What is a fertility coach? How can it help with your family-building journey?

While struggling with infertility and trying to build my family, I started listening to multiple self-help books and grew more interested in personal development and the wellness industry. I desperately sought support through the trenches of infertility, but I also desired to find my purpose in life. Although I had no idea then, my passion for personal development would be the catalyst to finding my purpose in life.

I worked as a senior jewelry buyer at a major e-commerce website, Ruelala.com, for almost ten years. I went to school for fashion merchandising and fulfilled my dream of becoming a buyer, but the lust for the job was beginning to fade. I was ready for something new but had no idea what that was. Then, one day, when I was listening to a self-help book, the author Mel Robins mentioned she was a life coach.

Fireworks went off in my head, and I had a personal revelation.

If life coaching was a career to help people live their best lives, there must be fertility coaching to help women during infertility. It felt like the perfect combination to use my passion for personal development toward helping women feel empowered and supported through their family-building journey. 

But there was one big caveat: I lost myself during the emotional roller coaster of infertility. My innate positive and hopeful demeanor had diminished, and I felt like I was failing as a woman. Nevertheless, I was passionate about picking up the pieces and living my most fulfilled, best life and the possibility of helping others. But first, I had a lot of work to do on myself.

So I enrolled in the Institute of Integrative Nutrition for coaching and spent a year learning, growing, and healing.

I learned a coach helps you make decisions that align with your values and goals.

They meet you where you are and help you discover the answers within by guiding you with high mileage questions, listening, and opening up perspectives and solutions. We must re-evaluate old beliefs within our new identities and be willing to shift views.

A fertility coach holds a safe space to discuss your values, goals, and action steps to get you closer to your goal. Then, they keep you accountable for these action steps to build on for the next call. During these calls, we discuss what is going on in your family-building journey. Since infertility affects all aspects of our lives, such as careers, relationships, finances, and well-being, it depends on where you want to focus your energy. The main goal is always to bring you back to your values and intuition, ensuring your actions align.

If you are 1 in 8 struggling with infertility, you may feel blindsided due to the lack of sex education.

We know so little about our bodies and reproduction and, therefore, can feel overwhelmed with options or next steps.

A fertility coach is there to guide you by educating & supporting you through this time:  education about your body and the fertility signs to nail down ovulation, research the right fertility clinic and questions to ask your doctor, navigation through the different phases of IVF, and help with your diet and lifestyle.

Another aspect of infertility is isolation.

Because of the Stigma associated with infertility, people aren't willing to talk about it as much, and it can feel like you are the only person in the world going through this.

But I have learned that sharing our stories gives us strength and connection with others. The Stigma and shame dissipate when we talk about it, own our stories, and share them with conviction. Infertility is a disease and a medical condition; you did nothing to cause this. A coach can help you feel less alone and empower you to move forward, one step at a time.

Lastly, help navigating your relationships can get complicated through infertility. A coach can help you strengthen communication with your partner by encouraging fertility-free talk periods, learning your partner's love language, or more date nights.

Additionally, a coach can help you navigate insensitive comments from in-laws or parents who constantly ask when you will have a baby and don't understand every time they ask you; it's like a dagger in the heart.

Furthermore, infertility also affects friendships.

Seeing pregnancy announcements or the pressure of attending baby showers while struggling can be very triggering.

Therefore, setting boundaries with family and friends during this time is very important for your mental health and something a fertility coach can help you implement.

A coaching relationship is a journey, and we are partners together. We learn and grow from each other. Based on your interests and my training, I will help you explore lifestyle tools to help with anxiety on your infertility journey.

As someone that has been through infertility, I am passionate about helping you discover what works best for you.

Some tools we can explore together are meditation, breath work, gratitude, journaling, and finding the proper movement for you. I encourage you to find joy in building your family instead of being siloed by the goal of "I'll be happy when I have this baby" (whether it is your first, second, or fourth, etc.). Life is too short to let the current moment pass by on autopilot.

The biggest lesson infertility gave me is happiness is not something I should save for my future self.

Instead, we can experience it while we wait for our dreams to come true.

Infertility is tough, but so are you. Getting yourself the support you need is the first step to an empowered journey.

Book you free 30-min consultation here to get started.