Struggling With Infertility? The Top 6 Ways To Support Fertility + The Functional Medicine Labs You Need To Know About

Infertility is one of the biggest problems I see facing women today. In fact, according to the World Health Organization, (1) upwards of 17.5% of the world’s population struggles with infertility at some point in their lives, leading to years of frustration and heartache. As a functional medicine practitioner, it is my job to help women take back control of their health by uncovering the underlying hormone imbalances and other problems holding them back from getting pregnant. Just know that if you struggle with infertility, you are not alone and there is hope. Read on to learn more about fertility, the best labs you can run, and my favorite remedies for boosting fertility, naturally.

Infertility causes and symptoms

The CDC (2) defines infertility as not being able to get pregnant after at least one year or longer of having unprotected sex. While there is no single cause of infertility, many factors can contribute to people not being able to conceive, including:

• Chronic health problems: Conditions like polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) that can inhibit ovulation.
• Uterine or cervical abnormalities: Structural issues in the uterus or cervix can hinder conception or implantation.
• Fallopian tube damage or blockage: Scar tissue, infections, or endometriosis can obstruct the fallopian tubes, preventing the egg from meeting the sperm.
• Hormone imbalances: Imbalances in sex hormones in both men and women can inhibit ovulation and sperm quality.

Functional medicine fertility labs

In functional medicine, we understand that everyone’s biochemistry is unique and just because you have the same symptoms and health problem as someone else, doesn’t mean the underlying cause is the same. For anyone struggling with infertility these are the foundational labs that we start with in my telehealth clinic before moving on to more extensive testing based on your specific case.

1. Cortisol

We all know that stress isn’t good for your health, but it is especially harmful to your fertility since chronically high cortisol levels can mess with your hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis, responsible for controlling reproductive hormone production. When this happens, it can inhibit the release of gonadotropin-releasing hormone from your hypothalamus (responsible for producing sex hormones like testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone) and the production of luteinizing-hormone (necessary for ovulation) and follicle-stimulating hormones (ensures optimal function of the ovaries and testes).

To determine just how much stress is impacting your fertility, I typically run The 24-Hour Adrenal Stress Index. This salivary test tracks your cortisol throughout a whole day to get the most accurate look at your overall cortisol levels.

2. Sex hormones

Your body relies on a specific balance of sex hormones - estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone - to facilitate various aspects of fertility including sperm production, ovulation, and conception. Hormone imbalances in any one of these hormones can throw off this delicate system and contribute to infertility. Hormone labs give us a look at whether or not a hormonal imbalance in one or all of these hormones is a factor in your infertility struggles.

For estrogen and progesterone I like to run a full blood and salivary hormone panel, including all estrogen isomers, and for testosterone I like to run a blood and saliva testosterone and DHEA panel.

3. Insulin

Blood sugar levels have been linked to a variety of different hormone problems, including PCOS which is the most common cause of female infertility. In fact, women with PCOS are often insulin resistant (3) and have an increased risk for Type 2 diabetes. Therefore, I always make sure to assess blood sugar levels with a combination of tests including serum insulin, c-peptide, fasting blood sugar, and HgbA1c.

4. Toxin labs

It’s no secret that we live in a toxic world. Xenoestrogens are synthetic compounds that are found in many everyday products including pesticides, plastics, and personal care products. They are actually classified as an endocrine disruptor (4) as they can “mimic” estrogen and bind to estrogen receptor sites in your body, leading to a cascade of hormone imbalances that end up affecting your fertility. 

Multiple studies are also pointing to mold exposure as another potential contributing factor for infertility. In fact, two studies published in Toxins, found that certain mycotoxins - the toxic compounds produced by certain types of mold - actually impacted (5) male fertility and contributed (6) to female infertility, PCOS, and pregnancy loss.

For all of my patients struggling with infertility, I will start with ​​mycotoxin labs to look for the presence of mycotoxins in your urine and antibody production against mycotoxins in your blood as well as heavy metal and other toxin labs to determine if you have any consistent exposure to certain toxins.

For a complete guide to mold testing, check out my article here.