Nowadays, getting pregnant in what's called advanced maternal age can seem like the norm
because so many of us have waited to we're a little bit later in life to get pregnant,
and we hear so many people being referred to as advanced maternal age, and that's scary. If you
are just starting to try now and you're 35 and older and have been told this, I don't want you
to panic. There's lots of things that you can do right now to achieve the results that you
want to get, and that's exactly what I'm going to cover in this video, so let's jump into it.
Hi, I'm Dr. Mark Sklar, also known as the fertility expert, and I've been working with
couples for close to 20 years through my online coaching programs right here in San Diego, and
a lot of the couples that we work with are over 35, so if you're local in San Diego, you can come
and say hi, but more importantly, let's talk about this topic, about what you can be doing to improve
your fertility if you're considered what's called advanced maternal age. The first thing we need to
start with is testing. Regardless of your age, this is always an important place to start with,
but if you are a little bit older, closer to 40 or above, for sure, this is exactly what we
want to do, because we want to understand what your hormones are doing right now so
that you can have a better understanding of what you need to do moving forward.
The first thing that you should do is do your fertility hormone testing. You might think that
your doctor has already done all of these, but this is often not the case. I've explained that
in many other videos. They just do enough to find out a little bit, but not the full breadth of your
hormones and where they are today. I want all of you to do these hormone tests on cycle day two,
actually, two, three, or four. I want you to have the following done, FSH, LH, Estradiol or E2,
DHEA, AMH, Testosterone, both free and total, Sex Hormone Binding Globulin, and Prolactin. That is
the bare minimum that you should be doing. I like to dig deeper beyond that as well,
and that's something I do in my coaching program. But right now, for the sake of this video,
that is the bare minimum of labs that I want to make sure that you guys are all doing,
and it's also really important that those are done at the right time, the right days of your cycle,
which is why I mentioned that before. Cycles day two, three, or four, that is the appropriate time
and the best time to get the most accurate information from those hormone tests.
Now, having this information is an important first step because it tells you a couple of things. It
tells you how your hormones are doing. Are they balanced, and do I have enough estrogen? Do I
have enough DHEA? It also tells you what your egg quality, so to speak, is like. That FSH is
going to give you that indicator, and that AMH is going to tell you how many eggs you have left or
ovarian reserve you have left. That's right. Now, again, I don't put a ton of weight in
those hormones, and I don't want you to get these hormone tests done and then be scared
by them. That's not why we're doing it. We're doing it so that you can have information about
what needs to be improved, so that you can make those necessary changes now before you
seek out additional treatment and support for your fertility. That's why you're doing that right now.
The next most important thing that you need to do, because 50% of all fertility issues are
male-factor, is your partner needs to get a semen analysis done. That's right. They need to step up
and get tested. They are 50% of the equation, because it takes two to tango, but they're also
50% of the problem. That's right. We need to make sure that they get evaluated so you know where
to put your efforts. Does it all need to be egg quality, because I tell you over and over it's not
all egg quality, or can some of that effort and energy put into improving sperm quality as well?
The next thing I want to touch on is, I know that when you are a little bit older, you feel the
pressure of time and wanting to make progress quickly. Sometimes it might feel like that if
you are asked to do some things and those things take time, like make changes in your lifestyle,
in your diet, take supplements to improve whatever imbalances we found in your hormone tests and
your lab tests, that's just time wasted. I don't want you to think about it that
way. This is time well spent. That's right. If you don't address these underlying issues,
it's going to be harder to get pregnant, and you're more likely to end up at the IVF path.
But if you end up that way or over there, don't you want that to work and you're not just wasting
your money and throwing it away? We want it to work. I encourage you. The time and effort you
put in now to address these underlying issues are only going to benefit you now and in the future.
Give yourself three to six months to address the underlying issues you find in the lab work to make
the necessary lifestyle and diet changes to take those supplements so that they can do what we need
them to do so that hopefully you can get pregnant naturally now in these next three to six months,
or if not, you are better prepared to move forward with IUI or IVF should
you need to go there, and that time will happen much faster and be more effective.
This also might sound strange, but I feel like women who are older and start on their
fertility journeys when they're older have actually a better chance of conceiving. Why
is that? Because you are more dedicated, you're more focused. You've learned all the mistakes,
you recognize how important it is to make changes, to put in the time, to find the right support and
resources to get the results that you want to get. When you're younger, it's all about having fun,
and you're not worried about things. So I do think it's really important and valuable for you to put
in that time now, and I do think it's going to be more effective and impactful for you now because
you're older, you know how important it is, and you're going to really commit to that process.
Lastly, I want you to believe that it's possible. I want you to believe that you can get pregnant.
I say this from experience. This is something that I see over and over and over again in those
couples in my HOPE Fertility Coaching Program because it's designed to work with couples who
are 35 and older. That's right. Where we create a plan with you and for you to get the results that
you deserve to not only address the underlying issues but also to address the mindset and the
emotional and spiritual peace as well. It's a comprehensive program to get you
the results that you are looking for. If you need some additional support and you
want the support of me and my team to help you investigate what's going on and create
that personalized plan for you to help you get those results faster, then I want to invite you
to apply to join my HOPE Coaching Program by using the link in the description below.
Lastly, I want to leave you with this. Aside from leaving you with that belief in yourself,
that hope, I want you to take control of your fertility. I want you to investigate what's
going on, get the right support, and don't take no for an answer that you can't. Don't let everyone
tell you that the only option for you is IVF. If it is, that's fine. There's nothing wrong with it,
but have you done everything else prior to that to make sure that is the right path for you?
Again, if you want my support, whatever path you go down, down the natural side or through IVF,
we are here for you. And that link to join my HOPE Coaching Program is in the description below. Now,
I want to hear from all of you what was valuable from this video. Comment below and let me know.
Additionally, I want to hear your fertility journey. I want to hear your questions so
that I can support you right here on YouTube and FertilityTV. Comment below and leave your
fertility questions below so that I can support you on your journey. If you like this video,
give me a thumbs up. If you're not already a subscriber to my YouTube channel,
then you need to be, so hit that bell to subscribe and get notified when I
put out another video for all of you. Until the next video, stay fertile.