Participants: Amy Wellard, Cherie Lon Fernandez
Series Code: WM
Program Code: WM000438
00:36 My name is Amy Wellard
00:37 I'm from the "Wildwood Lifestyle Center" in Georgia 00:40 and with me today is Dr. Cherie Lon Fernandez 00:42 Welcome Dr. Cherie Lon... Thank you 00:44 Today, we're going to be talking about a very, very sensitive 00:48 topic - fertility and infertility 00:52 Now, Dr. Cherie Lon, this is a very pertinent subject 00:55 for myself actually. 00:57 My husband and I, we tried to conceive for 00:59 several years - I think it was about 4 years 01:01 before the Lord blessed my womb, so-to-speak, 01:04 opened my womb, as the Bible says, 01:06 and blessed us with a lovely and healthy son 01:09 which I'm very thankful for. 01:10 But I can really relate to the struggle that so many women 01:14 are going through in fertility, 01:16 and not being able to conceive, 01:18 and all the struggles, emotional struggles that go with that. 01:21 So tell us, how does a woman know technically 01:25 whether she's fertile or not? 01:27 When it comes to that time, she wants to have a baby 01:29 ...how does she know if her body is going to be able to do it? 01:31 First, if you were going to go back to the previous... 01:37 if your cycles are regular, most likely, you will. 01:42 If you have a regular cycle and there are not so many 01:46 problems associated with it, 01:52 you're most likely going to have a baby, 01:54 BUT if you've been married for a year, 01:57 and you have had uncontrolled sexual intercourse, 02:05 and you've not had a baby, 02:07 you probably are infertile... 02:10 And/or if you are married and above 35 years old, 02:14 and have not had controlled sexual intercourse 02:21 for 6 months, you fall under the category of 02:24 people who are infertile. 02:27 And of course, infertility increases as we get older. 02:31 I think 35 is the point where things start becoming 02:33 a little more difficult. Yes 02:35 So typically a woman that cannot conceive... 02:41 the problem is considered hers generally. 02:44 We tend to think of the woman as being the problem, 02:46 but it could just as well be the man, is that right? 02:48 That's true... the statistics will say that 02:53 when a couple comes in for infertility workup, 02:57 you know, they have been having it one year 02:59 and they don't have a baby, 03:01 and we try and see where the problem is. 03:04 You know, I had a patient who came into my clinic one day, 03:07 and she was with several other doctors 03:10 from year after year after year - 7 years in fact... 03:14 She was going to different doctors hoping that she 03:18 could get pregnant and she came to me 03:20 and I said, "Well, where's your husband" 03:24 I tried to do follow-up on her, 03:26 but I couldn't get her pregnant for 6 months! 03:30 And I said, "Probably let's just check your husband first" 03:33 It turned out that it was her husband! 03:37 So thirteen percent, I mean one-third of infertility cases, 03:42 you can say the woman has the problem... 03:45 One-third of cases you could say the man has the problem... 03:50 And the other third is BOTH of them have problems. 03:55 So actually, the man could be 03:57 just as much the problem as the woman? Yes 03:59 Well that's news to me. 04:00 So if the man is really having some fertility issues, 04:03 what could be the cause? 04:05 Okay, there are 2 causes really, but it's just intertwined. 04:11 One is probably the man cannot produce the sperm. 04:19 There must be problems in his testicles 04:23 that sperm is not being produced. 04:25 Examples of this is - how can you get your testicles 04:31 not to produce sperm? 04:32 When you are in an environment that always hot, 04:37 you know - your body's temperature is always high, 04:42 and sperm is not produced. 04:45 When a person takes illicit drugs, 04:48 it ruins the testicles from producing sperm. 04:53 When the person wears tight Jockeys, 04:58 and it makes the hugging on the body, 05:03 increasing the temperature of the testicles, 05:07 the sperm is not made and there are so many other circumstances 05:14 ...Not even eating well and infections of the testicles 05:20 can cause the testicles not to produce sperm. 05:25 And are there any other physiological reason 05:29 from inside the man, for example - varicose veins? 05:32 Oh yes, yes, yes - 05:34 He may be able to produce the sperm. 05:38 Let's say the testicles are fine they're working fine 05:40 producing their stuff from day-to-day; 05:43 however, if the passageway of the sperm to go out 05:48 is clogged, such as they may have varicosities, 05:52 you know - varicosities that are choking 05:56 the passageway of the sperm - sperm cannot go out. 05:59 Or if he had infections in the past that would scar 06:06 the epididymis, you call that, 06:07 it's like the one that matures the sperm on top of your testes. 06:11 It's the structure before it goes into your passageway. 06:16 It can be scarred and there's no more passage. 06:19 So you have the sperm, but there's no passage, 06:22 so you don't get the sperm. 06:24 And is it possible the sperm could be mutated in some way 06:29 so that even though it arrives in the right place, 06:31 it just doesn't have the materials to make it happen. 06:35 There are, if you would look under the microscope, 06:37 and when you're doing a sperm count, 06:39 you'd see a lot of normal cells in a normal person, 06:42 but there are times when there are double-headed sperm, 06:46 and funny-looking dumbbell sperm... 06:49 And the number of that if it's increased, 06:52 if you have slow-moving, sluggish little things, 06:56 and funny-looking stuff, they can't fertilize. 07:00 Okay, so let's go back to the woman. 07:02 Let's get back to us. 07:04 What is it about us or our eggs that could 07:07 be causing us to have such a difficult time 07:09 in conceiving a baby? 07:10 Oh okay, there are 4 MAJOR causes 07:15 why women can't produce a baby... 07:19 One is like if you'd say... 07:21 the testicles cannot produce sperm; 07:24 the ovaries, on the other hand, cannot produce the eggs. 07:28 There are infectious diseases, 07:31 I mean autoimmune problems 07:33 that can cause your ovaries to scar 07:36 and/or you're having polycystic ovarian syndrome, 07:39 anovulatory cycles, hormonal imbalances 07:42 that your ovaries just don't produce the egg. 07:46 So then you will not be fertile, you don't have the egg. 07:53 So anything that can cause the ovary not to produce the egg is 07:59 one major reason why a woman can't get pregnant. 08:04 Now, when we were looking, my husband and I 08:08 we were trying to conceive, 08:09 obviously we felt that the Lord had promised us a child, 08:13 but we also felt we needed to play our part in making sure 08:17 that we had everything right and that was, 08:19 to be honest, that was when I really started to understand 08:22 some of these things that I didn't understand 08:24 when I first got married that I wish I had understood... 08:26 And one of them was in the signs that a woman has 08:29 when she's approaching ovulation. 08:31 There are certain signs that we can know, 08:33 and for those of you at home, 08:35 you can know this even if you're not even married. 08:37 You can know when you're ovulating by these body signs. 08:41 Could you tell us about those? Okay... 08:43 This ovary, when it releases the egg, you call it ovulation. 08:49 When you would have an idea more or less that you ovulated, 08:54 your ovary that supposed to give out an egg, 08:57 has released its egg, 08:59 and you are now the first cause of infertility - 09:03 you are fertile because you produced an egg. 09:07 When you produce an egg and it went out, 09:10 you call that "ovulation," 09:12 there is a change in hormones in the body, 09:16 and especially you would have an increase in fluid. 09:21 You know, you regularly - I was told by my teacher 09:24 when I was still younger... 09:26 I wonder why they taught us in elementary... 09:29 But you would KNOW that you were ovulating 09:32 because there would be this STRETCHING OUT 09:36 of the cervical discharge. 09:38 You know, we have a discharge from day-to-day... 09:42 Maybe it would be a good habit for a lady or a woman 09:46 to look to see the discharge. 09:48 And when the discharge goes like this... like mucous, 09:53 you know, the discharge is mucousy. 09:55 If it is cheesy-like, you know, 09:57 and/or rubbery - you would say, 10:03 the sperm can't go through, it can't get to the egg... 10:06 But when it goes like this, then that means you've ovulated. 10:10 Okay, because it's stretchy... 10:12 Yeah, and if your hormones are just par. 10:15 Oh, so everything is ripe. Yes, in other words. 10:18 Ripe and ready! 10:20 Okay, so that's the time if you're wanting to conceive, 10:23 that is the time to say... 10:26 "Husband, it's time to come home" 10:29 Yes, that's the time. 10:31 And it's amazing how a little piece of information like that 10:34 can make a HUGE difference 10:35 because many of us women, when we're in high school, 10:39 we really think the only time we can conceive 10:41 is pretty much any time. 10:43 In other words, if you had any relationship with somebody, 10:45 you could get pregnant at any time in your cycle. 10:48 No, there is a specific time. 10:50 And that's a very short window of timing. 10:52 Could you tell us about that window? 10:53 Okay, the egg, when it's extruded or ovulated out 11:00 of the ovaries, has a 24-hour lifespan. 11:05 It can probably go a little bit more, 11:07 but if you would REALLY want to get pregnant, 11:12 there is a golden opportunity 11:15 to have the optimum fertilization, 11:18 and the optimum fertilized egg. 11:20 And although they say the egg lives for 24 hours, 11:24 I'd rather be very conservative 11:27 and say - the first 12 hours, after ovulation, 11:30 is the best time for conception. 11:33 The first 12 hours after ovulation... 11:37 So as soon as you get that sign, 11:39 you know you've got about 12 hours where there is a 11:42 maximal opportunity. 11:44 Actually, if the husband is close by, 11:46 it's not really a problem because our hormones 11:50 will make us more amorous. 11:53 You will just not believe it, but you will go to your 11:56 husband and be more tender... 11:58 You'd be more... you know whatever I'm getting at. 12:02 Okay! You'd be more... you'd just be nice to hour husband. 12:07 You don't know, you would not be nice to your husband 12:08 on any other time, but this time you would be. 12:12 The body is pushing you to do it. 12:15 The body is telling you... okay 12:17 So, are there any other signs? 12:20 Okay, for what? For ovulation. 12:25 When people are wanting to conceive, 12:27 very often, they will chart their body temperature... 12:30 the basal body temperature. Okay 12:32 It's a little bit of an inconvenient thing to do, 12:35 you have to do it first thing in the morning, 12:36 but how effective is it at locating ovulation? 12:40 It is really one of the important things you have to do, 12:44 because when you extrude the egg or the process of ovulation 12:49 comes, even before, progesterone 12:53 will be released slowly by your ovaries... 12:57 And when this happens, it shifts your temperature 13:00 higher by about 0.5 centigrade or maybe almost a Fahrenheit 13:08 or maybe half a Fahrenheit but half, you know. 13:12 So if you had 97.6... the average was 97.6, 13:20 every morning before you get up, before anything else, 13:25 even before drinking water or even before talking, 13:29 because when you talk wind gets into your mouth 13:31 and it cools your tongue down or whatever. 13:33 Before ANYTHING ELSE, put that thermometer in your mouth, 13:36 and take your temperature. 13:38 No drinking water. 13:40 First thing and then you plot it. 13:42 Then you take your average. 13:46 It's 97.8, let's say, or 98. 13:49 If it goes up to 98.5 and it stays there, 13:53 more or less you have ovulated. 13:56 If it stays there up to the end of the cycle, 13:58 that means you have ovulated because hormones are going up, 14:04 your progesterone is going up. 14:06 You won't have progesterone unless you ovulated. 14:09 So that combined with the cervical mucus 14:12 is a very good double confirmation 14:18 that you're ovulating. 14:19 So do that so that you don't have work so much time. 14:23 And now, as we mentioned earlier, 14:25 women that are 35 and over will perhaps not ovulate 14:29 as frequently as younger women... 14:31 But I want to say as a word of encouragement now 14:34 that there are many women over 35 that have 14:37 very healthy babies... I was one of them. 14:39 I'm very thankful. Yourself - you were one of them. 14:41 And so you don't need to give up hope. 14:44 It's very possible. 14:45 Even though the chances of conception actually 14:48 are cut by 50% every year, is that right? Yes 14:51 With each increasing year after 35, 14:53 but I found out recently that there were over 14:55 100,000 live births to women between 42 and 44 14:59 in the U.S. in 2006. 15:01 It's because they have a lot of ways to make it work. 15:03 Ways to make it work. 15:05 And so today, we're not going to be so much talking about 15:07 the conventional ways of increasing fertility. 15:09 But just tell me a little bit about other factors 15:14 that can really be compounding the situation 15:18 ...if some of our viewers are having a hard time 15:20 to conceive after a year. 15:22 For example, I had a polycystic ovarian syndrome, endometriosis 15:26 ...these things, if the woman is having issues 15:28 with these things, this could be impacting 15:30 her chances? Okay, yes 15:32 Let's deal first with, just very short, on endometriosis. 15:36 Endometriosis is the lining of the uterus 15:39 OUTSIDE of the lining of the uterus. 15:41 It may be embedded in the fallopian tubes 15:43 and/or in the pelvic cavity. 15:45 And if it were around the area of the fallopian tubes 15:49 ...when that happens the fallopian tubes scar. 15:54 Okay, they scarify and when they scarify, 15:58 you block the passage. 16:01 So sperm can't get to the egg. 16:03 So that's another factor why you can't get pregnant. 16:07 You have an egg but the egg is never fertilized 16:10 because the sperm can't get through your 16:14 scarred fallopian tubes because of your endometriosis. 16:16 And so that's another reason why you can't. 16:23 One of the main causes of endometriosis is 16:26 having painful menses, cramping pain causing 16:29 blood instead of going out this way, 16:31 goes through the fallopian tubes and implants 16:33 this endometrium outside causing 16:38 scarification of your fallopian tubes. 16:41 And just a note on that... 16:43 If you are having any of these symptoms, 16:45 we do encourage you to see your healthcare provider 16:47 or your physician and just get some clarification there 16:50 so that if that's impacting your desire to have a baby, 16:54 that really, your healthcare provider can help you with that. 16:57 Well, so what can we do about polycystic ovarian syndrome 17:03 impacting conception? 17:06 Well, polycystic ovarian syndrome manifests as 17:13 infertility - usually it is associated with an 17:17 overweight lady... can't get pregnant 17:21 and not having menses regularly. 17:24 Sometimes it's only once in a year. Oh really? 17:27 Yeah, it is a diagnosis clenched by an ultrasound 17:34 when they see the ovaries with several cysts. 17:37 They're not really cysts, they are just eggs that 17:39 have grown so big and waiting to ovulate 17:42 but have not been given a chance because of 17:44 hormonal imbalance. 17:45 The luteinizing hormone not being there 17:48 and causing the causing the release of the egg. 17:50 So all these mature or full-grown ready to burst out 17:55 are not bursting out so you don't have an egg. 17:58 And many times, polycystic ovarian syndrome, 18:00 more often than not, is a lifestyle problem. 18:04 usually associated with poor lifestyle and overweight women. 18:08 And it's on the increase along with 18:10 metabolic syndrome, diabetes... right. 18:13 So let's look on the positive side then. 18:15 Let's look at the natural remedies that we can use 18:18 to increase our fertility. 18:19 I read actually recently that evening primrose oil 18:22 can increase the amount of the cervical mucus 18:25 so that you can pinpoint more effectively 18:27 when you're ovulating which I thought was wonderful. 18:30 That's something you can just take as a supplement 18:31 with your meals. Yes 18:33 Is there anything else that we can do that will 18:35 really improve ovulation and improve the 18:38 effectiveness of the sperm getting there. 18:40 We really cannot overemphasize how important 18:43 the natural remedies are. 18:47 That's why we would want really a person who is even thinking of 18:51 getting pregnant... 18:53 You can't work on your fertility, 18:55 I think it should be in your heart... 18:58 being a woman and maybe a 19:00 young woman not yet even married. 19:02 It should already be in your heart that if you 19:05 really want a baby, you should take 19:08 of yourself at least 3 to 6 months in advance... 19:13 before you ever get married. 19:15 Because lifestyles, you know, when your body 19:18 has been "zonked" it takes time to repair. 19:24 But you can be sure that if you do take care of your body, 19:28 you get your menses regular, 19:32 your hormones will come regularly, 19:34 any inflammation can be fixed, 19:39 you're exercising, drinking water, 19:43 sleeping early, being in the sunshine 19:45 getting your vitamin D, 19:47 and ALL these... especially trusting in God 19:50 you cannot... that is very important, 19:54 and being temperate in all things... 19:56 these give you a very, very big chance. 20:00 How can you ask the Lord to bless when you are 20:03 not following His requirements? 20:06 It HAS to be that you follow the requirements 20:08 before you ask Him. 20:10 He is gracious - He gives us many times even if we don't, 20:13 but then if you're asking, wouldn't it be nice 20:15 for you to just follow the instructions? 20:18 I think that's a beautiful point you just made. 20:21 It's important that we trust God with this issue, 20:24 and that He really knows what's best for us. 20:27 If having a child is the best thing or if He has a 20:29 different plan, it's still going to be the best plan. 20:32 And I think both of us had children that was 20:35 kind of a surprise to us, because we were both 20:37 naturally not the kind of women that really 20:39 prayed to have children. 20:41 The funny thing is when you had your husband, 20:44 and you were impressed that you wanted a child, 20:47 then the Lord gave you a child. Right 20:50 My husband and I - it's a different thing. 20:52 I married my husband on the premise that 20:55 we were not going to have kids. 20:56 Is that right? Yeah! And he agreed? Yes! 20:59 And we were working on it really hard. 21:04 Really, really hard, but we can't usurp the will of the Lord 21:08 He has His ways of working in our lives, 21:12 and if it's His will... I didn't want a baby 21:16 The Lord GAVE me a baby! 21:19 I can tell you - if you want to talk to me 21:22 seriously about this, it will take a long time 21:24 I'll tell you ALL my guts! 21:25 But anyway, the Lord gave me a baby. 21:29 He just gave me a baby... Oh, I was surprised, 21:32 but I was glad. 21:34 After now, I'm really glad the Lord gave me a son. 21:38 Of course, and myself also. 21:40 And God's plans for us may not be our plans for ourselves. 21:44 But we have the promise in Romans 8:28, 21:47 "That all things work together for good 21:49 to them that love the Lord" 21:50 And so we can always claim that promise. 21:52 And I think it's interesting that many times 21:55 when we relax about this issue, 21:56 if we can talk about that... relaxing about it 21:59 It's a topic that when you want a baby, 22:01 it's so hard to relax about it. 22:03 Every time you see somebody with a baby, 22:06 it fires off those emotions, but when we can learn to relax, 22:12 it's often then that the Lord brings that blessing 22:14 because your whole body is relaxed 22:16 and the hormones are becoming into balance. 22:19 When you finally accept that the Lord has a will for you, 22:22 and, even if you don't know the will of the Lord, 22:24 it might just come... Oh! I have to tell you 22:26 this story - A friend of mine, azoospermic - zero sperm... 22:32 Oh, he had a big issue in his past... really bad 22:38 that he had zero sperm. 22:41 BUT, he was married for 12 years with zero sperm. 22:45 You won't believe, after 12 years, 22:48 he was working for the Lord as a Bible... 22:50 and he became a pastor... Bible worker was working hard 22:54 as a Bible worker, then he became a pastor. 22:57 In the 12th year of his married life, azoospermic, 23:02 the Lord gave HIM a child. Three! 23:07 Three children! Yes 23:09 But I really thought he would never have it 23:12 because I thought his thing was done. 23:14 But the Lord... He does not only open the womb, 23:18 He opens these things! 23:20 Oh, that's too beautiful. 23:22 You never know what the Lord is going to give you. 23:23 He's in control... Yes, He is in control. 23:26 And submit with all your heart. 23:28 The Lord really knows what we need. 23:30 He's so good to us and He also gives us the 23:33 information for us to take care of ourselves. Yes 23:35 And I want to pick up on a point you made earlier 23:37 about nutrition. 23:39 We hear a lot about folic acid deficiency. 23:42 and neural tube defects in infants... 23:44 Please tell us WHEN should we start folic acid supplement 23:48 if we need to do it, how do we know? 23:50 Okay I think, even before - it's very important to have a 23:54 normal folic acid already before you get into this 23:58 fertility - infertility business 24:00 because you don't want to be 24:02 taking it when you're already there. 24:03 Take it before - before, there's a lot of folic acid 24:07 in all the vegetables and all the beans and the greens 24:11 So you're eating properly and if you would want to, 24:15 you could even take a supplement 24:19 to get your folic acid up to normal. 24:22 Okay good, and what about other herbal agents 24:25 that we could use to increase fertility? 24:27 Okay, one that I can say with real certainty is back home 24:32 when I used to be practicing of taking care of a lot of 24:37 infertility patients... 24:39 We don't have a lot of the herbs you have here 24:42 in the States - you have a plethora of all the herbs, 24:44 but I had one of the best ones; it's dong quai... 24:49 Oh, we have that here also. Yeah, you do have that here. 24:53 And that was the only one I had... 24:55 Aside from the lifestyle, I was really strict with the 24:57 lifestyle - followed these instructions to the T 25:00 ...And on top of that, I'd give dong quai. 25:03 Now, dong quai helps regulate the menstrual cycle... 25:07 Even for the man, it also helps his hormones 25:10 so that he is able to make the right, the optimum, 25:14 the best sperm and the best egg for both of them. 25:17 Oh, so you're saying the man takes the dong quai 25:19 as well as the lady. As well - yes 25:20 If the man has problems, he could take the dong quai as well 25:23 And do you have some experiences where you can testify 25:26 that that really helped them. Yes, a lot of times... 25:28 A lot of times - many patients because I was the only one 25:32 who was going into natural remedies around... 25:36 I mean, the other doctors wouldn't do it. 25:38 They would just go straight to the drugs. 25:41 Well I usually started first with the natural remedies, 25:45 and then if I couldn't work on these natural remedies, 25:48 I'd go to the last resort which were the drugs. 25:50 But many, if not more then they would get 25:53 pregnant here instead of there! 25:55 Now there are some who don't believe in natural remedies! 25:59 So then they go straight to... It's funny! 26:01 But these ones on the natural get pregnant 26:05 faster than the ones here. 26:07 I just don't know but that's what I found out. 26:11 And you know, Dr. Cherie Lon, 26:12 for some people, the issue isn't just having a baby, 26:15 but it's really wanting a girl or really wanting a baby boy, 26:20 and if you're at home and the gender selection is 26:23 really an issue for you, we'd just like to 26:26 just touch on this just briefly that there are ways 26:28 physiologically that you can increase your chances of 26:30 getting the gender that you actually want. 26:32 Can you tell us about that? 26:34 In my practice, this is 100%... 26:37 If when you ovulate, you have your sexual contact 26:42 on that day and not 3 days before, at least 3 days before, 26:46 you will get a boy. 26:48 So if I'm ovulating today, I didn't have sexual contact 26:51 within 3 days of my ovulation, I get a boy. 26:54 IF I have contact around 3 days prior to my ovulation, 26:59 I get a girl and I don't have contact on ovulation. 27:03 Contact before ovulation gives you a girl. 27:06 Contact ON ovulation gives you a boy. 27:08 There is this theology behind it 27:10 and I believe it's true because I've seen it over and over again 27:15 Well that's very exciting to know that. 27:16 Of course it relies on the fact that you have a regular 27:19 28-day cycle or that you ovulate when you know 27:23 you're going to ovulate so you can pinpoint that. Yes 27:25 But even if you don't prayer can cover it 27:29 and we know that Jesus will give us the gender 27:31 that He knows is best for us. Exactly! 27:33 And so we can just give Him thanks for the decision 27:36 that He is going to make. Boy or a girl 27:37 ...is out of our control ultimately... That's true. 27:40 Dr. Cherie Lon, thank you so much for joining us 27:43 on the program today. You're welcome, my pleasure. 27:44 And we trust that you have been blessed 27:46 with this information today, and I've learned something. 27:49 And, I hope it going to be of help to you - 27:51 ladies and to your husbands... 27:53 And as you go on this journey of seeing God's will 27:57 for you and whether to expand your family or even just to have 28:00 your first child, put it into His hands, trust Him. 28:04 He knows what you need and He has promised to provide it. 28:07 God bless you. |
Revised 2014-12-17