Before having my healthy baby, years after being considered advanced maternal age, I had tried to conceive for at least 6 years. I couldn’t stand going to baby showers, and hated when people innocently asked me: “When are you having kids?” It felt as though they think I was purposely delaying motherhood when I was actively trying so hard but was failing. Their questions only reminded me of my fail
ure. I was surprised that my M.D. background did little to prepare me in facing this challenge. During my infertility journey, I read many books on this topic, and did the conventional work-up through OBs first then reproductive endocrinologists (REs). I was eventually diagnosed with PCOS. In retrospect, I am saddened that my OBs and REs never told me that having PCOS meant that the likelihood of poor egg quality was high. They also never taught me how to accurately determine my fertility window, how to best optimize my egg quality, or educated me about what reproductive toxins to avoid. What I was offered was medications. I took Femara (medication to promote ovulation) for multiple cycles. It was not till much later that I realized that while medication such as Femara can force ovulation, it does nothing to improve egg quality. So what does it matter if I ovulated if the egg I ovulated was of poor quality and would not survive into a pregnancy anyways? For me, Femara did not result in pregnancy, but I did get a new uterine polyp and large ovarian cyst which were never seen in the prior 10 ultrasounds done by the same fertility clinic. I also tried many alternative treatments, including acupuncture, homeopathy, herbs and supplements. However, finally by using my background in integrative / holistic medicine to learn how to improve egg quality, I finally succeeded in fulfilling my dream of having a baby without use of reproductive technology. Now, I feel passionate about helping other women and couples going through this same struggle, by sharing what I have learned, so others do not have to spend as much time as I did with my trials and errors.
