Ep. 43: IVF is not your only option

I tend to work with a lot of clients who have walked through the IVF process after being told it was their only hope for pregnancy. After finding it unsuccessful or unappealing to them, they begin looking for other options. I'm thrilled to share another option: the Restorative Health Approach. Today's episode shares what you need to know if you're afraid IVF may be your only option. We touch on about approach, finances, ethics, insurance, and more. We hope this episode can be an encouragement to you on your journey to learn more!

NOTE: This episode is appropriate for all audiences.

Episode References:
IVF Statistic

Talk with Caitlin (you do not have to be a client): Need a safe place to talk about your fertility journey, what you're going through, or anything else about your fertility? Caitlin would love to hear your story and talk with you!

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Transcript

Welcome back to the Woven Well Podcast! Today I have an important reminder for all those listening who are struggling to conceive and carry a pregnancy: IVF is not your only option. 

Journeying through the process of trying to conceive and carry a pregnancy to term when you’re having challenges can be an incredibly hard journey. It can feel even more challenging by the lack of information available about all of your options. 

I have worked with many couples who come to me after being told by a Reproductive Endocrinologist (or an RE), that they have a 2% chance of conceiving a pregnancy without IVF. 

To be honest, I’m not sure how they come up with these numbers. But I know that a lot of my clients who have seen an RE are told this specific stat. 

The husband of one of the couples I’ve worked with told me, after their experience with an RE, that they felt that the IVF world deals in probabilities, not possibilities. I think that’s wonderfully put. The thing is, you’re not a formula, you’re a formed human being, and you and your husband form one flesh together. I love the idea of focusing on the possibilities instead of the probabilities, because we can’t really know what the probabilities truly are - and even with hindrances to a couple’s fertility, there’s almost always still a possibility. 

So as it relates to IVF, I typically work with couples after they’ve tried IVF. Not because that’s when I want to work with them - I would love to support couples before they walk down that road, if possible But they’re usually referred to an RE after they did all they could with their OBGYN, and their RE told them IVF was their best chance. So they pursued it until they ran out of money, or retrievals, or mental/emotional capacity. 

Or maybe they were told it was their best chance, but they didn’t feel a peace about IVF itself. 

Both of these groups are often left without options. It’s not their doctors who are sharing about other approaches. They’re told to come back when they’ve saved more money, or they suggest trying an IUI instead, even though IUIs are only potentially helpful in very specific circumstances. 

But even though they’re not told about them, there are other options out there. 

One of those options is a Restorative Health Approach to conceiving and carrying a biological child, and this is the approach we utilize at Woven Natural Fertility Care. 

How is this approach different than IVF? 

First of all, it may be helpful to review what IVF is. Even though it’s one of the most common approaches to infertility or pregnancy loss, it doesn’t mean everyone has heard about it. IVF stands for In-Vitro Fertilization, and it’s a process where eggs are collected in masse from a female and sperm from a male. The sperm are then manually injected into an egg in a lab, and then these fertilized eggs grow to a certain extent on their own in petri dishes. Once they reach the stage of a blastocyst, they are often but not always genetically tested, and then inserted into the female’s uterus. All of this is done by medical professionals known as reproductive Endocrinologists, or as we’ve been referring to them, RE’s. 

The first thing to know is that I am not a medical professional. I do not run labs or prescribe medications. I teach couples how to understand their joint fertility and what a woman’s body can reveal about things like her hormonal health. So I’m not a medical professional, but I do work very closely with doctors and providers who are, and we all share a particular approach to understanding and treating fertility: the restorative health approach. 

The restorative health approach says let’s get each individual as healthy as possible 

in order to provide the best circumstances possible 

for a successful pregnancy. 

Instead of bypassing the body, we want to honor the body, and the individual. 

I will most definitely not try to tell you your odds of conceiving - who am I to say God’s plan for your family? But I can tell you that Natural, Procreative Technology, one of the leaders in this restorative approach, increases a couple’s chances of naturally conceiving by up to 80% within the first year. That is a huge number, especially considering IVF is successful at max 50% of the time per retrieval (based on data from the Society of Assisted Reproductive Technology), which could mean multiple transfers and tens of thousands of dollars before that 50% success rate. 

So there is hope outside of IVF, even if you have a lot of challenges when it comes to conceiving and carrying a pregnancy. 

The Restorative Health Approach says let’s take a wholistic look at your health and reproductive function. 

We start with looking at everything your body can tell us, and we do that through the use of the Creighton system. We teach you how to speak the language you’re body has been speaking to you for years. We get you connected with the signs and symptoms your body is already providing to let you know about issues and concerns, and signs of health. 

Then, we get you connected with one of these like minded OBGYNS or medical professionals who ask basic but essential questions at a detailed level: 

• are you successfully ovulating an egg each cycle? 
• is your husband creating healthy sperm? 
• is there anything preventing sperm meeting egg? 
• is there anything preventing an embryo from implanting? 
• is there anything that may interfere with the thriving of the embryo once implanted? 

These basic questions provide an abundance of information that determines what next steps should be. Why? Because we focus on treating the root cause of those issues. 

So if we do timed, follicular ultrasounds throughout a cycle and discover you’re not actually ovulating an egg, we need to restore that function. 

If we find that you’re timing intercourse during a time that’s not actually fertile, we need to adjust those days of use. 

If there’s an issue with the lining of the uterus that prevents implantation, we need to restore the health of that lining. 

Without these changes, not only is successful pregnancy unlikely, but likely your health isn’t optimal, as well.

And for many who are walking this journey, they may think, ‘Well, we’ve looked into all those things. We’ve had labs drawn, and ultrasounds done.’ And you if you have the data, that’s great! We’ll utilize it all as we look at your overall health. But I can’t tell you how many times I’ve begun working with a new client and we’ve discovered that their labs were never timed to specific points in their cycle and their ultrasounds were basic ones that showed organ health only. The restorative health approach is much more specific and detailed, and works within your body’s natural cycle to identify hormonal imbalances, egg quality or uterine lining issues, and more. 

We treat issues at the root source. We do not settle for unexplained infertility or unexplained pregnancy loss. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen either truly remain unexplained when explored in this way. 

IVF’s approach is to bypass these concerns. 

It tries to bypass the problems, but it also bypasses the health of the individual. 

And this process can be painful, expensive, and emotionally and physically exhausting. It’s not for everyone, I’m sure, but it is for many that I’ve had the privilege to work with. 

The restorative approach works to optimize your body’s overall health, and specifically reproductive health. Not only giving you the best shot at conceiving and carrying, but at being a healthier human being at the end of the process. Can you say that about the IVF process? 

in looking at differences, the restorative approach is also much more affordable. 

You pay to learn the Creighton system, which you can pay with HSA/FSA or submit to your insurance if possible. This is an initial cost that lasts while you are actively learning the system. 

And you pay for your appointments with your Napro or restorative health doctor through your insurance! Because nothing is ever coded as infertility. Why? 

Infertility is not a diagnosis, it’s a symptom. We’re treating the root causes of infertility. 

For example, if you go in to your doctor and you say you have a runny nose and are sneezing, they will not write your diagnosis as a runny nose, but as a cold. These doctors do the same. 

Finally, there are no moral questions or concerns with the restorative approach to infertility or loss. 

Many couples find they have moral questions or concerns about IVF as it involves creating an embryo, and that embryo may or may not get the chance at life. Today’s episode is not about diving in to those questions or concerns, but we’re simply stating that there are many couples who have concerns about that aspect of IVF. 

With utilizing a system like Naprotechnology, you simply don’t have any of those concerns. 

Going through the process to determine what path is best for you may be difficult. I can’t say which approach is best for you and your husband. But if you’re interested in exploring the option of a restorative health approach, I would love to be your guide along the journey. 

I’ve worked with countless couples over the years as they faced daunting diagnoses and things that felt impossible or overwhelming. I don't say this to make promises, but to celebrate - just in the last 2 months, I’ve had five couples conceive after struggling with infertility. I am overjoyed for these couples. And every one of them conceived through this restorative health approach utilized by naprotechnology.

I can’t say whether or not you will have a biological child, but I can say that you are not alone in the journey there. If you’re interested in learning more or working with me as you begin to understand your reproductive health at the next level, I’d love to invite you to join us for our next Introductory Session. You can also talk with me personally by scheduling a 1:1 time to chat. I’d love to hear your story and talk more about what we do. 

Blessings on the journey. I know it’s not easy. I’m sorry you’re having to research these options, but I’m so glad that you are. There are other options out there for you. 

As always, thanks for listening as we continue to explore together what it means to be woven well.