When Mollie and Ryan struggled to conceive their second child, doctors told them that his sperm quality was the challenge. After two unsuccessful IVF cycles, they were thrilled to conceive a healthy baby all on their own!
Here's how supplementing for sperm health helped them grow their family.
An Infertility Journey
Mollie’s first experience with conception and pregnancy was textbook—no issues, no complications, no problems. It’s only natural that she assumed a second pregnancy would follow the same pattern. “The thing that stands out the most to me would be how blindsided I was to secondary infertility,” she shares. “I knew about infertility, but never thought I would face any issues.”
Mollie and her husband were told that his sperm quality was the challenge. And while they were quick to ask about ways to change that—diet, exercise, medication, anything—Mollie says her doctor advised that their best option were certain à la carte services that could be performed during their upcoming IVF procedure to ensure they maximized their chances of selecting the best sperm. So they put their faith in their doctor.
The first round resulted in zero healthy embryos. “I was devastated,” Mollie says simply. “I knew there had to be something for men, so I started searching #malefactor on Instagram.” That’s when she stumbled across Beli, which at the time was offering a men’s prenatal only. With hopes rising, she placed an order. “A few months later, we had another round. After they took my husband’s sample, they called me to ask if he was on [name redacted] because his sample was night-and-day different from our last round.” It was an unusual question. This particular drug is FDA approved for use in women only, though it’s sometimes prescribed off-label as an infertility treatment for men.
He wasn’t taking medication. He was taking Beli.
“Our second round of IVF resulted in three healthy embryos,” shares Mollie. “We transferred our only girl and unfortunately lost her at nine weeks.” Then, Mollie and her husband made the difficult decision not to move forward with another transfer. They stopped IVF and turned their attention to their family of three, though her husband continued taking Beli. But the best was yet to come. "I got the biggest surprise two months later that I had conceived naturally and I truly think Beli had everything to do with it," says Mollie.
Today, her baby is almost ten months old, and her family of four feels just right.
The Infertility Club
When we think about infertility, it tends to be the primary kind. But secondary infertility is just as common as primary, and the toll it takes is no less devastating. Mollie’s experience was eye opening, and while her story has a happy ending, she deeply relates to the infertility journey. Still, her advice is pragmatic and rooted in both intuition and trusting yourself. “Don’t settle if you have a gut feeling that you could be doing more,” she says. After all, in her own experience, doing her homework and listening to her gut paid off. “Find others with similar fertility issues and see what worked for them,” she adds. “It’s a horrible club to be part of, but you’ll find some of the most amazing, helpful people within the infertility world.”
Her final bit of advice? “Even if your husband isn’t a factor, have him take Beli. It can only help!”
