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So much is written about how stress affects health but so little is done to help the couple dealing with fertility issues address their stress. And the treatment couples receive many times adds to the stress. Many studies are now even showing oxidative stress on the smallest life units in your body, your cells, is associated with fertility issues.

The irony in that is many of the conventional treatments for fertility issues are associated with oxidative stress as well. Oxidative stress is...

London, Jan. 20 (ANI):

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston have found that fats hidden in thousands of foods can reduce women's chances of conceiving.

They say that hidden fats can increase the risk of fertility problems by 70% or more, and that eating as little as one doughnut or a portion of chips a day can have a damaging effect.

Women who want to conceive, advise doctors and scientists, better avoid the fats called trans fats, which have no nutritional value...

In a previous tip, I talked about the importance of remembering the possibilities i.e. the possibility that women may actually regenerate their eggs and not only have a limited supply (Harvard Study March 2004).  

When you are experiencing difficulty with fertility your life becomes filled with apparent limitations.  We discussed the whole running out of egg theory, or maybe you are dealing with a low sperm count, recurrent miscarriages, unexplained infertility, secondary...

In the tip this week I am talking about an issue that is relatively common among couples who have been trying to conceive for awhile.  The built up pressure that is experienced by both men and women when they must perform on certain days around ovulation can be extremely daunting and in some cases keep them from being able to follow through with s*e**x or even cause some couples to avoid s**e*x all together.

To someone who hasn't had a fertility issue, this seems hard to imagine, but to...

If you have been reading my tips you know that I choose the tips based on what I see in the clinic week after week. Some of the information in the tips is based on my observation, listening and talking to the other therapists at the clinic about what their patients are going through and experiencing. Some of the tips come from advice that couples dealing with fertility issues have shared with me that I think would be helpful.

This weeks tip deals with a pattern that I see occurring...

As you can imagine, this is a very personal decision for each couple.  But many times I am asked, “Should we continue? Do you really think we still have a chance?” so I wanted to address this in a tip.

Most times, I cannot answer this very personal question, unless of course there is a specific diagnosis such as removal of the ovaries or if the female’s body seems to be progressing into perimenopause, because it truly is the couple’s decision.  

Just a note...

Fertility issues are often thought of as women’s business. How the male is effected is often not discussed and even if there is an issue with the semen or sperm there are far less investigations done into why there is an issue with the male compared to the female. Literally this week I received 82 pages of test reports from a couple who have been dealing with fertility issues for the past 6 years. 4 pages of the 82 were tests done on the male, even though he had a significant issue with...

Are you sick and tired of people telling you to stop thinking about having a baby and to just relax and let it happen!?  It gets a bit frustrating when you hear people who have never gone through what you are going through, say this.

Well, this fertility tip is about how you can use comments like these for your benefit instead of allowing these people to contribute to your frustration.

I am going to show you a way to look beyond what they are saying and use this to actually improve...

One of the areas which may cause significant frustration for you and can create doubt about yourself and what you are doing to improve your fertility comes up frequently in our discussions with patient that I work with.  I wanted to discuss one particular scenario this week so hopefully you will feel prepared to respond comfortably if this situation should come up for you.

Have you ever gone into a doctor's office and told them you were doing something alternative or complementary, i.e....

Placebo effect and Nocebo effect: how could this impact your fertility? Can what you believe about your treatment have an effect on its outcome?

Sounds strange but more and more studies are showing this could be true. Your expectations may actually influence the result of your treatment. You may have heard of the placebo response, where a person believes that something is good for them and it actually makes a difference physiologically in the body. For example someone is given a sugar pill...