My Infertility Story As a Fertility Doctor - Trying to Conceive, Miscarriages, and More

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My infertility story as a fertility doctor.
My babies are pregnancies 5&6.
I am a physician.
I am a fertility doctor.
I had infertility.
3 miscarriages and an ectopic.
Isolated and alone, questioning the future, wondering what I did wrong, searching online, and telling nobody - I know *exactly* how that feels.

As a medical student I knew I wanted to have a family.
I listened when people told my careers were “not family friendly” and I counted the years to add up how old I would be when I completed training with different career paths.

If you are an OG - you know I matching into Emergency Medicine (which is a great field) but not the right one for me. I left EM after a year and completed an OBGYN residency and then an REI fellowship. That very very hard career move was absolutely the right one as I love my job as a fertility physician. But I also took a 3 year post graduate training program and I turned it into 8 years. I was 34 when I finished my medical training.

Egg freezing was not an option to me.
Talks about checking an AMH or starting to get pregnant sooner were never discussed. Residency was not a supportive environment for parents. And in fellowship I had to use all my vacation for my maternity leaves. And only had 6 and 5 weeks to recover after c/s so that I would not break ACGME rules of missing more that 12 total weeks in fellowship.

Times are changing.
I am so thankful for that.
People are sharing.
Communities are forming.
Facts are easier to find.
And egg/embryo freezing and fertility preservation is an option.

Do we still have far to go? YES.
We need better coverage for fertility and we need more advocacy. We need to break further barriers and expand the conversation around third party reproduction.

So this week - support your fertility doctors, advocates, patients, and more as we share and support.

#fertiltiy #infertility #nataliecrawfordmd

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Fertility doctor, Natalie Crawford, MD is a double board certified OBGYN and REI, and co-founder of Fora Fertility, a boutique fertility practice in Austin, Texas.

COME SAY HI!!!

FORA FERTILITY:
715 W 34th Street, Austin, TX 78705

Listen to the AS A WOMAN PODCAST here:

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#fertility #fertilitydoctor #nataliecrawfordmd #doctor #asawoman

Sharing fertility facts to educate women about trying to conceive, getting pregnant, ovulation, fertility treatments, IUI, IVF, becoming a doctor, life as a woman in medicine, and more.

[martinavanb]

Thank you for opening your heart and sharing your story 💕
I’ve struggled with infertility for 8 years! If I knew at the age of 32 about all the struggles I’m going to go through I’d not believe it…
After trying for 1 year I got pregnant naturally but miscarried… at that time I was told it happens and it’s a bad luck.. next year I got pregnant again but miscarried again… no testing done only I was told to keep trying…

we moved and I went to a fertility doctor who swiftly put me on a path of Ivf. I got pregnant but miscarried again…

I was desperate for answers and more testing. I dug deep in forums for answers and started suspecting some immunological issues… when my Ivf doctor wanted to push for another Ivf without finding out the reasons behind miscarriages and I started to object… he eventually did blood clotting panel and I found out I have a clotting disorder.
I still wasn’t satisfied with the answers and went to a different clinic where I could get some immunological testing done. I found out I had high natural killer cells, which partially explained my miscarriages…

I did my 2nd Ivf, had good amount of oocytes retrieved but it ended up in a total fertilisation failure. I was so shocked! Then we did the 3rd Ivf with icsi, despite my husband’s great sperm results. The cycle also ended with no blastocysts. I was thinking there must me something wrong with my DNA and it’s not likely I’ll ever have biological children. I still did 4th Ivf cycle with Omnitrope, icsi and lots of supplements to improve the egg quality. I got a good amount of eggs but the clinic didn’t recommend waiting for blastocysts, so I had a transfer with two 2 day embryos… I was on IVIG, Granocyte injections, anticoagulant injections. I got pregnant but miscarried for the 4th time… 😢 i was due to trisomy 22… My Ivf doctor recommended us to look into an alternative way of having a child…
It was a truly sad time for me but I refused to accept that…I asked for a laparoscopic surgery and found out I had endometriosis (stage1-2) which was removed in December 2021…

after a long and lonely research I contacted a reproductive immunologist who was willing to help me. He found out I had a sub-clinical pcos, put me on ovarian support plan, which included pcos diet, supplements and hormones monitoring.
I started with down regulation for 5th Ivf when I found out I was pregnant naturally!!! 🎉
I couldn’t believe it 💕 I promptly started an immune protocol, anticoagulant injections, progesterone and aspirin. It turned out to be a viable pregnancy and now I’m 17 weeks pregnant 😘🥳💝💕
I am so excited 🥳, I’m also happy I persevered and advocated for myself, when some doctors told me it’s not possible, I went to a different doctor! The book ‘Is your body baby friendly’ by Dr Alan Beer has been a total eye opener. I’m still very cautious about the pregnancy but trying not to stress and do the right things for me and the baby 😍

[momlife]

You are a special woman. You inspire me. I had a stillbirth at 19 weeks and then got pregnant again and my daughter died at 23 weeks. I gave birth and she died 10 hours later. I found out I have a shortened cervix so I finally got an abdominal cerclage. My OB is amazing and I'm officially TTC and my period is due tomorrow so hopefully it doesn't and I'm pregnant. It's nice that you have this channel. A lot of woman need help and it's hard to get the help u need . I'm very fortunate that my doctor has helped me so much through my journey.

[sashacc]

Life can be ironic. People that want kids and are ready for children cant have them and people that aren't ready or want them can't You are a fertility doctor trying to help other women get pregnant but you went thru miscarriages. Thank you for sharing your story and giving us hope. I lost my first pregnancy at 6 weeks and its an unimaginable pain but im hopeful to be able to get pregnant again 😊 I do have PCOS after my miscarriage my period started coming on their own i no longer had to induce them with progesterone. I think god works in mysterious way I prayed for my period to be fixes and come on their own and now they do. I have all the faith that he will work on my body again and give me my baby ❤️

[fahmidamiah]

This was really interesting to hear and I also felt a little chocked up at times 😢, so thank you for sharing. I'm a Medical Doctor (UK) who was absolutely unsure about what field to go into both in medical school and junior training but eventually... I left. I work in Tech now. I always miss the patient interaction and seeing patients through, there is no "job" like being a doctor, it was a complete privilege to be trusted and to take care of some many people... but another path was laid out for me, something I never thought would ever happen, but I am very happy in it now. So, when I add up the years... med school, medical training, a Masters in Computer Science, junior engineer, now almost senior... gosh, how time flies! So... as someone who knows the life of a medic, I want to say I'm sorry you went through so much during your own training and often alone. No one prepares us for that kind of life, definitely not medical school. I am so happy for you that you have the family for you in the end. You really glowed up when you talked about your children. Your story will really help people, and as you say at the end, a lot of fertility is out of our control, so we can only try and work on the things we can control. I am so grateful to fertility doctors so thank you for persevering and now creating this channel for others.

[soo]

Thank you for sharing your journey. As someone in healthcare and struggling to get pregnant after a miscarriage, it is definitely tough because we have strong goals to help others but many times we delay what our own needs are. You are amazing to be helping so many families in your practice and also reaching many by sharing your videos. Thank you!

[toosexE]

This story really made me sad and happy at the same time. I was focused on my career as well and got married at 38. Tried to get pregnant at 39 and got pregnant my first month of trying and my pregnancy was ectopic. I was also treated with methotrexate and it was emotionally rough.

The thought of ivf scares me because it's super expensive for us, I'm from the Caribbean and our insurance does not cover it.

Anyway thank you for sharing it has given me some hope.

[thelovelyvee]

Thank you for sharing your story! It really resonated with me. I am 18 weeks with my 7th pregnancy (will be my second child) and I am not telling people until my 20 week anatomy scan. I am finally starting to feel like this awful chapter of my life might be over. It has been so hard. I'm so glad you got your 2 babies and I am so glad your patients get the empathy and care they deserve! <3

[morgankruszynski]

I love your videos and wish every doctor had the same mentality and were as willing to run tests and do blood work to see what’s wrong! So glad you were able to conceive and have two beautiful children 💗

[Maiju]

I can totally relate, thank you for sharing. ❤️ I had my two children without problems but when trying for a number three, I had two miscarriages and one ectopic pregnancy between those. I am currently almost 27 weeks pregnant and still little bit scared... Our third baby should be born in August.

[shayyy]

Thank you so much for sharing your story I'm 38 trying for another little one but had a miscarriage February 4th😢 you gave me hope!

[Rhiles]

Hearing Your story is exactly why I wanted to prioritize having my kids and trying to conceive. I knew if I didn’t make it a priority that I would either struggle or wouldn’t do it at all. Even though I chose to quit my job and still have many career goals left I will never regret taking time out of my life to make another. I felt like I had more time in my life to make a career and less time to make a family.

[evapolymenakou]

Thank you for sharing your story and for your passion to help others. You channel has made a huge difference to me!

[martalech]

Thank you so much for this video! And opening up to all of us it's heartwarming knowing that doctors and other women can have the same issues as us we're not alone.. After my ectopic 2 year ago it has changed me.. on year 5 of trying..I'm am turning 39 in a Month.. I did have fertility console and I was pretty much told that there was nothing wrong with me or my husband and that smoking is what causes infertility in my case since I have quit smoking 2 years in July. I am not giving up I'm in my TWW fingers crossed.❤️

[niflaotranch]

Thank you so much for creating this channel, and for telling your personal story. Even today at the end of 2023 there isn't so much information out there, I find that many of the doctor are still second-guessing things and it's very difficult to get the right information. My husband and I have been trying to conceive for 4 years; we both kept having really good test results from many different types of doctors across different countries, all the doctors told us that our results were great and they didn't know why we couldn't conceive. Last month we did IUI and I'm now on my 2nd week of conception. I'm now 41 and my husband is 42 years old. I wish there was more information out there about what to eat, what vitamins to supplement with, and what quantity (how many mg) of each vitamin. Your channel has helped me a lot, please keep doing the wonderful work that you do. ! <3

[missld]

@NatalieCrawfordMD, Thank you so much for sharing your story. I’ve felt comforted by all of your videos literally everytime you speak I listen and feel comforted during this last year of our trying to conceive journey, I’m 37. Just found out last week that our first baby had no heart beat at 11 weeks pregnant. Hearing everyone’s stories makes me feel not alone. Thank you for all your inspiration ❤️

[lisalee]

Sobbing and howling as a PICU doctor hearing your story… God Almighty… brings back all the horror moments of trying to keep a baby alive at work whilst losing my 2…

[amandagaribayvlogs]

I wish I had known about low ovarian reserve and the possibility of endometriosis. I’m also higher risk of recurrent loss after my second trimester miscarriage. It’s such a relief to know there’s a doctor who understands. Mine has been great but he never had to actually go through it to understand the pain.

[jazz]

I completely understand where you're coming from. And thank you for explaining your journey. I've also been through losses and had similar feelings. 2 miscarriages and 1 ectopic. And hopeful

[christinezumpano]

you are such a strong and badass women and such a blessing to the online fertility world. I discovered and binged your videos a few months before TTC while trying to prepare, now im 6 months and 2 miscarriages into TTC and i still pour over your videos

[BienestardaVida]

Thank you for sharing your story. Thank you for all you do. I can sense your passion for what you do. Your patients are lucky to have you :)