Dear Ann Landers,
"I'm so sorry. I'm only 14 years old." Ann, I want that young girl to know that I'm sorry, too. Her baby was another missed opportunity for my husband and me and others like us. Why don't these girls realize that it costs a birth mother nothing to place her child with an adoption agency? If she tells her minister or school counselor that she can't keep her child, she can be assured of help in finding it a loving home. Three years ago, my husband and I decided to have a family. We as-sumed that we would have no trouble. We were wrong. We tried for ten months and then went to a fertility specialist. We worked with her for another nine months without success and were then referred to a reproductive endocrinologist. My husband has tested "normal" since the beginning. I have been poked, prodded, pushed and probed, have had injections and laser treatment, and was finally told I had endometriosis and polyceptic ovarian disease. Now we've been informed that my insurance will no longer cover infertility treatment, diagnosis or drugs. The next step is a drug that will cost $8,000, with only a 45 percent chance of success. To the 14-year-old girl who wrapped her child in the duffel bag: Someone will want and need your newborn. To the others who might do something like this: Please don't jeopardize the health of your baby by not placing it in the hands of people who will help you and know how to contact couples like us. I'm sorry about the circumstances which led that girl to give up her child and equally sorry that I can't have that baby. -Infertile in Indianapolis

Dear Indianapolis,
Thanks for a letter that could change lives. For those who need help with infertility, send a long, self-addressed, stamped envelope to Resolve, 1310 Broadway, Somerville, Mass. 02144-1731. A reader asked if I knew a sure cure for hiccups. I offered an old-fashioned remedy that has worked for me for many years. (Sip a glass of water very slowly, stopping after each hiccup, breathe deeply and hold your breath for a slow count of 10.) I invited my readers to share their "cures" with me but warned that they must be 100 percent fail-safe. Within a few days, I was swamped with dozens of guaranteed gimmicks to stop hiccups. I cannot vouch for these suggestions be-cause, happily, 1 do not get hiccups very often and have not tried them myself. But, for what they are worth, here they are: From Jackson Heights, N.Y.: This method works when everything else has failed. We swear by it in our family. Using both hands, stick your fingers in your ears. Take a deep breath. Have someone hold your nose while he (or she) gives you a drink of water. Miami: My dad hiccupped for eight hours straight. He had tried sev-eral suggestions from friends and relatives without success. Finally, someone said, "Drink a few gulps of carbonated soda." He did, and the hiccups stopped at once. Ashtabula, Ohio: My grandmother learned this hiccup stopper from her grandmother, and I am teaching it to my grandchildren. It can be fun! Cut three holes the size of half-dollars in a paper bag. Put the bag over your head and breathe deeply 20 times. The hiccups will have dis-appeared. Chicago: I am 60 years old now, but I remember a sure cure for hic-cups that was given to the class by our fourth-grade teacher. She al-ways kept a jar of sugar in her desk drawer. Whenever someone got the hiccups, Miss Swanson would put a teaspoon of sugar on that per-son's tongue and let it melt. By the time the sugar was gone, so were the hiccups. Riverside, Calif.: When everything else has failed, this will work. If you can stand on your head, do it. If you can't stand on your head, put your head between your knees. Close your eyes as tight as you can, take a deep breath and recite "Mary Had a Little Lamb" or "Little Bo Peep." Halifax, Nova Scotia: My great-aunt's hiccup stopper has worked for us like a charm these last 25 years. Make a fist, and bite the knuckle of your little finger. Take a deep breath, and hurry up and bite the next, then the next, then the next, and then the thumb. By the time you bite all your knuckles twice, you are cured. Cincinnati: This cure is not only 100 percent effective but delicious. Take a tablespoon of peanut butter and keep it in your mouth, making no attempt to eat or swallow it. As the peanut butter disappears, so will the hiccups. Tacoma, Wash.: No one knows why this works, but it has never failed me or anyone else who has tried it. Fill a glass with water, cover it with a clean handkerchief. Drink the water through the hankie. No sipping, no holding of the breath. The hiccups will disappear as if by magic. Emporia, Kan.: This hiccup cure must be done in private because it looks so goofy. Open your eyes as wide as you can. Stick out your tongue-all the way. Reach for the ceiling-really reach. Try to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner." Of course, you can't do it with your tongue sticking out, but if you make the sounds, that is good enough. By the time you get to "the rockets' red glare," the hiccups will be gone. So there you have it, dear readers. If one gimmick doesn't work, try another. Good luck!