Part Two – Metamorphosis: Fertility Enhancement Coaching

In Part One of this series on “Metamorphosis: Fertility Enhancement Coaching” in my blog-“Blooming Through Infertility: My Path to Hope,”  I spoke about my journey into motherhood and how I had many challenges and much trauma from four spontaneous miscarriages and was diagnosed with unexplained or Idiopathic infertility. It was a label I had trouble grappling with from a personal perspective, even as a medical professional and RN. When saddled with it, I asked: What is unexplained infertility, and what will it mean to me on my family-building journey?

However, I didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that it described my situation in that I was unable to produce a viable baby after four attempts—three occurring before my first born—but with some exploration and a fertility assessment, the doctors did not know why. One physician put it this way: The good news about unexplained infertility is that you now know you have it, but the bad news is we don’t know how we can help you.

As you can read in my poem “Emptiness,” posted in my previous blog, I was devastated and exhausted going to doctors for consultation and having relatives tell me it was God’s will, experiencing the stigma of infertility in what people said to me and what they did not say, and feeling alienated and alone. One GYN doctor told me I had to take DES to have a full-term baby, a toxic drug that caused cancer, even though he knew it. Another physician told me I wasn’t pregnant, that is, until I aborted into my toilet the next day. The one consolation for me was that the flagrant use of the diagnosis of unexplained infertility by doctors is rampant in that millions of women globally have it. What they do about it is a different story.

Today in Part Two of this series during Infertility Awareness Week on April 20-26, 2025, held by the advocacy group RESOLVE, I am reflecting upon my fertility journey, what my innate strengths were from early childhood that helped me succeed, and how I used the power of my mind to overcome infertility. This occurred at a time when IVF was not yet readily available to the general public, so it was not an option, and I had to fully depend on ancient wisdom from women who lived before me and on my innate feminine instincts.

We tend to think of treatment for infertility as a modern medical concept, yet we can read the Biblical stories about Sarah, Rebekha, and Rachel and their miracle babies to know the contrary. To explore the roots of how women overcame infertility in ancient times, let’s visit the work of historian Rebecca Flemming, who wrote: “The Invention of Infertility in the Classical Greek World: Medicine, Divinity, and Gender.” She argued that ancient medical texts, focusing on the writings of the Hippocratic Corpus written in the 5^th and 4^th centuries BC, devoted energy to matters of fertility and generation because this was a topic of concern. The text included “fertility remedies,” such as eating boiled puppy and pine twigs, taking herbs, and asking deities, such as Asclepius, for assistance in having babies.

Though the relations between these options in the text are complex, they combined to produce a rich remedial array of treatments for those infertile and introduced to them the possibility that any impediment to procreation could be removed, which also included other known “diseases.”

The implication drawn from this historical finding is that such procreative disruption for infertility was thought to be left entirely untreated by medicine up to the IVF birth of Baby Louise in 1978, which we now know is patently false. However, its intent is the same, that is, to remove hindrances for infertility, which gives women of future generations hope of birthing a baby despite infertility.

Upon reflection now, I am aware that unknowingly at the time, I was the recipient of such feminine wisdom that I learned from my mom and grandmothers through the circumstances of my life that promoted a fertile mindset in the face of adversity, as described below.

What I learned as a girl about fertility and winning

• I had a great imagination, and at the age of 8, I envisioned myself getting married in a stone church to a tall dark and handsome man and having 8 children.
• From my friends, Judy and her sister, I learned about their adoption and her mom’s infertility. I first heard about “periods” from Judy whose mother taught her.
• When there were no sports for girls, at 10, I independently signed up for roller skating races and self-coached. I called myself “Mighty Mouse.”
• I imagined crossing over the finish line first to win, and I did.
• I saw my mother as a role model. I was the fourth daughter of five children, and she showed me how to be fertile in body and spirit and how to care for us.
• At 10 we moved into a new home. After unpacking, my mom came into the kitchen and cried. She said she had lost a baby in the toilet with a miscarriage. I felt sad and tried to comfort her.

How Mighty Mouse within helped me go from Miscarriages to Miracles

• I stood up to the GYN doctor and refused to take DES. I was glad because years later I had a friend whose mom took it to prevent miscarriages. She was called a DES Baby and had cancer of the uterus in her 20s and of the intestines in her 30s. Now scientists are saying these “cancer” genes have been passed down for generations.
• I reached my goal of having 8 pregnancies, even though four died through miscarriage. This is so even after having a 4^th miscarriage when older.
• Determined to have a baby, I said: “If other women can do it, so can I.”
• I gave myself permission to envision holding my baby in my arms.
• Just like with roller skating, I had an “Expectant Mind.” I expected to win, and I did.
• When I was scared at night that I would abort in my bed again, I prayed and learned mind-body skillsets, such as self-hypnosis and meditation to help me relax daily.
• I made lifestyle changes, such as healthy eating, taking supplements, and exercising for stress reduction.
• I heard Norman Cousins say: “Laughter is the best medicine, ” and I laughed a lot.

The Result of Fertility Consciousness

• I calmed myself down and slept better.
• It helped to align my body, mind, spirit, and emotion–-the four levels of healing—to become fertile in mindset.
• I call this “in-touch” feeling “Fertility Consciousness.”
• I learned to use the power of my mind to help myself become resilient.
• I carried the next pregnancy full term naturally, without drugs or medical treatments.
• It was the happiest day of my life when I held my newborn son in my arms, followed by three healthy daughters some years later.
• Each time I talk about my traumatic experiences of infertility, I can more readily let go of the past and be free and fertile in my thinking.

My message for women of child-bearing age to promote fertility

• It is important to begin the fertility journey as early as possible in childhood.
• It benefits women greatly to become more aware of their own fertility before, during, and after pregnancy and to explore deep emotions because the antiquated Medical Model, where the mind is separate from the body, does not address them.
• Align yourself with Mother Nature and Fertility Consciousness.
• Being pregnant and having a baby is a natural, healthy process.
• Infertility is an imbalance in you, not a disease.
• You must approach pregnancy with an Expectant Mind.
• Every monthly cycle, put your performance on a feedback loop to see what worked and what didn’t work. Then make fine-tuned adjustments.
• Understand that unexplained infertility is a temporary medical diagnosis, until you figure out how to explain it, adjust your balance holistically, and achieve success.

To learn more about my personal fertility journey, read or listen to my book: Wrestling Through Aversity: Empowering Children, Teens, & Young Adults to Win in Life, available on Amazon. Detailed information about the contents of my book can be found on my website drchristinesilverstein.com

You can learn about my holistic program for helping women overcome fertility issues by visiting the Metamorphosis: Fertility Enhancement Coaching page on my website, idealperformance.net or by clicking on fertilebodyhypnosis.com

I welcome you to my YouTube channel, The Young Navigator to hear me discuss my views on the mental health crisis of our young people and what to do to empower them.

I invite you to follow me on my Facebook page, The Summit Center for Ideal Performance.