Dr. Susan Fox shares her extensive knowledge on enhancing fertility through acupuncture and lifestyle changes, emphasizing the importance of holistic health in improving reproductive outcomes. With over 23 years of experience, Dr. Fox explains how acupuncture can significantly impact IVF success rates and discusses the vital role of overall health in the fertility journey. She highlights the necessity of addressing toxin exposure and adopting healthier lifestyle choices, including dietary modifications tailored to different phases of the menstrual cycle. Dr. Fox introduces her comprehensive fertility program, which combines acupoint stimulation, mind-body meditations, and nutritional guidance to empower women and couples. Additionally, she discusses her upcoming summit, aimed at fostering collaboration among various health professionals to provide the best care and support for those navigating fertility challenges.

Dr. Susan Fox, a distinguished practitioner of acupuncture and Chinese medicine in the San Francisco Bay Area, has dedicated her professional life to enhancing fertility for women and couples. With over 23 years of experience, Dr. Fox shares her insights into how acupuncture can significantly improve outcomes for those undergoing IVF and other fertility treatments. Her journey began fortuitously next to an IVF center, where she quickly learned about the profound impact that simple acupuncture treatments could have when administered just before and after embryo transfers. Through her extensive practice, Dr. Fox has developed a holistic approach that not only addresses the immediate needs of her patients but also emphasizes the importance of overall health and well-being in the journey to conception.

Central to Dr. Fox's philosophy is the belief that improving reproductive health requires a multifaceted approach. She explains that her current practice involves a series of at least nine acupuncture treatments leading up to an IVF retrieval, alongside nutritional guidance and lifestyle changes. This comprehensive strategy aims to enhance the quality of reproductive health over time, particularly focusing on the three-month folliculogenesis cycle that influences egg health. Dr. Fox passionately discusses the detrimental effects of environmental toxins and lifestyle choices on fertility, urging individuals to adopt healthier habits and make informed choices about the products they use and consume. She highlights the necessity of increasing awareness and taking actionable steps toward better health practices, positioning herself as a guide for those navigating the complexities of fertility.

In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Fox emphasizes the emotional aspects of the fertility journey, acknowledging that it can be as stressful as dealing with serious health issues. To support her patients, she incorporates mind-body techniques, including guided meditations and qigong exercises, into her fertility program. This integration aims to cultivate a sense of empowerment and understanding of one’s body throughout the menstrual cycle. Dr. Fox is also excited to announce her upcoming summit, which will bring together various fertility specialists to foster collaboration and improve patient outcomes. By uniting professionals from different fields, she hopes to create a supportive network that empowers individuals facing fertility challenges, emphasizing the importance of a holistic approach to reproductive health.

Takeaways:

• Dr. Susan Fox emphasizes the importance of lifestyle changes and reducing toxin exposure for improving fertility outcomes.
• Acupuncture significantly impacts IVF success rates, enhancing the overall quality of reproductive health.
• Her comprehensive fertility program includes acupoint stimulation, dietary guidance, and mind-body meditations tailored to menstrual cycles.
• Dr. Fox advocates for awareness and actionable steps to improve health and fertility for women and couples.
• The upcoming summit aims to unite various health professionals to support fertility patients effectively.
• Incorporating organic products and healthy habits can lead to better fertility outcomes and overall health.

Links referenced in this episode:

• yourfertilityquiz.com

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• Costco
• Target
• Walmart

So my name is doctor Susan Fox.

I'm a doctor of acupuncture and chinese medicine in the San Francisco Bay Area.

And for the past 23 years, my focus has been helping women, people, couples, improve their fertility, their fertile health, whether they're trying to conceive naturally or whether they intend to go through advanced reproductive therapies like IVF.

And it's been my pleasure and honor to really have that support for these people, because it's a rocky road for them.

And having someone and something in their corner that actually has actionable outcomes that improve their success is so rewarding.

Unlike many backstories, I did not struggle with fertility for myself, however.

It was really just one of those right place, right time moments, in that when I started my practice, I happened to open up shath across the whole from an IVF center.

And in that year, the research was just beginning to come out how acupuncture was improving IVF outcomes with just a simple procedure done 20 minutes before and 20 minutes after their IVF transfer.

And so that began the journey.

And of course, over these 23 years, we have learned more about how and why in that it is not just necessarily this one simple treatment.

In fact, we don't use that one simple treatment anymore.

We tend to use about at least nine treatments prior to an IVF retrieval and then another one for an IVF transfer, because it's really about improving the quality of this person's whole health, reproductive health.

And therefore, the follicles in the eggs that are coming with, ideally, we would begin about three months prior, because that is the arc of what we call folliculogenesis.

So the eggs that a woman is going to ovulate this month and next month and the following month are already sort of in play.

There's this thing concept called the primordial pool, where all of our eggs are, are resting until such time as they're recruited each month.

But what we do today will have an influence on the follicles and then the eggs that are ovulated, as I say, 30, 60, 90 to 120 days.

And when you think about that conversely, right, that means that if we're not doing anything beneficial and we're doing things that are harmful, like exposing ourselves to toxins in our.

In our everyday products, pesticides and food products, poor water quality, poor sleep and wake lifestyle, then we are having a.

That being said, I want to just highlight that any improvement that starts now has a beneficial effect.

So if there are listeners who are saying, I don't have 120 days to wait, because for some reason, sometimes there really isn't 120 days to wait.

Our bodies are magnificent in their ability to detox and heal and restore.

And this is not just me saying it.

And it's not just ancient chinese medicine saying it.

I just, before this call, pulled up a study that just released that talked about how improving our health with something as simple as coenzyme Q ten improves the outcomes of someone with what's called diminished ovarian reserve.

Oftentimes, that is a person of older years, but not necessarily.

I think the message that I really want listeners to hear is that with an IVF cycle, as brilliant and miraculous and wonderful as it is, these doctors can only stimulate eggs follicles in the condition they are, can only then retrieve them in the condition that they are, can then only produce embryos in the condition that they are.

And so that's why, oftentimes, there needs to be multiple retrieval cycles because of the condition that they are.

I know I'm sounding rather redundant, but that's the place where we change quality.

And I say that with a bit of a hesitancy, because there is no research that proves we change quality.

There's just clinical evidence.

Time and time and time again, we'll see improved amH levels, we'll see improved follicle counts.

And it just bears the question, if there's not double blind, placebo controlled studies proving that it doesn't, how can you?

Or that it does, how can you prove to me also that it doesn't make all the difference?

And you just ask any human being.

We know innately that when we feel better, when we're taking better care of ourselves, all of our tissues are better.

That's my passion.

That's my mission, is that I don't want for someone to just have a positive pregnancy test or just a decent pregnancy and, okay, delivery and postpartum.

But oftentimes, postpartum can get tricky.

My mission, my legacy, is that we are at a pivotal point, it is tipping point, time to either improve the health of our children and our communities and our larger communities and our whole governing bodies at large, which then extends to how we treat the planet by making these changes now, forever.

Chemicals, formaldehydes, parabens, phthalates.

We're putting them on our skin, in our mouth when we brush our teeth.

We're putting triclosan in our mouth, for goodness sake, if we're not careful.

So that's where I feel so passionate that we really do need to make this change.

Now is our responsibility for the health of our future.

Awareness and action.

We have, I think, a decent amount of awareness.

Not everyone.

We also have habits that we don't want to give up.

Right.

So I see it in the.

All the time.

Someone will come in with autoimmune disorder and I'll say, gosh, I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but for your health, your follicle health, your embryo health, your baby's health, you will want to go gluten free because we know that it's an inflammatory agent and it will trigger that autoimmune activity, especially when it affects the thyroid.

And that person will sit across me and say, I don't want him to give out my bread.

And I'll say, well, there's nobody who's going to make you, but do you want a healthy baby?

Because there is a genetic predisposition toward this.

So it's.

We have.

We need more information.

We have it.

It's out there.

We just.

We just need to go look for it and then take action.

We need to vote with our dollars.

And ironically, when we vote with our dollars again, the other argument is it's too expensive to go organic and to get these other products, but in fact, it's not.

Our produce has become much more accessible, as in Costco.

If you can't find it fresh, that's fine.

Get it frozen, because frozen is just picked and frozen, so it's about as fresh as can be.

So there really are ways in which we can get organic foods without it kind of breaking the bank.

We don't have to go to farmers market.

I mean, that's a lovely experience.

Right?

And we can go to some of the bigger name brands, but it can impact some of the other brands, Target and Walmart, and they'll all have, you know, their frozen food section.

Just reach for the organic.

And, you know, when we eat organic or grass fed, we organic, free range, wild caught, we don't need to eat as much because that's the other side of things.

Right.

We tend to overeat in our society.

And part of it, I don't want to create a judgment because part of it is that we're eating, but we're malnourished.

So there's a part of our bodies that's saying, I need more because I don't have the nourishment.

But if we eat properly, then healthfully and drink healthily water, then we won't be having these cravings and our brain won't be saying, I need more glucose fast because you just gave me garbage.

And, you know, and again, in terms of expense, some of it, we can just make do on our own.

You know, we don't need to go buy high level organic products.

We can make our own.

And there are recipes out there on the Internet, our own face wash, our own shampoos.

Personally, I'm a little lazy, so I will buy and I will pay what might seem like a premium dollar, but then my hair is not leading, is not falling out, or I'm not getting a disease, or I'm not getting a poor microbiome that's leading to receding gums and cavities and mouth ulcers.

That also affects our whole bodies, our oral microbial, affects our gut microbiome, vaginal microbiome.

We're not separate.

So I designed a course that has all the modules in it.

So, for instance, you can do your own acupoint stimulation without needles.

You can do it with an infrared light, you can do it with a tens machine.

And because infertility and IVF is a stressful experience in the course, I also included sort of mind body guided meditations.

We've seen in research, again, that it can be as stressful to struggle with infertility as it is to struggle with a cancer diagnosis or some other life threatening disease.

The data is there to back that up.

So I wanted to make sure I added that mind body component.

And then there's a series of qigong, all of which are designed to help a person recognize where in a menstrual cycle she is.

And I'm going to use the pronoun she, so forgive me, and then have a mind body relationship with what's going on right now so that she can influence what's going on right now so she can include this targeted circulation to her overseas from the end of her menstrual flow to either ovulation or egg retrieval in a cycle.

And it's been so rewarding.

It's not about taking my word for it.

On my website, there are testimonials from these women who have just been told, forget about it.

You need donor a, you're too old and they're conceiving naturally or having.

In one case I'm thinking of went through IDF unsuccessfully two times this happened.

Coworker with their first child, unsuccessfully.

Did the program, was able to get pregnant two years later.

Fast forward.

Did IVF without the program unsuccessfully came into the program and then was able to get pregnant again.

So rocket science, but it is science.

So this is step by step, each week of your cycle.

It includes, these are the foods that are ideal to eat at this time in your cycle.

And this is why it's through the filter, the lens of chinese medicine.

That's my area of background, and I use what's called a five element model of chinese medicine that also includes the emotional component.

Because we're not all cookie cutter, we're not all the same.

If you and I have a problem, we may respond differently, and I may respond with anger and irritability, and you may respond weeping and crying.

And those responses, those emotional responses, will help me in the five element chinese medicine model.

Say, ah, this is your five element constitution, if you will, your proclivity, and here's how you can help support that.

Again, it just empowers us to be able to say, ah, I'm seen and I can help myself and I can help others.

I'm going to give western medicine a break and say, they're as caught up in the problem as we are in that.

How can you give all the information in a seven minute consultation, which they're required, make sure that they process all of these patients?

And so, and they're not trained.

They're not trained in nutrition.

They get in their, whatever.

Eleven years of training, maybe 20 hours, if that, of nutrition.

So that's like asking your mechanic to do cardiac surgery, open heart surgery, right?

So we just, you know, we need to support each other.

And that's, if I may, again, I'm excited about this thing that I'm doing in that I'm putting together a summit, an immersive series.

It will air in January.

And I brought together IVF docs, reproductive urologists, naturopathic physicians, gosh, IVF coaches, acupuncturists, psychiatrists, to show that we are really in our field, arms linked in wanting to support our patients and give them our clients, whatever we call them, and give them the best care and outcomes.

Because I think out there in the world of the Internet with searches, it can really feel like we are each at odds with each other, really, when you're understanding the inner circles, if you will.

Maybe there are some outliers who want to say IVF bad, only natural conception good, or vice versa.

And those who are in the IVF field saying those people are dangerous because you might be missing your window.

Neither is 100% correct, and both have rationale.

I really like to see and share that we really do work together on behalf of our patients.

I'll be sure to share with you when that drops.

And with your permission, I'll share with you the links to my website.

There's actually a quiz that someone can take for their five element constitutional type.

It's just called yourfertilityquiz.com.

and you'll get a report that says based on your answers, this would be your five element fertility type.

And here are some ways in which you can help sort of get yourself back into balance.

These are ways you might find yourself out of balance.

These are ways you can find yourself back into balance.

And that's all free.

And then if somebody says, oh, I'm really interested in this, and I really want to concede, then the course is there for you.

Include it in the course includes these devices that I talked about, these infrared machine and tens unit.

Because that's another thing.

And you probably call running for all of these appointments when you're trying to have a work life in a relationship.

It's crazy making to have to do all of these appointments.

So to be able to just do it when you wake up in the morning or before you go to bed at night, and know that you really are doing as much, if not more, because you're doing it six times a week, not once or twice a week, to really improve your outcomes.

I think that that is so helpful and empowering.

I wish that there would be more comprehensive centers because you do need to physically go into the IVF facility.

So to be able to really have something like my program be part of the experience when you walk in the door, because you need to get your labs, you may need to get some diagnostic testing, you may need to get some treatment before you go through the actual stim.

All of that time you can be using to improve your outcomes.

So I wish, if I were, if I ruled the world of IVF, then every center would have this accessibility.

Again, you don't have to be physically in the office because that's more time, but just to know that this is available for you so that you can improve your outcomes.

And once again, this is where I get on my soapbox.

Not just your outcome, but the future.

I mean, really the future of our world is dependent upon how well you improve your whole health and your fertile.

And once again, I even challenge the word infertility, because I really think we're struggling with subfertility based upon our lifestyle, based upon toxic load.

If I were to just say it in one word and all of that could be reversed, we could reverse infertility.

There'll be people who are going to need IVF, same sex couples.

If somebody's had a diagnosis of cancer and needs to quickly harvest some eggs or embryos, there will be a place for that.

Or if somebody just starts later in life, nature is dictating that later in life, from the ages 36, 37 to 43, which is a pretty large contingent of people starting for the first time.

Life is just presented that way.

They are going to benefit from IDF, they are going to benefit from the insurance policy, if you will, of having embryos in storage for when it's time to grow their family.

And I don't want to share too much of my personal belief system, but just to say, in a nutshell, we wouldn't have IVF if the greater intelligence, power, God, whatever you call, didn't say, okay, you little ones, you little humans, we're going to let you figure this out.

Now.

It didn't come out of the blue.

Any idea that comes into form that then develops into all the way to science existed.

And so I think that IVF is something that we've been given permission to step into you, which is why I feel that it is really a blessing for so many.

I think that perspective lets me take this boogeyman image out of it, that there are evil doctors at play and at prey here.

And I just think that's impossible, Frank.

Whether it's political discourse, public discourse, kitchen table discourse, and that's maybe a silver lining to the dilemma that we're all living through, is that it really has elevated the conversation and it is kind of a current hash metoo movement where I, even in this summit that I just mentioned I'm putting together many of these guest expert speakers revealed that their families were IVF families, or that they had struggled with infertility.

And it's really so beautiful, because I didn't know.

I mean, I know these people as professionals, and that they would reveal this as part of their presentation was just so heart centering and connecting.

It makes us all realize we're all in this together.

And if I may, I just had a thought, because I think for the topic here, how I ally my other big dream is to have this be also in the awareness of the employee benefits manager, human resources department, we're seeing lots of, you know, lots of movement, and it's wonderful toward providing fertility benefits through the corporate world.

And yet, once again, if you're just paying a claim, then you are still working with this person who is having her IVF experience back to my beginning, exactly how she is, which is then going to need multiple retrievals, which then becomes a bigger expense.

If you're listening out there, any employee benefits managers or directors, you could pay for one retrieval cycle versus three retrieval cycles, which is to say 30,000 versus about 100,000.

And all the time that it takes for that person to be out of the workforce fully, and the emotional toll that this is taking on this person, that employee is going to be like, oh, my goodness, it's not just for money.

You actually care about me as a human being and my experience.

And then that person is going to be more, I would say, in gratitude to the company itself, to the company culture.

If you had to go into your human resources department, say, you know, I need to do idea for whatever reason, and that employee benefits manager or the department itself had this all spelled out, you almost immediately have an experience of, oh, it's going to be okay, as opposed to, oh, boy, here we go.

You know, we're just going to throw spaghetti at the wall and see what happens.

All that anxiety that produces, and it wants to get all that time away from work and productivity, that's what.

That's what would get me on board if I were the employee benefits manager or the company owner or the CEO of a big conglomerate.

When you're dealing with thousands or tens of thousands of people, you're going to save millions of dollars and you're going to earn countless, it's just incalculable amount goodwill and trust with your employees.