Empowered Fertility: 10 Myths & Restorative Truths
Insights for Infertility Awareness Week
This Week Is National Infertility Awareness Week.
Infertility affects an estimated 1 in 6 couples—and that number continues to rise. The reasons are complex and not fully understood. For many, the fertility journey can feel overwhelming, disheartening, and costly—especially when misinformation only adds to the burden.
In honor of Infertility Awareness Week, I’m sharing 10 myths about infertility and shedding light on their restorative truths—insights drawn from the New Horizons in Women’s Healthcare conference hosted by FACTS about Fertility.
Last month, leading doctors in restorative reproductive medicine from the U.S. and Europe gathered at the FACTS conference to share studies, clinical success stories, and groundbreaking discoveries. They are paving the way toward new clinical guidelines for women’s reproductive care.
As one speaker at the conference said, “We cannot protect what we don’t know.” Understanding our bodies is the first step toward healing.
Infertility is a deeply personal and often painful journey. While this article zeroes in on the medical side to equip and inform, my heart goes out to every woman and couple navigating this path. Even when the journey is filled with grief and sorrow—when motherhood feels distant—there is more to your story beyond test results and treatments. (Be sure to read Myth 11 below.)
🔎 10 Myths About Infertility
Myth 1: Infertility is a diagnosis
Truth: Infertility isn’t a diagnosis—it’s a symptom of underlying health issues. Restorative reproductive medicine looks beyond surface-level symptoms to heal the whole woman—physically, hormonally, and emotionally. It assesses diet, nutrient deficiencies, insulin resistance, thyroid and immune function, and even male fertility. While the causes of infertility are often diagnosable, treating “infertility” as the diagnosis itself implies finality. In reality, it should be the starting point for deeper investigation and healing.
Myth 2: IVF is your only option
Truth: Many couples conceive naturally once they address root causes. Pregnancy and live birth rates with RRM are comparable—if not superior—to IVF. Restorative approaches emphasize long-term health and work with the body’s innate design, rather than bypassing it as IUI and IVF do.
With $1 million, we can care for 500 women through restorative care—compared to just 200 through IVF, with comparable live birth rates.
Myth 3: Exercise always boosts fertility
Truth: It depends. Stress, BMI, and timing all matter. Too much — or too little — exercise can impair fertility. One study found that 58% of regular runners had menstrual irregularities1. Another showed that women with a BMI under 25 experienced longer times to pregnancy with vigorous exercise2. Women with PCOS, however, benefit from a mix of vigorous and resistance training. Each woman has a unique exercise threshold. Sleep, nutrition, and stress management are equally important.
Myth 4: Primary Ovarian Insufficiency (POI) means pregnancy is impossible
Truth: POI—reduced ovarian function before age 40—is often diagnosed via AMH levels. But it isn’t always a definitive fertility verdict. With the right care, including appropriate hormone replacement, some women ovulate and conceive.
Myth 5: Hormonal birth control regulates your cycle
Truth: Hormonal contraceptives shut down your body’s natural cycle and mask symptoms. In contrast, fertility awareness and cycle charting uncover what’s really going on. Your menstrual cycle is considered a fifth vital sign because it reflects your body’s ability to produce and regulate hormones. When your cycle is irregular or symptomatic, that’s not something to suppress—it’s an invitation to investigate. Masking the signs with hormonal birth control means missing key insights into your health.
Myth 6: Pelvic pain should be treated with birth control or surgery
Truth: Contraception and hysterectomy are go-to treatments for pelvic pain, but these approaches either mask or totally reduce fertility, while bypassing the source of the pain. A trained surgeon can treat conditions like endometriosis, fibroids, ovarian cysts, and pelvic congestion syndrome through very precise, targeted procedures that offer a greater chance of preserving reproductive function. Fertility-awareness cycle charting can reveal pain-related patterns, paving the way for quicker diagnosis and treatment.
Myth 7: I can confirm ovulation by cycle tracking
Truth: Cycle tracking can suggest ovulation, but it can’t confirm it. The only ways to know with certainty that ovulation occurred are a positive pregnancy test or a transvaginal ultrasound. Follicle studies—ultrasound monitoring of follicle growth—are the gold standard for confirming ovulation, especially when trying to conceive. Fertility awareness methods and at-home hormone tests track signs suggestive of ovulation—like LH surges, temperature shifts, and cervical mucus—but only an ultrasound can confirm that a follicle actually ruptured. In other words, ultrasound let’s you know “it’s go time” for trying to conceive :)
Myth 8: Fertility treatment is all about hormones
Truth: The body is an integrated whole. While diet and lifestyle factors play a significant role in fertility, structural abnormalities should also be assessed—such as polyps, fibroids, cysts, uterine anomalies, and endometriosis, which may contribute to infertility, heavy bleeding, and pelvic pain.
The osteopathic approach considers the mind, body, and spirit—and includes assessments like pelvic alignment and lymphatic flow. Is your pelvis ready to support pregnancy? Does everything move and work in harmony? Could there be restricted blood flow to organs? How is the health of the mind affecting the structures and functions of the body?
Myth 9: Eat this and you’ll get pregnant
Truth: Beware of blanket nutrition claims. While past guidelines emphasized high-carb, low-fat diets, updated nutritional research suggests adequate protein, fatty acids, and key micronutrients are the foundation of a fertility-boosting diet. Studies demonstrate that high-fat dairy consumption can reduce ovulation dysfunction, fish (2+ servings/week) boosts live birth rates, and omega-3s help prevent loss. With all of this, however, personalized nutrition— with an emphasis on eating enough, balancing blood sugar, improving gut health, and reducing inflammation—is key.
Myth 10: If I’m frustrated with my doctor, I should give up
Truth: Don’t settle. Seek providers who offer precision surgery for endometriosis, weekend clinics for timed treatments, and treat you with dignity. You deserve that care.
💬 A Final Reflection (Myth 11)
Myth 11: The physical capacity to bear children defines motherhood
Truth: Written into our DNA is the ability to bear life in our wombs, and this biological reality shapes how we enter the world—regardless of whether we ultimately carry life. It gives us a unique relational capacity to nurture and cultivate life, and this takes on many forms. Whether or not you have children, your femininity is a gift to the world. As Edith Stein once said, “A woman’s soul is … fashioned to be a shelter in which other souls may unfold.”
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Mussawar M, Balsom AA, Totosy de Zepetnek JO, Gordon JL. The effect of physical activity on fertility: a mini-review. F S Rep. 2023 Apr 14;4(2):150-158. doi: 10.1016/j.xfre.2023.04.005. PMID: 37398617; PMCID: PMC10310950.
Wise LA, Rothman KJ, Mikkelsen EM, Sørensen HT, Riis AH, Hatch EE. A prospective cohort study of physical activity and time to pregnancy. Fertil Steril. 2012 May;97(5):1136-42.e1-4. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2012.02.025. Epub 2012 Mar 15. PMID: 22425198; PMCID: PMC3340509.