Is your period too heavy, too long, too light, or nonexistent? Here are six things that cause irregular periods - plus how to regulate your menstrual cycle.

“In man, the shedding of blood is always associated with injury, disease, or death,” said Dr Estelle Ramey. “Only the female half of humanity was seen to have the magical ability to bleed profusely and still rise phoenix-like each month from the gore.”

Your period is a wonderful thing, my friends…even if it seems like a curse! To learn how magical menstruation can be, click on The Venus Week: Discover the Powerful Secret of Your Cycle at Any Age by Rebecca Booth. And, read on for six things that cause irregular periods - and how to regulate your menstrual cycle… Read more »

Here’s hope for women who lost their fertility because of cancer treatments (or other reasons): doctors are practicing ovarian transplants to help with conceiving a baby.

“We are in the middle of a massive global infertility epidemic, caused by the new structure of our society where women choose not to have children until they are older,” said Dr. Sherman Silber, Director of the St. Louis Infertility Centre. “As a result, many of them become infertile because of the aging of their eggs and ovaries.”

For more info on how a cancer diagnosis and treatments affect fertility in women, click Oncofertility: Fertility Preservation for Cancer Survivors by Teresa Woodruff and Karrie Ann Snyder. And, read on to learn how ovarian transplants work for infertile women with cancer… Read more »

Visualization and vision boards aren’t guaranteed to increase fertility levels - but surrounding yourself with images of the life you want may help you get pregnant! So, I’ve rounded up tips for creating a vision board for fertility….

Before the tips, a quip:

“You must see your goals clearly and specifically before you can set out for them,” said Les Brown. “Hold them in your mind until they become second nature.”

Whether your goal is to get pregnant naturally, conceive a baby through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or secure an overseas adoption - a vision board can help you achieve your goals. For more info on getting pregnant, click on The Fertility Journal: A Day-to-Day Guide to Getting Pregnant by Kim Hahn, the Editors of Conceive Magazine, and Jeffrey Sher. Read more »

It’s overwhelming when you can’t get pregnant naturally and need to choose an infertility clinic! Here are five tips to help guide you towards the right fertility specialist…

And remember: the reported numbers of successful pregnancies aren’t necessarily what they seem.

Dr. John Rapisarda of the Fertility Centers of Illinois - one of the nation’s leading infertility treatment centers - explains that physicians and clinics have different criteria that limit entry into their IVF programs. More restrictive criteria leads to higher pregnancy rates, because women with the best prognosis are eligible for fertility treatments. “This may then limit access to services for some couples who are less likely to get pregnant, making it difficult to directly compare statistics between programs,” says Dr Rapisarda.

So, don’t be misled by pregnancy statistics, rates of in vitro pregnancy, or numbers of babies born when you’re choosing an infertility clinic. Click on The Complete Guide to IVF: An Inside View of Fertility Clinics and Treatments by Kate Brian for more info, and read on for five tips for choosing an infertility clinic… Read more »

Everything you eat can increase or decrease your fertility levels - so check out these foods to avoid for increased fertility levels, especially if you’re a couple coping with infertility or trying to get pregnant!

“We know that certain pollutants and chemicals in the environment can affect both male and female fertility, and there may be many more substances that we come into contact with in everyday life that combine to form a ‘toxic cocktail’ with unknown long-term consequences,” writes Marilyn Glenville, PhD, in Natural Solutions to Infertility: How to Increase Your Chances of Conceiving and Preventing Miscarriage.

She recommends the following tips to make sure the toxins, pesticides, and insecticides in food don’t decrease your fertility levels. And for more info on her book, click on Natural Solutions to Infertility. Read more »

IVF, IUI, adoption - there are many possibilities for couples coping with infertility! But, the time may come when it’s better to simply accept a childfree life.

Easier said than done, right?  But listen…

“The willingness to win OR lose moves us out of an adversarial relationship to life and into a powerful kind of openness,” writes Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen in Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories That Heal. “From such a position, we can make a greater commitment to life.”

Kitchen Table Wisdom is one of my all-time favorite books because it’s all about accepting both the bitter and the sweet parts of life. Dr Remen is an oncologist who never had children. She struggled with Crohn’s Disease for most her life, and when she was in her 20s had surgery to remove most of her intestines. Remen knows failure and heartache…and she teaches people how to bounce back to live full, passionate lives. Read more »

A Loyola University reproductive specialist has linked male infertility to excessive use of laptops - and offers tips for overcoming male infertility.

According to Loyola, 40% of fertility issues are attributed to males. Causes of male infertility include varicocoeles (enlarged varicose veins in the scrotum, which can raise the temperature in the testicles and damage or kill sperm), genital injuries or defects, certain sexually transmitted infections, prostatitis (an infection or inflammation of the prostate), immune and hormonal disorders, and erectile dysfunction.

For more info about male fertility, click on The Male Biological Clock: The Startling News About Aging, Sexuality, and Fertility in Men by Harry Fisch and Stephen Braun. And, read on for tips for overcoming male infertility caused by laptop computers… Read more »

Colette Bouchez of the Getting Pregnant Now website describes new research. Getting more sun exposure could be a key factor in increasing fertility and helping you get pregnant faster! 

“For decades - or longer - gynecologists and even some fertility experts have been advising couples to ‘take a vacation’ if they want to get pregnant,” says Bouchez. “The idea behind the suggestion was to reduce stress - and it was often the first line of defense for couples suffering with ‘unexplained’ infertility. Now, however, new research shows there may be an even stronger scientific reason why so many couples get pregnant when they go on vacation - particularly to a warm sunny climate.  The connecting link between sunny vacations and pregnancy is none other than Vitamin D!”

After you get pregnant - or in anticipation of the blessed day - click on Bouchez’s book The Perfectly Pampered Pregnancy: Beauty, Health, and Lifestyle Advice for the Modern Mother-to-Be. And, read on for Bouchez’s explanation of increasing your chances of pregnancy through sun exposure… Read more »

A fitness and fertility expert from Pulling Down The Moon shares the right exercises for fertility - including the best activities to increase your odds of conception.

“Studies show that pregnancy success rates decline as a woman’s weight increases,” say these fertility specialists. “However, while many women are busy shaping up for spring and summer, and trying to lose weight to boost conception odds, they may not realize that some exercises may keep them from getting pregnant!”

For more info on fertility and exercise, click on Restoring Fertility. And, read on for research about fertility rates, in vitro fertilization (IVF) success rates, and exercise - plus five activities to increase your chances of conceiving from fertility expert Beth Heller. Read more »

If you’re like us - a couple coping with infertility - you might be interested in our list of benefits and drawbacks of in vitro fertilization (IVF)…this could help you decide if IVF is right for you!

First, here’s a quip that shows that it doesn’t matter if you have your children through in vitro fertilization, adoption, a surrogate mother, or fostering…

“It is not flesh and blood but the heart which makes us fathers and sons,” said Johann Schiller.

When listing the drawbacks of in vitro fertilization, I never once considered the possibility that I may not love my child - even if we have to involve sperm donors and petri dishes! It really is the heart that creates families; it doesn’t matter how familes are actually created. For more info about fertility specialists, click on Doctor, Are You Listening? A Couple’s Struggle to Find the Right Infertility Doctor by Dr Masood Khatamee and Linda Perelman Pohl. And, read on for my benefits and drawbacks of in vitro fertilization… Read more »