Infertility –defined as the inability to get pregnant after one year of unprotected sex--affects one in six couples in Canada and that number goes up to 50% for women over 40.
But the good news is that, with help, most couples can now achieve their dream of having a baby. 
For Rajwinder Panesar-Walawege the journey to motherhood was a physically and emotionally difficult one. She suffered 2 ectopic pregnancies (where the fertilized egg implants in the woman’s tube instead of her uterus) and lost both her tubes.
After two failed in vitro fertilization (IVF) attempts she finally turned to Dr Lorne Brown, a fertility acupuncturist and clinical director at Acubalance Wellness Centre –the first Chinese Medicine clinic in BC to focus on fertility and reproductive health.
“What impressed me about Dr Brown was how incredibly thorough he was.” says Rajwinder. “He did all sorts of tests and left no stone unturned in trying to figure out why my IVF cycles had failed. I had a personalized treatment plan that included herbs and regular acupuncture as well as diet and stress reduction recommendations that helped correct my imbalance and get my body in the best shape possible for my IVF.”
This integrative approach--which involves combining high tech fertility treatments like in vitro fertilization with natural therapies like acupuncture, diet and mind body techniques like mindfulness meditation –has been shown to increase the odds of having a healthy baby.
“Integrative fertility treatment also provides women with the emotional support they need on their fertility journey.” Says Dr Lorne Brown who is co-chair of the Integrative Fertility Symposium in Vancouver April 30th to May 3.rd 
“Western medicine is brilliant at getting the egg and sperm together but it doesn’t have many tools for treating either the underlying cause or the anxiety and distress that is associated with infertility.
More wholistic approaches like Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) work to correct any imbalances that may be affecting the health of the egg and/or sperm or the receptivity of the uterus. And acupuncture, in particular, has been shown to reduce stress hormones and increase pregnancy rates.”
Science is showing that imbalances in hormones like insulin, thyroid and cortisol (a stress hormone) can interfere with a woman’s ability to ripen or release an egg or with implantation or the ability to carry a baby to term. 
A groundbreaking study to be published in June, 2015 in the Reproductive BioMedicine Online Journal involved looking at the effect of Traditional Chinese Medicine on live births rates for women who were going through IVF treatments. In the study, research subjects were divided into three groups: women who chose IVF alone: women who had two treatments of acupuncture on the day of IVF: and a third group who received Traditional Chinese Medicine (acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, dietary recommendations) throughout their treatment. The study found that women who had Traditional Chinese Medicine had almost double the live birth rate compared to those who had IVF alone. 
“This is good preliminary evidence that suggests TCM as it’s practiced in the real world may positively impact IVF outcomes,” says lead researcher Lee Hullender-Rubin.
After months of herbal treatment, acupuncture and a significant weight loss Rajwinder was finally ready to try IVF again. She was able to produce 20 eggs (an unusually high number for a woman over 40) and managed to get pregnant on her second try at IVF. 
“Dr Brown worked with me throughout my entire pregnancy and I was in superb health the whole time. It was a dream pregnancy.”
Rajwinder carried her twins to term and gave birth at 38 weeks to 2 healthy baby boys. “It’s like a dream come true.” she says.

FREE PUBLIC TALK:
Dr Jason Hitkari (reproductive endocrinologist), Lorne Brown (fertility acupuncturist) and Kali MacIsaac (Naturopathic Physician) will be presenting a talk about integrative fertility treatment.
When: Sunday May 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Where: SFU Vancouver at Harbour Centre (Room 1900 - 515 West Hastings Street)
To reserve your seat go to  acubalance.ca