Fertility Is a Whole-Body Health Issue: Root Causes, IVF, Miscarriage & Hope with Gabriela Rosa EP368

So that's why it's so important to be able to really truly understand the picture and understand what are the minor factors that are getting in the way.

Because for most couples who The reason as to why they don't conceive or carry a healthy pregnancy to term is not because we're missing a uterus, is not because we're missing an ovary, is not because we're missing testicles.

It's actually because of something much, much smaller than that.

And I call them minor factors.

There was a really interesting fertility prediction model that was developed in the 90s but still applies today, which is when a couple who's experiencing difficulty to pregnancy and conception and birth are assessed, on the overall, so in the general population, 96.3% of couples will conceive within two years.

And so this is another one of the big issues that we find when couples are actually struggling.

Because what happens is that it's almost delayed.

That whole conversation gets delayed and pushed over because it's like, well, you know what? these people are probably still going to conceive within the two-year mark, even though infertility is defined as 12 months of trying to conceive without success.

And so what happens is that in the system, in the healthcare system, and when it comes to public health, the job of public health, as much as it is such an important function in the healthcare system, is to do the absolute very minimal amount of anything for the most number of people.

What that means when we're talking about fertility and when we're talking about difficulty conceiving is that the majority of people are never going to need any help.

This is why we hear the people who essentially get drunk on an oops one night stand and end up getting pregnant.

That's why we hear that, this person, they just decided to get pregnant and they conceived the first try, or they just got off the pill and they're pregnant.

We hear those stories because they are extremely common.

On the other side of that, one in six couples

experience fertility difficulties.

And so what happens is that we certainly don't focus anywhere near enough on that 4% or 3 point something percent that actually has difficulty because the majority don't.

And so the conversation becomes very focused on pregnancy, babies, having a baby, and that is essentially where it ends.

Now, when we are having difficulty, then we have to think about this from a completely different perspective because you're not going to get the same level of support and the same level of assistance to get pregnant, from the healthcare system at least, that you will if you are pregnant.

trying to go through and deliver that baby.

You see, the level of support and resources that are going to be allocated to women that are pregnant is infinitely bigger because it's the majority of the population than to women who are actually struggling with the same opposite problem.

And it's not fair, but it's how it is.

And so if we understand that, we also need to understand that a lot of the change that is going to come is going to come from you not actually stopping to ask the questions.

not stopping from wanting more and asking for more and advocating for yourself.

Because if you don't advocate for yourself in the healthcare system in relation to this, the only thing that's going to happen is that you're going to be told you need to go and do IVF.

When IVF fails, you're going to be told that you need to do donor egg.