FertilehealthyAiming for success, not perfection…

If you let your body speak, one day it will start to sing. ~ Julia Indichova

The desire to have a child resides in most of us. Not only to ensure the continued survival of our species, but on a more personal level to leave a legacy of ourselves, the living proof that we existed and mattered.

We spend our early adulthood trying not to get pregnant. Once we settle down with someone we love, the desire to have a baby will burst forth. We discontinue contraception and if we’re lucky, hey presto, we have a little bun in the oven.

But if you’re like me, and 25% of couples out there, things may not be so simple. Female fertility peaks at age 27, so if you’re older than that, it may take a little longer. The experts say that we are only half as fertile at 35 as we were at 27. What is not commonly known is that male fertility also decreases with age and that in up to 35% of cases these days, fertility problems can be attributed to the male.

Infertility is defined as the inability or reduced ability to produce offspring after one year of trying. The condition may affect either male or female partner, or both. The official definition doesn’t tell us how incredibly frustrating, heartbreaking and cruel infertility is.

Doctors can diagnose many causes of infertility, like failure to ovulate, irregular cycles, sperm deficiencies, blocked Fallopian tubes, PCOS, endometriosis and many more. The tests are invasive, unpleasant and expensive. Sometimes surgery is required. Unfortunately about 15% of the time, there is no known cause. All the bits and pieces are there, they work, but the couple can’t conceive or maintain a pregnancy. This is known as “Unexplained Infertility” and is probably the most frustrating of all the conditions. How can you fix something if you don’t know what’s wrong?

The treatment for these conditions, even Unexplained Fertility, relies heavily on hormonal drugs. The most common one is Clomid, also known as the drug from hell for turning you into a cross between a pitbull and Cruella de Ville with PMS, which is supposed to stimulate ovulation. This drug is actually quite dangerous and should never be used for more than three months at a time. Multiple pregnancies and miscarriages are common with Clomid.

If this doesn’t work, and you have even more money, you may try IUI and finally all the variations of IVF. I could explain what all these are and how they work, but that is not the purpose of this post. All you need to know is that they are very expensive and rely heavily on hormonal drugs. Your husband gets to have an affair with a plastic container, while you get your bits invaded by syringes and dildo-like probes without the benefit of having been wined and dined first. Once again, multiple pregnancies and miscarriages are common. IVF has a success rate of only 20%. That is the best that medical science can offer you, at a huge financial and emotional cost to yourself.

If the body can’t handle the workload, or if it’s the heart that’s frightened, or the soul that wishes to soar, we must stop, pull up a chair, and find out what the trouble is. Otherwise we can blast our ovaries with stimulants, produce caravans of embryos of the highest grade, and still go home to an empty nursery. ~ Julia Indichova

The drawback to these therapies is that the cause of the problem is not addressed. They do not heal your body and restore your fertility. They trick the body into responses that most often do not result in a positive outcome. And even if you end up with a live baby after 9 months, the next time you want to conceive you may have to go through it all again.

The reproductive system does not work in isolation. (You may want to refer back to this post about the endocrine, or hormonal system.)  All the systems in our bodies are inter-related and work in a synergistic manner.  A problem in one area may cause an effect in another area.  We need to treat our bodies as a whole by working with the body, instead of tricking it.  This can be tough because we tend to regard our body’s failure to reproduce as the ultimate betrayal,  while we should be lovingly caring for it and nurturing it back to health.  This is something I will be writing about a lot on Fertile Fridays.

We need to tune into the wisdom of Mother Nature.  When you have a bleeding wound, your body’s response is to lower your blood pressure so that you don’t bleed so much.  The body prioritizes.  Reproduction, while important for the survival of the species, is not a top priority when there are more immediate threats to our health.  Pregnancy is hard work for the body and it will delay conception until it has the means and the energy to carry a baby to term and nurse it afterwards.  It’s survival of the fittest in its most basic form.

The holistic approach to fertility is to remove the substances that harm our cells and throw our systems out of balance, while at the same time supplying plenty of the substances (micro-nutrients) that allow the body to heal itself and regain balance (provided all the bits are there of course – you can’t grow a new uterus if you’ve had a hysterectomy).  This encompases a healthy whole foods diet, regular exercise, adequate hydration, good quality sleep, regular exposure to sunlight and effective ways to deal with stress.  Our emotional health is also important.  In upcoming Fertile Friday posts I will talk about these measures in detail.

An Australian study has found that the natural, holistic approach has a success rate of over 80%.  That is four times better than what the high priests of medical science can offer you at astronomical cost.  You can heal your PCOS, your endometriosis, restore ovulation and get rid of nasty PMS and painful periods at the same time!  And you should see what lifestyle changes can do to sperm counts!  

Time spent healing your body is always an investment, not only in your future, but in the future of your children.  Even if you don’t have fertility problems it’s advisable to prepare your body for pregnancy.  That will be the subject of next Friday’s post.