One woman’s high FSH fertility story.
At the age of 31 and about to embark on my third round of Clomid (I had been trying to conceive for approximately 15 months at that point), I happened to do a routine FSH and E2 reading on Day 3 of my cycle. The test came back with an FSH of 38! Yes, that is right, a 38 at the age of 31. Needless to say, I was completely shocked when I received this news and the subsequent inevitable “donor egg” speech (which my RE gave me while I was at work, I might add, and within 2 minutes after he gave me the news of the FSH. To say I was devastated would be an understatement, as I am sure many of you understand. A couple of other fertility specialists in NYC re-affirmed that I had premature ovarian failure and that my best chance of conceiving would be with an egg donor. This diagnosis did seem to provide an explanation as to why my cycles, after going off the Pill, had basically become non-existent as well as erratic (the length of my cycles varied between 21 and 42 days). I had lost all hope.
While still absorbing the shock of this news, my husband (who, by nature, is a very positive and optimistic person) went on the web to find any articles out there where someone, anyone, had conceived with a high FSH. And that, of course, led him to Julia Indichova, her book, Inconceivable, and this web site. I absolutely loved Inconceivable! This book provided me with strength, confidence and inspiration during a very difficult time in my life. I found Julia to be an exceptional writer who was able to relay the exact feelings I was experiencing. Her suggestions to improve your quality of life and health in a natural manner were extremely helpful and liberating. Everything she said in her book made absolute sense to me. I then learned about one of Julia’s workshops in NYC, which I attended in January. I was subsequently privileged to have several private consultations with Julia. We started working on improving my quality of life, despite what the doctors had told me. My biggest accomplishment with Julia was working through the many emotional issues I had regarding childbirth and pregnancy (by way of discussions and imagery). My father is an obstetrician/gynecologist and at a young age I had been exposed to too many stories and articles about pregnancy and its complications. As a result, I had developed a deep fear of pregnancy, but soon after I started having conversations with Julia, I began having vivid, telling dreams which were very cathartic for me.
Several months into my work with Julia, I found out that I had conceived naturally! My baby is due in March. I know that working with Julia and the Fertile Heart tools, led me to where I am right now and for that, I will forever be indebted to her and her amazing, inspiring Fertile Heart work.
I wanted to convey my story on this website to give hope to anyone who has a high FSH and was told, as I was, that they would not be able to conceive on their own. While it is going to be a battle to win the war (one of the first things my RE told me when I went in to confirm my pregnancy was “This shouldn’t be happening to a person like you, but, for some reason, it is” —how is that for words of encouragement?), we need to trust ourselves and our inner voices and provide support for each other. We need to believe that anything is possible. Medical doctors do not know everything and, as has been voiced on this website before, FSH is a number. Keep on trying yourselves and be good to yourselves!”
Jacqueline
(A few years later, Jacqueline returned to take the workshop in Woodstock, strengthened her body and heart once again, and became pregnant the old fashioned way with Julia, a beautiful healthy little girl.)
See the followup post to this post for more on high FSH: FSH Levels and Menopause: Getting Pregnant with High FSH as well as some of the other Low AMH, High FSH Success Stories that we’ve received.
