Fertile ground
Make a Womb for Baby: Acupuncture, herbs, and supplements can improve your parenting potential.
By Suz Redfearn
Illustration by Pamela Jaeger
Illustration by Pamela Jaeger
Stick out your tongue--farther," says Eugene Y. Zhang, L.Ac., C.M.D. When I do, he takes a digital picture, which reveals a thick white coating at the back, a crack in the center, and teeth marks on the sides.
None of this is good news, apparently. The doctor then moves to my wrists, listening carefully to my pulse. "You have a deficiency in kidney yin and yang," he says, brow furrowed, "some dampness in the lower abdomen, and slight blood congestions and liver qi stagnations."
Can Zhang, known for treating infertility with Traditional Chinese Medicine, help me overcome all that and have my first baby, something I've been trying to do for more than three years? If he can treat my deficiencies in order to balance my hormones and improve blood flow, then, he says, I should be receptive to new life.
So far, Western medicine's treatments for infertility haven't worked for me. I've tried fertility drugs to help release more eggs from my ovaries; artificial inseminations, which placed sperm in my uterus; and in vitro fertilization cycles, which involved injecting myself with fertility drugs, having my eggs surgically removed, placing them with sperm in a laboratory, and transferring the resulting embryos to my uterus a few days later. All of this was expensive--especially IVF, which costs about $12,400 per cycle--and, ultimately, fruitless.
And so I sign on for five acupuncture sessions per month ($80 per visit), along with four blends of herbs ($70 per month), each to be taken during different parts of my menstrual cycle. I pledge to avoid alcohol, caffeine, tobacco, and carrots (too many can suppress the ovaries, according to Zhang); to only drink spring water; to eat one boiled egg per day; and to help myself to a generous helping of fish eggs twice a week (chewed, not simply swallowed--ugh) before I ovulate. And yes, I will boil beef bones and drink a cup of the broth each day.
My hopes are high, though the treatment I'm following is far from a sure thing. To date, there are no large, placebo-controlled investigations to back it up. But there are smaller-scale studies out there showing the efficacy of acupuncture, herbs, dietary changes, and mind-body work--and anecdotal evidence abounds. After two failed IVF cycles, that's good enough for me.
finding options
It's good enough for a number of doctors, too. "Three years ago, most reproductive endocrinologists were very closed-minded, and pooh-poohed [alternative medicine] as voodoo," says William Schoolcraft, M.D., founder and director of the Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine in Denver. "But so many patients come in wanting to try it, the patients are driving their doctors to be more accepting."
Still, most Western physicians can't or won't guide patients toward complementary therapies. Couples must figure it out for themselves, whether coping with infertility or just hoping to preserve their well-being for future childbearing. Here's a look at natural options for promoting and preserving fertility.
To read the full story please pick up a copy of the September 2005 issue of Natural Health.
None of this is good news, apparently. The doctor then moves to my wrists, listening carefully to my pulse. "You have a deficiency in kidney yin and yang," he says, brow furrowed, "some dampness in the lower abdomen, and slight blood congestions and liver qi stagnations."
Can Zhang, known for treating infertility with Traditional Chinese Medicine, help me overcome all that and have my first baby, something I've been trying to do for more than three years? If he can treat my deficiencies in order to balance my hormones and improve blood flow, then, he says, I should be receptive to new life.
So far, Western medicine's treatments for infertility haven't worked for me. I've tried fertility drugs to help release more eggs from my ovaries; artificial inseminations, which placed sperm in my uterus; and in vitro fertilization cycles, which involved injecting myself with fertility drugs, having my eggs surgically removed, placing them with sperm in a laboratory, and transferring the resulting embryos to my uterus a few days later. All of this was expensive--especially IVF, which costs about $12,400 per cycle--and, ultimately, fruitless.
And so I sign on for five acupuncture sessions per month ($80 per visit), along with four blends of herbs ($70 per month), each to be taken during different parts of my menstrual cycle. I pledge to avoid alcohol, caffeine, tobacco, and carrots (too many can suppress the ovaries, according to Zhang); to only drink spring water; to eat one boiled egg per day; and to help myself to a generous helping of fish eggs twice a week (chewed, not simply swallowed--ugh) before I ovulate. And yes, I will boil beef bones and drink a cup of the broth each day.
My hopes are high, though the treatment I'm following is far from a sure thing. To date, there are no large, placebo-controlled investigations to back it up. But there are smaller-scale studies out there showing the efficacy of acupuncture, herbs, dietary changes, and mind-body work--and anecdotal evidence abounds. After two failed IVF cycles, that's good enough for me.
finding options
It's good enough for a number of doctors, too. "Three years ago, most reproductive endocrinologists were very closed-minded, and pooh-poohed [alternative medicine] as voodoo," says William Schoolcraft, M.D., founder and director of the Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine in Denver. "But so many patients come in wanting to try it, the patients are driving their doctors to be more accepting."
Still, most Western physicians can't or won't guide patients toward complementary therapies. Couples must figure it out for themselves, whether coping with infertility or just hoping to preserve their well-being for future childbearing. Here's a look at natural options for promoting and preserving fertility.
To read the full story please pick up a copy of the September 2005 issue of Natural Health.
