<h2>The Link Between Fertility and Relaxation</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><br id="w592" />You may have heard countless stories of couples who give up on pregnancy and finally elect to adopt, and then miraculously get pregnant.  Or, they go on vacation to forget their tribulations with their infertility struggle, and then viola, they get pregnant while away.  Up until now, such anecdotal stories were just that - wives tales that had the effect of causing even more stress on infertile couples making them think it was their fault.  <br id="n0re0" /><br id="n0re1" />According to Dr. Alice Domar, whom <em>Vogue</em> calls the Fertility Goddess: "Although it takes six months to a year to receive an official diagnosis of infertility, many women begin to feel stressed and worried about their fertility shortly after they start trying to conceive.  The stress builds as conception fails to happen the second month, the third, the fourth, the sixth.  it grows as you start wondering if you'll ever get pregnant and skyrockets when you see doctors, undergo tests, endure invasive medical procedures, and still fail to get or remain pregnant. The stress builds and builds and, in my experience, hits its peak after two to three years of unsuccessful trying.  For many women infertility is the most upsetting experience of their lives, a tragedy that causes as much stress as does a life-threatening disease."<br id="l_q40" /><br id="l_q41" />Leading researchers such as Dr. Domar and Dr. Sarah Berger of Emory University, have published numerous studies showing a direct casual link between stress and infertility.  It starts fundamentally with the fact that the "mother" of our fertility hormones resides in the hypothalamus, a major nerve center in the brain that ALSO is the regular and receptor of stress, emitting cortisol when needed to keep our bodies in balance.  To repeat:  the major nerve center handles BOTH stress and the functioning of our reproductive system.  <br id="a9kj0" /><br id="a9kj1" />Both of these leading researchers have documented proof that show a clear and direct connection between the reduction of stress and depression and the ability to get pregnant.  As outlined in this article by the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/04/health/04conv.html):<br id="kl2y" /><br id="gs.f" /></p>

<div id="ss8v" style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: justify;">- In a study of 16 women reported in 2003 journal of Fertility and Sterility, Dr. Berga showed that ovulation was restored in 7 of 8 women who underwent cognitive behavioral therapy, compared with 2 of 8 who did not get therapy.<br id="ar8x" />- In 2006, in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology &amp; Metabolism, she reported that women who did not ovulate had excessive levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, in the brain fluid.  <br id="sm6s" /></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><br id="f_my" />Other studies and data points include the following:<br id="o.:_0" /><br id="o.:_1" />- Recent studies conducted at Harvard medical School on 184 women going through relaxation training for infertility - 55% had a viable pregnancy within one year, compared to only 20% of the control group achieving a viable pregnancy;<br id="t8y30" /><br id="sdfp" />- In a study with women undergoing donor sperm insemination, those with higher levels of anxiety prior to undergoing inseminations took significantly longer to conceive (Demyttenaere, Nijs, Steeno and Koninckx, 1988);<br id="t8y31" /><br id="d:eu" />- Women who were not depressed before starting IVF treatment had a conception rate twice as high as women who were depressed before treatment (Thiering, Beaurepaire, Jones &amp; Saunders, 1993);<br id="t8y32" /><br id="k:xj" />- Research has shown that women undergoing treatment for infertility have a similar, and often higher, level of stress as women dealing with life-threatening illnesses such as cancer and heart disease, according to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.  In addition, they report that "infertile couples experience chronic stress each month, first hoping that they will conceive and then dealing with the disappointment if they do not.  When diagnosed with infertility, many couples may no longer feel in control of their bodies or their life plan.  Infertility can be a major crisis because of the important life goal of parenthood is threatened.<br id="pzem" /><br id="rea90" /><br id="jdv6" /><br id="oo8v" /><br id="w5t6" /></p>