.
Lisa & Jeff: Thank you for having us here tonight we are looking forward to answering the questions.
Interviewer: Now we will go to the questions from our guests.
Granny_Ami asks: Lisa and Jeff, your story is heartbreaking, how long have you been married?
Lisa: We got married in 1995 - so 14 years.
Jeff: Very happy years.
rebecca asks: Did you have an underlying medical condition that was making you miscarriage?
Lisa: Yes, definitely. I had antinuclear antibodies. I had the natural killer cells that was mentioned on the show. Also I had the MTHFR gene. Not sure of the exact diagnosis but the readings were low and created a further problem.
lia_p asks: How early in the pregnancies did you miscarry?
Lisa: Anywhere between 8 and 14 weeks.
Jeff: The longest we got to was 17 weeks.
Reneeasks: Hi Lisa and Jeff! Do you think this new technology will be successful? How successful has it been for you?
Jeff: I think you have to put into perspective that this research into natural killer cells is anecdotally fantastic, but one of many things that cause miscarriage. It is the answer for some possibly, but not necessarily the answer to the mystery. Without the research obviously there is no answers and that's one of the hurdles we've had to deal with hence our involvement for so many years, trying to pursue answers. I think it's very important that the show presented the natural killer cell issue but we must remember it may not be the cure, it's just one of the anecdotes.
Lisa: Tessa was born using the treatment and I have since had a miscarriage using the treatment as well. So success rate has been 50%. So considering the miscarriages 50% is quite a good result.
Anderson asks: Hi Just wondering, If i you can give me the details of the doctor, that is using the new method, I have had too many miscarriage.
Lisa: Gavin Sacks is the doctor, from IVF Australia and you can find his website at http://www.ivf.com.au
rebecca asks: Can this treatment help you to get pregnant or only prevent miscarriage?
Lisa: I don't know about the getting pregnant part, you would need to talk to Gavin.
Jeff: It's a result of a study on recurrent miscarriages. We've never had a problem with falling pregnant the problem has always been with maintaining the pregnancy and that is where this study comes in.
Kate_Walton asks: This research that was discussed tonight, is it available to any couples or were you part of a research group?
Lisa: Any couples can do this, we weren't part of a study. I think our numbers come up in subsequent studies but we weren't part of a study with placebos vs. real drugs.
star asks: The Steroid treatment sounds very promising - I’ve had three missed miscarriages and have tried clexane with no luck. What does the steroid treatment involve?
Lisa: Prednosone a very simple drug. Much easier than clexane.
mekladious asks: Do you know if the Natural Killer Cells blood test be administered by an OB or IVF clinician in Melbourne or is it something that must be done by Dr. Sacks in Sydney??
Lisa: As far as I know GavinSacks is the only one who can test for it right now.
Jeff: I think Gavin Sacks is the only one, the pathology lab is at St George Hospital in Sydney and that is the only place currently it can be tested.
Julia asks: During the times of your miscarriages was there anything different you tried to do to prevent miscarriage prior to seeing Dr Sacks?
Lisa: We tried naturopath, Chinese herbal and acupuncture, the Miscarriage Clinic in Melbourne, a Professor in Adelaide. Also about 7 different Obstetricians.
Jeff: I think that looking back the involvement of using yoga for example was important to me in just maintaining a strength and a stability and it shouldn't be discounted.
kate asks: I have found that the term miscarriage never truly reflects that my baby has died do you feel the same?
Lisa: For me the hardest thing was when the baby had died but I hadn't physically miscarried, and on the hospital form for the curete it was called a "missed abortion" but it wasn't that it was a baby that died. I don't think the medical terminology covers the emotional side of it.
Phil asks: From a fathers point of view, how have the miscarriages affected you emotionally Jeff?
Jeff: Good question. It certainly hasn't been easy and I suppose it's in perspective on how many miscarriages. But 1 or 9 or 20 is irrelevant, one is enough. I think I'm a more aware person of the importance of birth as a result of this. Also I'm more aware of the role and the feelings and the medical issues that Lisa has gone through. It certainly takes a long time to be able to talk to friends and family about it because it's so often a hidden issue. Emotionally our journey has been for me, a rollercoaster because I've dealt with Lisa's feelings and losses, my losses too. So, the important thing is that you come back to what you have, and what you have is your partner and you have a future. What that future holds is not predictable and were it ends is a personal thing. Because we have had a hard and successful journey it may not be for everyone. It's not been easy.
Lisa: I think now that we are through it all, I guess I realise now that Jeff was always the stable one and my rock and I relied on him so much. I think the male is often forgotten in this as the female goes through the physical and emotional side and the male has to watch it and deal with his emotions as well.
racesing asks: What gave you the strength to keep going on trying ?
Lisa: The want of a child. I always wanted to make sure we had investigated as much as we could before we finally gave up. I didn't want to get to 45 and say I wish I had tried this or that or had investigated more.
Jeff: I think the strength is in the couple. You and your partner. There is certainly a hidden understanding of where the other person is at. You have to talk to each other, You HAVE to talk to each other because if you aren't communicating then it's an even harder struggle. I think we've mostly been great communicators and other times we probably haven’t because it's all built up so much.
Julia asks: Did you carry 'full term' with your two children?
Lisa: Yes, for Erin and Tessa was a caesarean at 39 weeks because she was breach.
Looppylouie asks: Do you if there is certain criteria for couples to meet before they can use this treatment?
Lisa and Jeff: Not that we know of.
Kate_Walton asks: What test was performed for you to discover that these "killer cells" were the cause of your miscarriages?
Lisa: A simple blood test done by Dr Sacks at St George Hospital.
Phil asks: The cost for these treatments must have been expensive, is there any form of funding that can help ease the financial burden?
Lisa: We used Medicare, our Health Fund and claimed off our Tax. That's all we could do.
rporter asks: It was good to see a program which took the subject of miscarriage out from being a silent sorrow and brought more public awareness of the issues and of the Bonnie Babes Foundation as Bonnie Babes is such an important charity and it helps over 17,000 families every year. Are you part of this organisation?
Lisa: No, we are not part of the organisation and it wasn't something that was suggested by any medical practitioners that we dealt with.
Jeff: It's important that there is a forum for people to discuss their concerns, issues, questions and that's why we have created our website a site that caters for new research, links, people amongst miscarriage issues for a common goal of support. Also a place where couples can talk to other couples and gather information. If you're interested register at http://www.close2baby.com
ness-n-jake asks: How did you manage to go through that many miscarriages and keep going? Didn't you ever just think that's enough I can't keep doing this?
Lisa: At times I did think that, but I didn't get to the point where I was satisfied to give up. As I said before I didn't want to give up and then later wish I had done something different.
Jeff: I was always willing to support Lisa in whatever decision she wanted to make. As long as we were united in the decision to stop that's what would happen. But I think together we pushed on in hope we would have success.
julie asks: Do you think you will try for another?
Lisa: No we have two beautiful children and we feel we are very lucky to have them. I don't think I'll put my body through any more. If I knew I could do it straight away I probably would but there is always the risk.
Jeff: Ditto, emotionally, physically, mentally, financially exhausted. Successful but we haven't given up in pursuing the cause.
Interviewer: I am sorry we are out of time, do you have anything else you would like to share before we finish tonight?
Lisa: I hope that the story of our journey has offered some people hope. It was a long hard struggle and we finally succeeded. We both know there is so much more to all of this, particularly emotionally and we hope our website provides a way for people to come together and talk about all of this in more detail. For anyone who is trying to fall pregnant, or is pregnant, or hoping one day to have a baby, keep looking for answers if you have the energy and the time and money. Do what feels right for you, there's no magical number to stop at.
Jeff: To go through 20 miscarriages is emotional and certainly a journey. Maybe it is our legacy to pursue an answer to help others. That is the way we view it so take a look at our website http://www.close2baby.com. Register and lets talk. Thank you for having us tonight we've enjoyed it and hope we have been of some help.
Interviewer: Once again thank you and goodnight.
Interviewer: This concludes our chat with Lisa and Jeff Body, Sunday October 25, 2009.
