Navigating your fertility journey

A recent Statistics Canada report shows that infertility in Canada has nearly doubled in the last two decades with one in six Canadian couples of childbearing age struggling to conceive. Infertility is a medical condition that can leave people feeling isolated, confused, heartbroken and helpless.

“With all the breakthroughs in fertility treatment, we can help most women achieve a pregnancy. There are so many more tools in our toolkit for treating infertility. We are particularly excited about recent tests used in IVF that can indicate the chromosomal health of the embryo.” Says Olive Victoria fertility specialist Dr. Ginevra Mills MD, FRCSC.

While medical science has made great strides in diagnosing and treating infertility, the social stigma of infertility remains. One of the most devastating aspects of infertility is the feeling of isolation, loneliness, and helplessness it creates.

Stephanie Curran, an acupuncturist, and clinical director at Elements of Health clinic in Victoria treats women and men with fertility issues and has endured her own challenging journey to motherhood.

“After working with a specialty in acupuncture and fertility support for 10 years, I found myself in the ironic situation of embarking on my own fertility journey. I was shocked to find out at 35 that I had a poor ovarian reserve.” Says Stephanie.

Over the course of two years, Curran did everything to optimize her overall health and well-being with acupuncture, herbs, changes in diet, exercise, yoga, and meditation practice as well as seeing a fertility specialist and having assisted reproductive treatments including two IVF cycles.

“At Olive, we take a whole-person approach to patient care,” says Dr. Mills. “That means that in addition to using the most advanced medical techniques, we encourage patients to adopt evidence-based wellness and lifestyle changes that help optimize their fertility and well-being.”

Increasingly, studies are showing that following a Mediterranean style low glycemic diet, exercise and stress management may be effective in restoring balance and optimizing the conditions for conception and healthy pregnancy. Mindfulness, in particular, has been shown to reduce stress hormones and may help increase pregnancy rates.

In addition to being an acupuncturist, Stephanie is a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) instructor. “My doctor told me the news of my very low AMH 2hrs before I was leaving for a week-long silent meditation retreat!! During the retreat, I observed all the gymnastics my heart and mind went through and in the end, none of what I shed so many tears about actually even happened. I found mindfulness practice was so helpful to me through the distress of not knowing if I would ever be a mom that I’m passionate about teaching it and supporting others.”

After two years of fertility treatment Stephanie and her husband Chris, a massage therapist, were thrilled to welcome their beautiful daughter Shae.

“At Olive, we are immensely proud of our lab and our science and are also committed to using any evidence-based technique that will help patients navigate the emotional ups and downs of fertility treatment. We are very excited that Olive will have a world-class state-of-the-art IVF clinic in Victoria in the fall of 2023 so that Island patients will be able to access all their fertility treatments close to home.” Says Dr. Mills.