INFERTILITY: Ventura County couples find few local treatments. They speak of hourslong drives elsewhere for daily 15-minute blood tests as they struggle along . . . : The Road to Parenthood

Each morning before her husband awoke, Shelly Engle switched on her car’s headlights and headed in darkness onto the freeway from her home in Thousand Oaks. On good days, she could make it to Santa Monica on time. Other times, the 33-year-old waitress pounded the steering wheel in frustration.

Engle wasn’t battling traffic for the sake of a job. She was trying to get pregnant. “In this county, your choices are pretty limited. So if what you need isn’t here, you just resign yourself to going wherever you need to,� said Engle, who drove four days a week to receive treatment by a Los Angeles infertility specialist. “The whole process is stressful anyway, but then you add driving to that and being three or four hours late for work,� Engle said. “I mean this--I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.�

Engle’s experience isn’t an isolated one.

Many Ventura County couples struggling with infertility have found that, when it comes to getting local treatment, their options are few. Medical breakthroughs in infertility are taking place elsewhere, but there is no in-vitro fertilization center here. Infertility specialists abound in Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley and Orange County, but Ventura County has only one recognized specialist. And that physician is here only part of the time.

For patients like Engle who are unable to find help close to home, the only option is to cross the county line. Regardless of the outcome, most say that option has its price.

Couples speak of exhausting two- and three-hour drives for a 15-minute blood test--only to turn around and do the same thing the next day. Others, unable or unwilling to confide in their employers, describe the toll on their jobs because of long, frequent absences. Some say the stress has affected their marriages or relationships with friends and family. Others believe that the stress actually added to their difficulty in getting pregnant.

And there is more than just anecdotal evidence to support that contention. A recent study conducted at Georgetown University School of Medicine showed that prolonged or cumulative stress can suppress ovulation or abolish menstrual cycles.

“I’d get a call from my doctor telling me that I had to be there right now, and I couldn’t even tell my secretary where I was going,� recalled one Westlake woman, who traveled to UCLA for fertility testing. Like several patients interviewed for this story, she asked not to be identified.

“I’d have to get through traffic, get there on time, find a parking place and then get the procedure done--and then get back to the office and act like I’d gone out for a stick of gum,� she said. “I don’t think that does very much for conception.�

Another woman, who has been driving regularly from Ojai to the San Fernando Valley, described a similar feeling: “No matter where you live, your whole life pretty much revolves around this. But if you live here, I think you’re dealing with a lot more. You get up at 5 a.m. to be there on time, and then you turn around and try to get to work on time. If your doctor says you have to go back because you’re ovulating, you go back again. You try not to think about what it’s doing to the rest of your life. If you want a baby, that’s what you do.�

It is an attitude shared by many infertile couples, said Carole Lieber Wilkins, a therapist specializing in infertility who also is co-founder of the Los Angeles chapter of Resolve Inc., a nationwide support organization for people with infertility problems.

Couples usually seek out the nearest treatment possibilities first, she said, but the majority are willing to go wherever they need to.

“My understanding is that most people in Ventura County do have to leave the county,� she said.

Wilkins, who spoke recently at an infertility support group in Ventura, hopes to begin another one in Thousand Oaks. She said it is not unusual for infertility patients to fear telling their employers what they are trying to do. Some are afraid that they will be viewed less seriously on the job, she said, while others think that their employers will not give them the time they need. In either case, she said, having to travel long distances on top of that “just stresses you out big-time.�

Resolve, she said, has a physician referral number that gives callers information about physicians and programs in their area. When Ventura County callers inquire about their options, Wilkins said, they receive the same information: “There is no IVF (in-vitro fertilization) center there, and there really is only one infertility specialist--Dr. Mark Surrey--but he is only there a few days a month.

“Basically,� she added, “the services just aren’t there.�

Dr. David Meldrum, founder of the infertility program at UCLA and now director of the IVF program at South Bay Hospital in Redondo Beach, said he sees many couples who have been willing to make the long commute.

“We have a lot of patients from Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, but the patient is usually more than motivated to travel the distance,� Meldrum said.

For one, he said, treatment for infertility is both time-consuming and expensive--ranging from $6,000 to $8,000 a month for a single IVF procedure. Also, he said, the success rates of different IVF programs vary greatly. Instead of going to lesser-known programs, he said, many patients choose to travel to infertility centers with the best reputations.

“Patients who have made the commitment,� he said, “want to have the best chance they can.�

There are times, though, when the commitment to conception gets to be too much.

“I know a lot of people who say they just can’t handle it anymore. I know I got to that point,� said Engle, who just adopted a 3-week-old boy.

WHERE TO TURN FOR HELP

Infertility is more than a medical problem. For couples trying to make their way through a maze of information, emotions and financial decisions, it can end up affecting almost every part of their lives.

Below is a list of organizations that can provide information and support to people with infertility problems:

* Together Expecting a Miracle is an ongoing support group for men and women with infertility problems. Guest speakers include therapists, medical doctors and adoption specialists. TEAM meets once a month at the Ventura Missionary Church, 500 High Point Drive, Ventura. For information on TEAM, call 485-4677 or 647-1417.

* Resolve Inc. is a nonprofit organization based in Boston with more than 50 chapters across the United States. It serves as a counseling, referral and support system for infertile couples and also offers education and assistance to associated professionals. Support groups are held at various locations. For information, call the organization’s Los Angeles office at (310) 326-2630.

* The American Fertility Society has a membership of more than 10,000 physicians, nurses, counselors and scientists in the United States and 97 foreign countries. Although a spokesman said membership in the society does not mean a physician has special infertility training, it does mean that member professionals receive the latest literature relating to infertility issues. In addition to offering consumer literature, the society publishes a statistical breakdown of the success rates of in-vitro fertilization programs around the country. For information, call (205) 251-9764 or write to the American Fertility Society, 2131 Magnolia Ave., Suite 201, Birmingham, Ala. 35256.

* The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology has patient information brochures on a variety of medical conditions relating to infertility. Ask for a list of publications that are available to consumers. Call (202) 638-5577 or write to ACOG, 409 12th St. SW, Washington, D.C. 20024-2188.

* Choices Not Chances: An Infertility Symposium will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Feb. 22 at the Ventura Missionary Church, 500 High Point Drive. The symposium will feature representatives from 19 in-vitro fertilization clinics from San Diego to the San Fernando Valley, along with well-known physicians from some of the most successful IVF programs. Special sessions, led by infertility experts, therapists and social workers, will include: coping after miscarriage, how to know when it’s time to get off the infertility treatment roller coaster, what people just starting treatment should know, how to get insurance to pay for infertility treatment, adoption options and preventing infertility. Cost for the all-day session is $15 per person, and lunch is included for attendees who preregister. For information, call 485-4677 or 647-1417.