Trusting your body

I wanted to share some new research that was exactly what I have been looking for for a while. I had seen many studies that showed significantly better pregnancy and live birth rates in women who did natural rather than HRT (medicated) FET, but not a single one of them broke down age cohorts. And my fear, at the time, was that as women aged, they entered perimenopause and perhaps their natural cycles became less consistent, leading to worse results from natural FET.

In fact I searched for something exactly like this in September last year in the lead up to my failed FET. Interestingly, this research paper was published in August 2024, so it likely hadn’t had a chance to be indexed by Google when I searched. But here’s the August 2024 study results…

This large retrospective study examined 1,923 single euploid frozen embryo transfers, comparing natural cycle (NC-FET) to hormone replacement therapy (HRT-FET). 216 of them were over 40 years old and 94 of these had an ongoing pregnancy

Key outcomes were:

• Natural cycles had significantly higher ongoing pregnancy rates (OPR) than medicated cycles (OR 1.50, P < 0.001).
• The benefit of natural cycles persisted across all age groups, including women over 40.
• BMI was inversely related to success: each 1-point increase in BMI lowered odds of pregnancy by ~5%.
• Parity (having previously given birth) increased odds of pregnancy by ~29%.
• Embryo score also mattered: “Fair” quality embryos (like 5BB) had intermediate outcomes, but still significantly better than poor-quality.

So in effect, choosing a natural cycle over a medicated one could improve your chance of ongoing pregnancy by 20–30 percentage points, or a 50-60% relative increase in success rate (depending on BMI and previous pregnancy status).

I got ChatGPT to analyse my specific BMI and past parity (one child), to help determine other improvement factors. And my personal scenario was a 57%-65% relative increase in ongoing pregnancy.

My entire life, I have viewed my body as an often untrustworthy companion. And so even though I tried ALL the natural things to assist in pregnancy attempts for my son, nothing worked. But here is one thing I forgot…even though it didn’t work, the natural things I did completely shift my natural cycle to being far more regular. Specifically, fertility focussed acupuncture, chinese herbs, doing all my bloods and attempting to balance anything that was out of balance, opk and bbt cycle tracking.

In the aftermath of my appendectomy recovery and then my trauma discovery I have been really working on getting everything back in balance. Supplements SPECIFICALLY to address low or higher than optimal blood ranges, then Chinese herbs and acupuncture for gentle cycle support and I’ve also been tracking in detail with my Mira.

I feel like I’m at a crossroads, and I’ll be doing a lot of manifestation and subconscious processing over the next two weeks, to decide whether I should go down this path and change from the planned medicated FET to Natural. For my brain it is EXTREMELY hard to think about “changing what worked” for my son. It feels like I’d be putting a ridiculous amount on the line. But then there is this piece of me, deep in my gut, that says I should trust my body. Because my body knows how to do this. And because my most recent cycle has been so well orchestrated (according to Mira!).

Letting go and letting my own body control the outcome here rather than letting medicine decide is a huge shift for me. Having the evidence suggest such a significant positive impact is of course helpful too. I’m also considering not going on the immune protocol as well, because my NK cell biopsies post my first pregnancy have always been low, and there is evidence to suggest the body’s immune system modulates post-partum.

So…to trust, or to not to trust myself. It is a question I imagine so many of you struggle with every day, as do I. Sometimes there are so many decisions and so much data it all feels like a blur. Sometimes you just want someone else to tell you want to do. I wonder if my final test is to stop holding on so tight. And to let go…