‘Fertility coaching’: can it help women conceive?
(sz) When Anya Sizer was enduring IVF, her sessions of ‘Fertility coaching’ were a lifeline. [...] new alternative therapy.
Anya Sizer’s garden is scattered with toys – just the way she always wanted it. Yet there were moments when this happy scene with Hope, five, and Barney, 22 months, was a distant dream. Soon after marrying at 23, she and her husband Damion started trying for a baby. But when months went by, they decided to investigate.
The result was devastating: tests showed that Damion had azoospermia, where there is no sperm in the ejaculate. The couple were given a one in 125,000 chance of getting pregnant and told that IVF was unlikely to help. “It was like someone had hit me,” says Sizer. “You have to suddenly face issues you never thought you’d ever have to think about.”
They decided to give IVF a try anyway, and Sizer became pregnant on the first attempt. Having always dreamt of a big family, however, there was another blow when she was diagnosed as pre-menopausal and found to be producing only a limited number of eggs. They underwent another four rounds of IVF and, after two miscarriages, Sizer fell pregnant with Barney.
During her six-year struggle, Sizer explored every avenue possible that might help them conceive. “It becomes like a really sick hobby,” she says. “All of our life was either acupuncture, eating healthily or coaching. You become so tunnel-visioned unless you really work at it. From the outside, I think people don’t understand what it’s like, how focused and one-tracked you can become.”
It is an increasingly common experience among British women; with an IVF success rate of only one in four using fresh eggs, couples are looking at alternative ways to aid their fertility. The one thing Sizer felt was really beneficial was talking to a fertility coach, who focuses on the emotions and insecurities evoked by infertility and IVF. more…
From: »The Independent«