Acupuncture For Fertility – My Personal Journey

Changing gears today and sharing a personal post about my acupuncture journey.  I want to make a small disclaimer first…this is not medical advice and this is not me saying what I choose to do is superior to what you choose to do.  It’s just my journey and something I wanted to share.  I found a lot of comfort finding other woman who shared their experiences and hope to do the same.

My acupuncture journey started in 2021 and my main reason was for fertility.  I had read a lot about acupuncture and how it increases fertility and the development of mature eggs.  When we lost the baby in 2020 I knew that I wanted to still try for another.  However given my age (I was 41) and what the medical world told me, conceiving naturally would be next to impossible.  On the other hand my heart told me that I could conceive naturally.  I was truly torn.

Acupuncture For Fertility – My Personal Journey

Western and Eastern Medicine

I explored all options in Western and Eastern Medicine and in the end Eastern Medicine won!  Obviously I am a huge believer in western medicine, I’ve been using it my entire life.  I believe in the research, the proven track record and the dedication of the medical professionals here in the US.  However, I’m also a huge believer in trusting your gut and exploring all options.  The amount of time it took to explore my options in the western world came with a great deal of stress and anxiety.  I’m not a patient person and I want results to happen quickly.  And in the US, fertility treatments aren’t quick, as sad as it is.  Demand is high, doctors are limited and it’s just hard and expensive.  

I read a lot about acupuncture for fertility and figured it couldn’t hurt to explore it myself.  The internet is full of articles promoting it or tearing it down, that’s just how the internet works. I needed to figure out for myself if it was the right choice.  At the end of the day I decided to try it out.  They are just needles after all.

 

The Nest Chicago 

I narrowed my search down to The Nest in Chicago and made an appointment.  I had no preference for doctors and ended up seeing Michael Oliphant.  The Nest specializes in fertility, has a stand alone office as well as partners with the Institute for Human Reproduction.  The founder, Jennifer Paschen is passionate, experienced and dedicated to her patients.  She believes wholeheartedly that you need to be 100% in on acupuncture for it to be successful and rightfully so.  While her passion wasn’t inline with my thinking, I did find common ground with Michael.  

His approach is very calm and he believes that something is better than nothing.  He wasn’t pushy and listened to my concerns and feelings.  He has a calming bedside manner that set me at ease with the treatments.  In the end you have to go with someone that you are comfortable with and that you trust.

 

Acupuncture

Acupuncture for fertility purposes is about slowing down or reversing the aging cells and developing a healthy mature egg.  It’s suggested that it takes 100 days of treatment to develop a healthy viable egg.  In addition to acupuncture there are a variety of supplements that you can take.  I was very hesitant about taking supplements.  In general I’m not a huge supplement person.  While I did my own research on these supplements I was hesitant to pump my body full of things.  Michael was understanding of that and didn’t push for them, but instead showed me what I should be taking.  After a couple weeks I did incorporate CoQ10 into my daily routine, but chose not to do any of the other supplements.

So what exactly are the treatments I’m talking about?  Well each session was about an hour and while you get stuck with tiny needles you also get to relax for a majority of the time.  Depending on what you are treating will depend on where the needles are placed and the size of the needles.  I was being treated for fertility reasons (which change depending on your cycle and if you do actually get pregnant) and also stress and anxiety.  

 

Acupuncture Results

While I couldn’t tell if the fertility portion of the treatments worked after my first session I did notice a difference in my stress/anxiety levels immediately.  It felt as if all that negative energy left my body, literally.  I could feel myself becoming more calm immediately after my session.  While it didn’t completely remove those symptoms it did decrease them significantly. After my first appointment I went weekly for treatments.

About a month later I did become pregnant.  It is hard to say if getting pregnant was 100% due to the acupuncture. Technically I got pregnant a lot quicker than they projected.  However, I believe in my heart that it helped.  I actually continued treatments through my first trimester to help promote and support a healthy pregnancy. The main goal of treatment in the first trimester is to encourage blood flow to the uterus, and at that stage the treatments also helped with my onset of first trimester symptoms.  I did stop my treatments when I entered the second trimester.  I felt that I achieved the goal I originally started with and was happy.

So do I recommend acupuncture?  Yes, 100%!  If you are curious about acupuncture for fertility or any other reason I believe it works!  If you have questions about acupuncture let me know in the comments!