Fertility acupuncture, the expert's point of view.
An interview with Mike Berkley, L.Ac,FABORM, founder of The Berkley Centre for Reproductive Wellness
Advances in Reproductive medicine made possible many things our predecessors would have never even dreamt about.
Techniques like IVF, ICSI, Assisted hatching, PGS testing were science-fiction topics sixty years ago, that is, if anyone had enough imagination to ever think of them back then.
We are thankful for each and every new scientific step that could potentially bring us closer to the dream of becoming parents.
Yet even the top infertility clinics admit there are other approaches that might help, besides traditional medicine.
One of them is as old as time (almost) and it has made a fantastic comeback in the last years, becoming the new trend in wellness and experiencing an impressive ressurgence in popularity: acupuncture.
You are going to tell me it’s been around for 3000 years. And you'd be right!
But the Western World needed a tad more time to accept that there are other populations just as wise out there. It took both Europe and the United States hundreds of years to accept the therapeutic effects of acupuncture.
Lately, there are more and more studies confirming that acupuncture successfully fills the effectiveness gaps in Western Medicine.
If many medical systems have accepted a while ago that Acupuncture succeeds where conventional medicine fails especially in conditions like chronic back pain, neck pain, migraines, it has taken fertility specialists a bit longer to admit that acupuncture is a valuable adjuvant in the treatment of infertility
I had the pleasure of interviewing one of the top experts in acupuncture, herbal medicine and holistic approaches for patients faced with fertility challenges.
Mike Berkley, L.Ac.FABORM is the founder of the Berkley Center for Reproductive Wellness in Manhattan, the first acupuncture clinic in the United States to specialize in infertility.
Ever since 1997, Mike has successfully treated thousands of patients, is a licensed acupuncturist and herbologist, has developed the Berkley method-an integrative approach to the diagnosis and treatment of the infertility patient, and is now finishing a book I personally can’t wait to read and that he talked to me about during our lovely chat.
I will spare you the enumeration of all of Mike Berkley’s professional society memberships or of the lectures he is giving, from Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center to Resolve and The American Infertility Association.
The list is far too long to be included in a blog article.
I will just tell you this: I met an amazing expert, a man who, having been confronted with infertility himself, has decided to dedicate his whole practice and entire life to helping people struggling with fertility issues.
Kind of like myself, cause you all know how my own infertility journey drove me to become a Patient Advocate.
Except of course, I am at the bottom of the league compared to him, although I am hoping to climb up the ladder, eventually.
Basically, I want to be Mike Berkley when I grow up.
Enjoy the interview!
Resources
(Lu, D., & Lu, G. (2013, October). An Historical Review and Perspective on the Impact of Acupuncture on U.S. Medicine and Society. Retrieved November 24, 2020, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3796320/
Paulus WE;Zhang M;Strehler E;El-Danasouri I;Sterzik K;. (n.d.). Influence of acupuncture on the pregnancy rate in patients who undergo assisted reproduction therapy. Retrieved November 24, 2020, from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11937123/