Fett - It Starts with the Egg: How the Science of Egg Quality Can Help You Get Pregnant Naturally, Prevent Miscarriage, and Improve Your Odds in IVF

Acclaim for It Starts with the Egg

Rebecca Fetts stellar constellation of perspective, experience, knowledge, and scientific background may well revolutionize our current global conversation, understanding and practices related to fertility It is hard to overestimate the impact that this book may have on the lives of many.

- Dr. Claudia Welch , author of Balance Your Hormones, Balance Your Life: Achieving Optimal Health and Wellness through Ayurveda, Chinese Medicine, and Western Science .

With detailed, up to date research Rebecca Fett provides a clear, cool-headed guide to both the science that determines IVF success, and the practical changes that patients can make to drastically increase their chances of IVF success.

- Dr. Lindsay Wu , Laboratory for Ageing Research, University of New South Wales Medical Center, Australia.

This is a very useful resource: well-researched, accessibly written and with easy-to-follow take-home messages and action plans. I would recommend this to any woman who is trying to conceive.

- Dr. Claire Deakin , Faculty of Population Health Sciences, University College London.

A thoroughly-researched and eye-opening account of how small, simple lifestyle changes can have powerful, positive effects on your health and fertility. A must-read for women wanting the best chance of conceiving a healthy baby.

- Beth Greer , bestselling author of Super Natural Home .

It Starts with the Egg presents a reasoned and balanced review of the latest science linking environmental chemicals to reduced fertility and other health problems. Readers will find sound advice for how to avoid chemicals of concern, providing a useful guide for couples that want to improve their chances of a healthy pregnancy.

- Dr. Laura Vandenberg , University of Massachusetts, Amherst, School of Public Health.

This timely synthesis of scientific literature is essential reading for both women and men wanting practical, evidence-based recommendations to enhance their fertility.

- Dr. Loretta McKinnon , Epidemiologist, Princess Alexandra Hospital.

With It Starts with the Egg, Rebecca Fett delivers a much needed overview on the available scientific evidence regarding the influence of nutrition on fertility and fertility treatment, providing a valuable resource for couples trying to conceive.

- Dr. John Twigt , Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Erasmus Medical Center, Netherlands

Rebecca has done a great service for all women, children, and future generations by starting at the beginning of a human life and examining which toxic chemicals cause harm to the egg This book is a wonderful addition to the growing library of information on toxic exposures.

- Debra Lynn Dadd , Author of Toxic Free: How to Protect Your Health and Home from the Chemicals That Are Making You Sick

Rebecca Fetts It Starts with the Egg is a complete guide to everything a woman can do to improve her egg quality before trying to conceive...It Starts with the Egg also breaks information down in easy-to-digest bullet points that show exactly what to do to get to where you want to be: the parent of a happy, healthy, gorgeous baby.

- Cheryl Alkon , author of Balancing Pregnancy With Pre-Existing Diabetes: Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby .

FRANKLIN FOX PUBLISHING

Copyright 2014 by Rebecca Fett

Published in the United States by Franklin Fox Publishing LLC, New York.

Copyeditor: Kira Freed

Interior/Cover Design: Steven Plummer / SPDesign

Front Cover Photo: iStock.com/Tsekhmister

Back Cover Photo: Tessa Falk

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form by any means without the express permission of the publisher.

This book is intended to provide helpful and informative material. It is not intended to provide medical advice and cannot replace the advice of a medical professional. The reader should consult his or her doctor before adopting any of the suggestions in this book. The author and publisher specifically disclaim all responsibility for any liability, loss, or risk, personal or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence of the use and application of any of the contents of this book.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014904327

www.franklinfox.com

Table of Contents

Part 1: What Your Doctor Isnt Telling You

Part 2: How to Choose the Right Supplements

Part 3: The Bigger Picture

Introduction

Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me .

Carol Burnett

Whether you are just starting to think about having a baby, find yourself on the long road of fertility treatments and failed IVF cycles, or have suffered multiple miscarriages, it is critically important to provide your eggs with the specific nutrients needed to support embryo development and to avoid the toxins that cause the most harm. This book will explain the simple things you can do to have the best possible chance of getting pregnant and bringing home a healthy baby. And it starts with the egg.

The conventional thinking is that women are born with all the eggs they will ever have and that the quality of those eggs declines drastically with age. But this is not the whole story. Most of our lives, our eggs are in a state of suspended animation as immature cells, but in the three to four months before ovulation, an egg must undergo a major transformation. It grows dramatically in size and starts producing much more energy. The egg must then execute a precise process of separating and ejecting copies of chromosomes. If this process goes wrong, and it often does, the egg will have chromosomal abnormalities. These chromosomal abnormalities are the single most important cause of early miscarriages and failed IVF cycles as well as the reason it takes older women so much longer to conceive.

Many women are told there is little they can do to improve egg quality, but the latest research defies that old assumption. The growth phase before ovulation is a critical time during which many things can happen that affect the quality of the egg, both positively and negatively. These include harmful effects from exposure to toxins such as BPA and phthalates as well as protective effects from added antioxidants and other nutrients. As a result, there is a brief window of opportunity in which you can make a difference to your egg quality.

This book will be your guide to specific strategies that are supported by strong scientific research. Importantly, the advice in this book is not based on isolated animal studies that provide enticing hints as to the causes and solutions for poor egg quality. Individual studies, and particularly animal or test-tube studies, provide only limited evidence and must be taken with a grain of salt. Instead, this book is based on a comprehensive analysis of a large body of medical research involving studies that have been confirmed by multiple groups and that involve real patients.

If you are currently being treated by a fertility specialist, you may have already received advice about supplements that can improve egg quality. The advice of some doctors will be more up-to-date and supported by scientific research than that of others. My goal in writing this book is to provide a tool for thoroughly understanding what helps and why, so you can make your own informed decisions.

But first, the story of how I became obsessed with the science of egg quality. My mission started with the same fears and anxieties faced by many women struggling with infertility. I was about to begin an IVF cycle and could not help worrying, Is this going to work? Will we get enough eggs? Will they produce any embryos that are good enough to transfer and lead to a pregnancy?