Have you considered freezing your eggs? It turns out that more and more women are freezing their eggs to get the family they want, when they want it. A British report that came out last week cited an 11% increase in egg freezing from 2016 to 2017. As with all fertility treatments, there is a lot to do in preparation for the big day. Acupuncture and herbs are a great investment in your health and the health of your child, with the length of treatment being 10 - 11 months in advance of egg retrieval.
Why do we need such a long time to support your eggs in advance of retrieval?
To influence your eggs' development over their entire 10 month life-cycle from primordial follicle to ovulation.
To address longstanding health concerns
Because the entire process of follicle maturation is ongoing, lasting roughly 10 months from primordial follicle to ovulation, a treatment plan that will have maximum impact on increasing the number of eggs retrieved and enhancing those eggs' quality starts 10 months in advance of retrieval day. I prefer to treat women for 11 months, adding 1 month for cleansing the mom-to-be's body of toxins initially to ensure a healthy environment for the babies-to-be. Following the cleanse, we get down to ensuring that you are getting all the nutrients your reproductive system needs to produce healthy eggs while you start a custom herbal formula that balances your hormones & constitution and promotes healthy circulation to your reproductive organs. Studies indicate that egg quality hinges on the health of the eggs' environment, meaning that good blood flow to the ovaries filled with nutritionally packed blood over the life cycle of the egg is a very significant factor in the outcome of an egg retrieval. This enhanced circulation of healthy blood is something that we practitioners of Chinese medicine have been achieving with acupuncture and herbs for millennia.
Here is a fun fact- Because females create all of their eggs while still in utero, the egg that was fertilized and became you was present in your mother's ovary and therefore was in your grandmother's uterus. You should read that one more time to catch its' full magnitude. Our eggs are with us through thick and thin. And I don't know about you, but I have had some thin times when perfect nutrition, balanced hormones, and top notch stress management just weren't happening in my life and therefore weren't happening in my body. At the time in our lives when we are making our package of genetic material that will become our child (sperm/egg), our grandchildren's parent, and so on down the line, we must focus on having a very strong nutritional status in addition to herbal support that corrects for any imbalances in blood sugar, stress response, and hormones. The importance of this effort can not be understated. We now know that gene expression is very easily affected by a person's health. To give your children the best of your genetic heritage, you want to optimize your health in the months leading up to egg retrieval.
And, of course, this whole getting right for reproduction thing isn't just about our future kids. Chronic diseases are increasingly prevalent and are most often preventable. For women (and dads, too!) who want to do everything they can to avoid chronic diseases, it is important to establish a clean slate of health following the early years of your life when you weren't practicing good nutrition, when you were burning the candle at both ends to get your education and career established, and when you were possibly exercising more than is sustainable in the long run. Taking the time, pre-kids, to balance out your stress response, making sure you have enough energy throughout the day, making sure you are properly digesting food to get all the nutrients from it, making sure you don't have any chronic infections from that amazing trip to India 10 years ago, etc helps your hit your stride, enjoy yourself and your pre-kid freedom and provides a stable base of health that will keep you afloat in the crazy years ahead when you do decide to have kids and temporarily lose yourself in your kids' needs, sleepless nights and pizza parties.
As a woman in this modern era, I am amazed at all the possibilities that women with financial resources have that our fore-mothers did not have. You can achieve your life's goals on your own timeline while optimizing your and your children's future health through various means, including egg freezing and working with a practitioner of Chinese medicine trained in herbology and nutritional support to enhance your overall health and fertility, as well as egg quantity and quality. If you are considering freezing you eggs in the future, give us a call to schedule a free 15 minute consultation so we can go over the ways we can support you on your path to optimizing your health, and the health of your future children with simple changes to your diet and lifestyle and herbal supplements.