Mark P. Trolice M.D. - The Fertility Doctors Guide to Overcoming Infertility: Discovering Your Reproductive Potential and Maximizing Your Odds of Having a Baby

The Fertility Doctors Guide to

Discovering Your Reproductive Potential and Maximizing Your Odds of Having a Baby

Mark P. Trolice, M.D.

Director, Fertility CARE: The IVF Center

BY BRENDA STRONG

National Spokesperson and Honorary Board Chair of Path2Parenthood and Emmy-nominated actress

F or eight wonderful years, I narrated the hit ABC show Desperate Housewives as the disembodied voice of Mary Alice, the character who took her life in the first episode but continued to illuminate the audience via her series-long voiceovers and flashbacks about her life and the lives of her friends on Wisteria Lane. The backstory for my characteras written by Marc Cherry, the executive producer and creator of Desperate Housewivesexplained how Mary Alice became so desperate from infertility that she bought a child from a heroin-addicted woman in a treatment center where she worked.

Years later, once that woman had cleaned up her act, she came back to get her child. Out of protection and panic, Mary Alice accidentally killed that woman and, driven by shame and fear, she covered up the murder. Then, as the truth was about to be blackmailed out of her, she took her own life, which is how the series got off to a bang and thereby established the theme, which is that everyone has dirty little secrets. Ironically, what Marc Cherry didnt know was that much like my character, I was secretly suffering from secondary infertility. Fortunately, my desperation led me to a much better place.

I had been teaching yoga for years alongside my acting career and had developed a proprietary approach to combat the stress of infertility using yoga. My specific approach also helps the reproductive area by improving circulation, reducing tension in the muscles and tissues in and around the pelvis, and aiding in hormonal balance.

Strong Yoga4Fertility was born out of my own pain and purpose to help empower women like me find a way to face the uncertainties of the fertility journey. I have helped thousands of women reduce their stress while trying to conceive, resulting in countless pregnancies worldwide: some on natural cycles and some with the help of their reproductive specialists. In all it has been my honor and privilege to play a small part in the fulfillment of helping so many couples realize their dreams of parenthood.

My passion for helping make even more of a difference then led me to Dr. Mark Trolice. I have seen firsthand that Dr. Trolice is an amazingly empathetic and empowering physician in the field of fertility. When I was first introduced to Dr. Trolice, he invited me to give a keynote speech at his Fertile Dreams Conference where, each year, Dr. Trolice gifted a couple with the funds to pursue free in vitro fertilization treatments.

Its not until something like an infertility diagnosis occurs that many of us are informed about the reproductive process and our chances to conceivewhich points out how little, we as human beings, truly understand our bodies and how they function.

The sad truth is, we spend most of our lives as young adults trying not to get pregnant, so by the time we are ready, we are shocked to find out our bodies might have missed our prime fertility years. Pursuing careers, finding the right partner, and feeling emotionally prepared, oftentimes leaves us with a diminished ovarian reserve, stress, and a less than favorable fertile environment.

Of course Hollywood has not helped by promoting stories of actresses in their early to late 40s getting pregnant; albeit, without the overt explanation that their babies were most likely born via costly IVF and a possible egg donor. Our reproductive window is smaller than we know, and I have heard countless women ask, Why didnt anyone tell me?!

We are trying. We are trying to educate and inform women and couples about the cost of infertility financially, emotionally, and physically in order to hopefully head off the challenges on the road ahead.

Thats why I got involved with fertility awareness and education, and thats why Dr. Trolice has written this book, which, without overwhelming you, provides the necessary knowledge and insight for you to go to your doctor feeling informed and ready to ask the right questions about your fertility.

In my 18-plus years of working with couples facing infertility and while serving as the National Spokesperson for The American Fertility Association (now called Path2Parenthood), I have worked alongside many of the best reproductive endocrinologists in the country, and rarely have I found such a devoted physician as Dr. Mark Trolice.

Perhaps some of that devotion is because he has also been a fertility patient. (I know that much of my drive comes from my personal experiences with infertility.) Such life-altering experiences have provided Dr. Trolice with the unique knowledge of the pain and disappointment that are unique to fertility struggles. In this book, he combines his professional and personal experience to provide you with the necessary tools that will guide you along the path from infertility to parenthood.

BRENDA STRONG is the national spokesperson for Path2Parenthood (www.path2parenthood.org) and currently serves on their board. Brenda is a Yoga Alliance certified 500 hr E-RYT who created the Strong Yoga4Fertility program to help women worldwide. She has taught at the Mind Body Institute at UCLA and Two Hearts Yoga and has licensed her trademarked Strong Yoga4Fertility program under Strong Yoga4Women (yoga4women.com). Brenda has been featured in Alternative Medicine magazine, Shape magazine, For Pregnancy, Plum, Conceive, Yoga Journal, and Yoga Magazine.

She is a two-time Emmy-nominated and award-winning actress, holds a BM from Arizona State University (magna cum laude), is a certified prenatal teacher, and was Miss Arizona 1980 in the Miss America Pageant. She serves on the board of Events of the Heart, a nonprofit organization assisting in womens heart disease education. Brenda is also the honorary recipient of a doctorate of science from Yo San University, specializing in Traditional Chinese Medicine, for her pioneering work in yoga for fertility.

P hysicians are healers and teachers. When I meet with you as my patient, my purpose is to relieve your suffering and level the playing field by talking the same language. How? Through education of reproductive biology in simple terms and by sharing with you my ten-year personal journey and discovery of infertility. You see, your story is my story.

I have lived your lives and am committed to empowering you with this book. For ten long years, my wife and I endured the pain of infertility while I was a fertility specialist. Quite the irony, to be sure! (In case you are wondering, I chose and fell in love with the field of infertility way before we were diagnosed with infertility.) Throughout this book, I will share my insights from our personal challenge, from actual patient interactions, and at the same time, provide you a comprehensive and credible resource for all your reproductive questions and goals.

One of my major points of the book is to help you be your own advocate and be proactive with your fertility care. Rule #1 to #10, if your fertility clinics behavior worsens your stress, its time to move on to another clinic. Your path will usually have bumps (mine sure did!) of various sizes: Being told your insurance will cover a treatment and now it will not; the clinic has not returned your phone call and you are supposed to start medication; running out of ovarian stimulating medication and its the weekend; and so on and so on. These are the bumps that may be flattened by a heart-to-heart talk with your fertility clinic regarding your grievances or by finding a clinic more suitable to your needs.