ABOUT THIS EPISODE
What is infertility actually? Is it a disease with a single solution, or the symptom of underlying reproductive health conditions?
That distinction changes everything, including whether a one-size-fits-all path is really the best way to help couples.
🎓 Check out the FREE RRM Academy: https://rrmacademy.org
🎁 Includes FREE guides to NaProTechnology, FEMM, and NeoFertility: https://rrmacademy.org/guides
CHAPTERS
- 0:32 Why people have been misled: a Reddit deep dive
- 1:15 "Everything's normal" and unexplained infertility
- 2:56 PCOS, ovulation, and why infertility is often a 50-50 issue
- 5:18 Blocked fallopian tubes and what bloodwork can't catch
- 6:48 Male factor infertility and sperm health
- 8:14 One-day periods, thin uterine lining, and a second opinion
- 12:38 Where "infertility is a disease" comes from (ASRM's definition)
- 14:44 How some states are redefining infertility
- 15:18 100+ possible causes of infertility
- 16:24 What is restorative reproductive medicine (RRM)
- 19:05 RRM vs. integrative and holistic care
- 20:16 Does it work? RRM outcomes vs. IVF success rates
- 21:45 A mother's story: PCOS and heart health
DIVE INTO RETHINKING FERTILITY
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SHOW NOTES & SOURCES
Unexplained infertility
ASRM Practice Committee. Evidence-based treatments for couples with unexplained infertility (2020): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32106976/
CDC ART National Summary, 2022: https://www.cdc.gov/art/php/surveillance/index.htmlPCOS
WHO PCOS fact sheet: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/polycystic-ovary-syndrome
Men and infertility
ASRM (2026), Half of infertility cases involve men: https://www.asrm.org/news-and-events/asrm-news/press-releasesbulletins/half-of-infertility-cases-involve-men.-why-does-care-still-treat-it-as-a-womens-issue/
Tubal disease and the first IVF birth
Steptoe & Edwards, The Lancet 1978: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/79723/
ASRM, Role of tubal surgery (2021): https://www.asrm.org/practice-guidance/practice-committee-documents/role-of-tubal-surgery-in-the-era-of-assisted-reproductive-technology-a-committee-opinion-2021/Sperm counts and sperm health
Levine et al., Human Reproduction Update 2023: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36377604/
Heller & Clermont, Science 1963: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.140.3563.184
Misell et al., Journal of Urology 2006: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16406920/
How ASRM defines infertility
ASRM, Definition of infertility (2023): https://prod.asrm.org/globalassets/_asrm/practice-guidance/practice-guidelines/pdf/definition-of-infertility.pdf
State definitions of infertility
- Colorado HB 20-1158
- California SB 729
- Illinois HB 3709 (2021)
- Maine P.L. 2021, c. 692
Means, Good Energy (Avery, 2024): https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/727184
Restorative reproductive medicine
Stanford, Parnell, Boyle, J Am Board Fam Med 2008: https://www.jabfm.org/content/21/5/375
Frank-Herrmann et al., Arch Gynecol Obstet 2017: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28185073/
Boyle et al., Frontiers in Medicine 2018: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6079215/IVF success by age
SART National Summary Report, 2023: https://www.sart.org/Publications_Overview
Learn more about RRM
Rethinking Fertility has no affiliation with these organizations. This episode is educational and not medical advice.
- RRM Academy guides: https://rrmacademy.org/guides
- FEMM: https://femmhealth.org
- NaProTechnology: https://naprotechnology.com
- NeoFertility: https://neofertility.ie
- International Institute for Restorative Reproductive Medicine: https://iirrm.org/
Rethinking Fertility, hosted by policy expert Emma Waters, equips families with honest, evidence‑based education on reproductive technology — grounded in science and a biblical understanding of what it means to be human in an age of limitless medical possibility.
