Dr Susan Fox Of Health Youniversity On Navigating the Challenges of Infertility and IVF
An Interview With Lucinda Koza
Assemble your expert support team. Oftentimes, this is a good time to engage the help of a therapist, who can assist in spelunking some of the subconscious issues affecting fertility, and certainly affecting one’s relationships — intimate, family, work.
Infertility and the journey through IVF are challenges that many individuals and couples face, often accompanied by emotional, physical, and financial stress. Despite advancements in reproductive technology, the process can be isolating and fraught with uncertainty. How can we better support those navigating infertility and IVF, and what strategies can help manage the various challenges along the way? As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Susan Fox.
Dr. Susan Fox, DACM, LAc, FABORM, brings more than 20 years experience as an expert in the field of reproductive health and fertility, In her private practice and in her courses at Health Youniversity, she combines modern science with Traditional Chinese Medicine to optimize women’s & couples’ success in their IVF journey. Realizing that the need is greater than those who can see her in person, she designed the Your Fertile Health program at Health Youniversity, which includes protocols for physical, physiological and emotional well-being to better prep for a successful IVF. And the best part is that these can all be done in the comfort of one’s own home, avoiding the need to get to even more appointments. The Your Fertile Health Program revolutionizes the way individuals approach their reproductive health, prepping the nest for IVF or natural conception.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you tell us a bit about you and your backstory?
I came to Chinese Medicine as a patient, when conventional medicine was flummoxed with what was causing and how to treat digestive complaints. At my first acupuncture treatment, I was able to connect the stress and grief I was then undergoing to my symptoms. Both a physical and emotional release began the pivot to wellness and also began my love for the wisdom of this medicine. Fast forward decades, I switched careers and earned first my Master’s degree and then my Doctorate in Chinese Medicine. The timing was concurrent with research that demonstrated acupuncture improving implantation rates at transfer. Again, fast forward decades, and we have a sizable body of research from which to draw conclusions that Whole Systems Traditional Chinese Medicine, of which acupuncture is but one tool of the trade, provides significant increase in success with embryo quality, implantation and live birth outcomes.
Describe the process of patients realizing they had challenges with fertility. What was the level of access to resources available to them in order to see the right doctors, run the right tests, etc?
For the majority of my patients, access to resources is not an issue, as the San Francisco Bay Area has a number of excellent clinics. However, cost can be prohibitive if people don’t have access to fertility benefits as part of their employee benefits programs. Moreover, many don’t realize that they can have a beneficial or detrimental impact on outcomes depending on their nutrition — are they eating organic? Are they using a high-quality filtration for their drinking water? Are they implementing stress-reduction techniques? Do they have good sleep hygiene so that their bodies can repair and remodel during deep sleep?
Did they keep this realization private? If so, why?
Many do keep their IVF journeys private, for they understand that it’s not a one and done. Oftentimes they are disappointed with their follicle count, egg retrievals, how many made it to blastocyst stage, how many made it through testing. It can be burdensome to have others question along the process when the person/couple doesn’t have the answers for themselves, let alone to share with others.
How much did this realization affect their sense of self, or call into question your plans for your future?
Nobody expects that their journey to parenthood will require assisted reproductive technologies. When faced with the prospect of not becoming a parent, there is an existential crisis they share. Their bodies have failed them, or they failed their bodies; if they’ve had an abortion earlier in life, they feel they are being punished. As they watch friends and community seemingly get pregnant easily, they feel ostracized. Truly, if they really took in the fact that a full 20% of the US population is determined to struggle, and of that 20% at least 40% are male factor issues, they would begin to see that there is something larger at play — lifestyle, toxins, etc. — and they would have agency to make changes to improve their health, their reproductive health and, not being hyperbolic here — the health of future generations via epigenetic improvements.
Following through with the complete process of fertility testing and treatment can be absolutely grueling for your body for what could be years. How did they cope with constant procedures, medications, hormones?
My patients and clients are given the tools they need to help process and detox from excessive hormones, to recover from procedures quicker and to have better outcomes for their second or third retrieval (if they had poor outcome with the first)
Was there a point at which they felt as if their body wasn’t their own? If so, how have you been able to reclaim it? Explain.
Without a doubt, these people are some of the most courageous I’ve met. Subjecting themselves to a barrage of bloodwork, pelvic exams, surgeries literally puts them into the hands of their medical team. I’m constantly educating them on the purpose for each test so that they are better engaged with their body’s experience and are equal in decision making on what course of action to take.
Can you please share “5 Things You Need to Navigate the Challenges of Infertility and IVF”?
If you can, kindly share a story or example for each.
1 . Ideally, before you schedule your first appointment with a clinic, you take the time to make sure your body, mind and emotions are in optimal condition for the rigor of the IVF journey. In fact, this first step can be the very thing that makes IVF unnecessary, for when a body is in peak performance, barring structural issues preventing sperm to meet egg or an embryo to implant, pregnancy can occur.
2 . Assemble an expert team. Realize that your IVF doctor is expert at stimulating eggs, retrieving eggs, making embryos in the lab, and transferring embryos to a trilaminar uterus. But they may not have the time to coach on your nutrition, supplementation, hydration, circulation, restoration through sleep. And Dr. Google is not the expert at this, either. There are resources such as the Acupuncture & TCM Board of Reproductive Medicine (www.aborm.org), where Fellows can help with getting those organs and tissues ready for success. Do acupuncture, photobiomodulation and TEAS (transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation) to increase blood flow to ovaries and uterus, which make them better responsive to medication.
3 . Assemble your expert support team. Oftentimes, this is a good time to engage the help of a therapist, who can assist in spelunking some of the subconscious issues affecting fertility, and certainly affecting one’s relationships — intimate, family, work.
4 . Definitely detox with organic, pesticide-free foods, purified water, and proper supplementation (it’s a wild, wild west out there in the land of supplements). Ideally at least 3 months prior to beginning stimulation medications. And again at least three months before a frozen embryo transfer. If there’s time, perhaps test for levels of environmental toxins in your blood with a DIY kit such as Million Marker.
5 . Find something other than the IVF or fertility journey that makes you feel whole, well and perfect just as you are. Sometimes we get so far away from remembering this that I invite people to recall what they loved to do as a prepubescent child. Read? Write? Play Sports? Act? Sing? Do these things Every . Single . Day.
A woman’s drive and desire to be a mother could be completely personal, simple, or nuanced. It could also be a bold imperative. I believe mothering and caregiving is the most essential labor toward creating a better society. Would you share what has driven you to work so hard and sacrifice so much toward this goal?
For me, it’s the moral imperative to help create a better future. Creating the environment where an embryo -> fetus -> baby -> child -> adult can be best supported to realize his or her creative potential and continue to improve life for all beings begins with how we take care of ourselves right now. It’s never too late.
Wonderful. We are nearly done. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)?
Kamala Harris, to put in systems and in motion the changes we need for women, mothers, girls and boys.
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
Reversing Infertility Starting Now.
How can our readers follow your work online?
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.
About the Interviewer: After becoming her father’s sole caregiver at a young age, Lucinda Koza founded I-Ally, a community-based app that provides access to services and support for millennial family caregivers. Mrs. Koza has had essays published in Thought Catalog, Medium Women, Caregiving.com and Hackernoon.com. She was featured in ‘Founded by Women: Inspiration and Advice from over 100 Female Founders’ by Sydney Horton. A filmmaker, Mrs. Koza premiered short film ‘Laura Point’ at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and recently co-directed ‘Caregivers: A Story About Them’ with Egyptian filmmaker Roshdy Ahmed. Her most notable achievement, however, has been becoming a mother to fraternal twins in 2023. Reach out to Lucinda via social media or directly by email: lucinda@i-ally.com.
