In this episode of the AllPaths podcast, we sit down with Dr. Carmel Wiseman, a fertility optimization specialist who acts as a "detective" to uncover the hidden barriers preventing people from growing their families. Dr. Carmel shares her eight-year journey, which began at age 41 and included multiple miscarriages, IUIs, and IVF cycles in both the United States and Israel. She details the unique challenges she faced, including a significant childhood medical error where her thyroid was accidentally removed, and her eventual discovery that mycotoxin illness (mold exposure) was a primary factor in her own fertility struggles. Ultimately, her journey was resolved through an empowered choice rather than a medical success. She reached a point where she felt she could either continue trying to have a baby at age 50 or use her experience to help others avoid the same lengthy, confusing struggle. She chose the latter, becoming the guide she wished she had during her own journey. Today, she shares that “95% of the time, I'm just 100% at peace with it,” finding joy and fulfillment as an "auntie" and by contributing to the successful family-building stories of her clients.
The discussion explores Dr. Carmel’s comprehensive approach to fertility, which utilizes functional medicine and genomic testing to evaluate the health of both partners. She emphasizes the importance of looking beyond hormones to investigate environmental toxins, metabolic health, and male-factor issues such as sperm DNA fragmentation. Dr. Carmel advocates for couples to "get curious" and begin optimizing their health ideally a year or two before trying to conceive, as addressing issues like heavy metal toxicity or epigenetic risk factors requires time. She explains that while the goal is often a healthy baby, the process of functional optimization provides couples with health management tools that last a lifetime, regardless of the outcome.
Get in touch with Dr. Carmel:
TOPICS COVERED IN THIS EPISODE:
IUI, fertility over 40, pregnancy loss, miscarriage, TTC over 40, international fertility treatment, IVF, thyroid, donor egg, egg donor IVF, cost of IVF, cost of fertility treatment, twin loss, miscarriage, functional medicine, environmental toxins, micotoxin exposure, micotoxin illness, childless after infertility, childless after family building challenges, integrative medicine, male factor infertility, sperm fragmentation, semen analysis, Israel, Australia, oxidative stress testing, first-trimester miscarriages, fertility optimization, GrowBaby, genetic testing
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