Macleans Magazine - An ancient helper for making a baby

Many parents swear by acupuncture for increased fertility

After more than a year of trying to get pregnant, Vancouverite Karen Racey found herself having a Sex and the City moment. Like the TV character Charlotte, she was having trouble conceiving. But unlike Charlotte, Racey was trying for her second child after an easy first pregnancy. Still, she was in her mid-30s and didn't want it to take too long. Then, just as Charlotte did and a growing number of women in North America are doing, Racey sought out an acupuncture clinic. "I had heard about acupuncture through friends," says Racey, now 36. "And treating the whole body as a system made sense to me." She started going to weekly sessions and was pregnant within two months. "I have no proof it was the acupuncture that did it," she acknowledges. "But I was a lot more relaxed and at ease with things. I felt really healthy and in tune with my body. And if nothing else, my trips to the clinic were like going to the spa."

There are few scientific studies on the efficacy of acupuncture in treating infertility. Several, though, do indicate acupuncture increases blood flow to the reproductive organs, which could improve egg quality. Those studies also suggest acupuncture helps balance hormones that can even out menstrual cycles, and that there are more positive pregnancy tests after acupuncture for in vitro fertilization (IVF) patients. Despite the expected resistance of Western doctors to acupuncture as a legitimate fertility treatment, women are increasingly turning to it as a way to "optimize" and balance their bodies before fertility treatments or, quite simply, to help them get pregnant naturally. "It's not magic," says Lorne Brown, who runs Acubalance Wellness Centre, a Vancouver clinic specializing in Chinese medicine and fertility. "But we can turn back your reproductive clock. I can't obviously make anyone younger, but biologically there's a chance. With age, blood flow is impeded, and acupuncture has been shown to improve blood flow."

by Cori Howard

Published Jan 23 2006

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