Thinking of Getting Starting a Family?

Sometimes we need to sit back and ask a few hard questions, and plan before we embark upon a project.

In the case of having children, there tends to be an assumption that once contraception is removed from the picture, babies will naturally flow. We may hear that others have problems having kids – but we are different – it won’t happen to us . . . .

It comes as quite a shock when sometimes it does.
Before embarking upon assisted fertility, it may be worth stopping and looking at the statistics, rather than being seduced by the possibilities awaiting you at the local fertility clinic and the hope that they appear to be selling.

In 2004, nearly 41,000 assisted cycles happened in Australia. Of these, nearly 9,000 gave a positive pregnancy test, and less than 7,000 became babies in arms. We could ask why the difference? This represents an immense amount of money, angst and grief.

Why do we need to resort to this?

Partly, nature is thwarted by our lifestyles and our inability to live naturally. Sex without contraception between two sexually mature adults should result in pregnancy – and living in any other century, it would have, with few exceptions. But we are living far differently than ever before in the history of people on the planet.

To step into the assisted reproduction arena, we tend to follow the medical model – force a sperm into an egg, and there’s your baby – well usually there is more to it.

Some of the issues are dealt with below.

1 – Male factors – account for at least 50% of why couples are not parents. This has been an issue that has been under investigated as it is far easier to diagnose women’s plumbing problems. Whilst she may have imperfections, it is often the lack of stunning quality sperm to fertilise the eggs that is creating the miscarriages, if conception happens at all. It is very possible with better nutrition, lots of water and with exercise to quickly change the poor sperm test results.

2 – Tubal blockage – (Male and female) This is probably the easiest reason for IVF success – If there are no other issues for the couple, and they really are well, as opposed to not clinically ill. How did the tubes (male or female get to be blocked? Past sexually transmitted infections/history of binge drinking, loose living and modern diet and lack of responsible past or current habits all play their part. (Just Google the effects of caffeine/alcohol/ modern lifestyle on male fertility, the male factors in miscarriage, and hormonal disruption/estrogen dominance)

Currently, there is a big gap between embryos put back and a successful pregnancy – why might this be?

3 – Poor quality eggs/sperm – quality eating, nutritional supplements, freedom from heating/toxic products and lifestyle habits all need looking into here. Whilst the IVF clinics may say just keep doing whatever you normally do, it is YOUR $$$$$$ that is being spent, whilst you do the equivalent of no preparation to run a marathon. Would you be so silly – or would you at least do some warm ups, a little more sleep and stretching, let alone practice jogs leading up to the event?

If you have warm feet at night that you put out of the covers, if your hair is falling /losing its colour/condition - now is the time to take Chinese herbs and whatever other suggestions I have made to build up your blood energy (see “Getting There” DVD designed specifically for you to understand the quality issues underlying the present lack of babies in your life).

4 - Metabolism less than normal – a large portion of the people coming in to see me have a lower than optimal basal body temperature. This means that your inner oven is set on less than needed to sustain you or a pregnancy. You can check this yourself, without great expense – just buy a thermometer, and pop it in your mouth the instant you awaken every morning. It should be 36.6 /8 for men.

If not – do a lot more exercise and follow Heather’s dietary suggestions.

For women, it should ideally be around 36.6/7 in the beginning of the cycle, and dip to 36.2/3 around ovulation, and climb quickly then up to 37/37.2 – at least to 36.9.

If this does not look like your cycle, then a lot of tinkering naturally may allow you to be far more fertile – so were you to eventually need assisted reproductive help, the ‘garden’ where the embryo is planted will be far more nurturing for your new baby. You are far more likely to have a well pregnancy, as your good temperature chart shows you that you have the ability to do the job well.

This issue above is very important – nature is showing you that there are considerable problems that are not being addressed.

5 – FOR WOMEN – PROGESTERONE - the second part of the cycle has a low/unstable temperature rise – the progesterone available to you may be floundering in the sea of false estrogenic substances you have due to the reasons BEHIND your not getting pregnant/having had/still having endometriosis – your gyne specialist may remove the physical bits, but the estrogen dominance (Google it for endometriosis info) means that the pregnancy protection hormone is just not winning – and regardless of the great embryos, you may be still not a parent – for no other reason than you live in this contaminated century. (Google our stolen future).

Often progestegin is used – and this is a synthetic version, not the same at all as your body makes - so if you have been told that this is the same - it is nearly – and the progesterone/estrogen imbalance we mostly all have will need medicine to come into the 21st Century and realise that we as a population are all in big trouble – Google estrogen dominance/hormonal disruption/our stolen future and where all this leads you – also to heavy metal poisoning (what about all that amalgam in your mouth/your own mother’s mouth whilst she was growing you all those years ago),the preservatives in the vaccines that you have been happily signing up from and the rest of the trappings our modern life gives us?

These are some of the reasons that just getting heaps of hormones through your body to force a lot of (what quality ) eggs to be released to then be attacked artificially by sperm in a laboratory may still not produce what you hope for (41,000 attempts vs 7,000 ‘wins’).

It is YOUR money and your body and your future . . . .

Why not maximise your chances of success ensuring that you are one of the 7,000 who make a baby not one of the 34,000 who don’t, BEFORE you go down the assisted reproduction path?

You can make a colossal difference.

Social/Biological Clock

It may be that you think that your ‘clock’ is ticking/all your friends are pregnant and you want to be too - BUT you have been looking at numbers (calendar years) not quality issues - how well you really are – how stunning your sperm really is – the zing and oomph that is really waiting to explode into a baby you hold within – if you feel tired/listless/a bit flat and generally not in top shape – how is it that you think that your sperm/eggs are not also a little bit wilted?

Taking care of your health – try yoga/turning off the TV and going for a walk together every night (LINK TO FREE THERAPIES PLEASE) and making your own food – buying ingredients and drinking water and stopping all the party/teenage habits will all going to
1 - contribute to at least a healthier/happier you,
2 – give you a more intimate and bonded relationship with your chosen mate
3 - and a better life, with or without the baby you are trying to make.

And at a great less cost – so that when you do go into assisted reproduction it is as though you have done the preparation, and are, like in the marathon, at least ready for the race.