How the right nutrition can help women with infertility become pregnant.

Sara and her husband were ready for a baby. But they didn’t think they’d be able to get pregnant due to Sara’s health condition. So, after trying for many years, they decided to become foster parents in hopes that they would eventually be able to adopt.

At 28 years old, Sara came to me with a medical history of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS).  It’s a common condition where the ovaries produce too many male sex hormones, resulting in irregular periods. Patients with this syndrome may also have excess body hair, weight gain around the abdomen, acne, and infertility.

Sara started an ancestral diet to eliminate the foods that often cause inflammation, and replaced them with nutrient-dense choices. This phase lasted about 30 days and, during that time, we also introduced targeted supplements.

We suspected autoimmune involvement so I referred her to a professional colleague and functional medicine nurse practitioner. Blood tests revealed two autoimmune disorders, Hashimoto’s and Sjorgren’s. While Sara and her practitioner addressed these conditions medically, we addressed them through diet, making changes to support and calm down her overactive immune system.

At the end of the 30 days, we were able to begin reintroducing foods that she tolerated well. This phase of treatment allowed us to really personalize the process as we learned the foods that did and didn’t work well. The results of this work with fertility patients speak for themselves. Today, Sara has a 2-year-old son and another on the way who were conceived naturally.