Durban - Fertility is usually attributed to the woman, but the number of men who are unable to produce offspring is on the rise.
Now, a South African woman who knows the pain of struggling to conceive has triumphed and used her journey to motherhood as a basis for a new career as a fertility coach.
Daminda Senekal-Griessel was young, healthy, in the prime of her life and working hard at establishing her career in the marketing industry.
Then at 34 she got married and wanted to have a baby. Despondent after repeated miscarriages and with doctors telling her to “just keep on trying”, she realised that she would have to do her own research if she wanted to succeed.
“At that stage they told me I only had a 1% chance of success. I was extremely frustrated,“ she said.
Senekal-Griessel was working in the pharmaceutical industry and devoted all her time to research, hoping to find a way to conceive.
Three years later she gave birth to her son, who is now 7 years old.
She says the secret was to ensure that her body was in the optimum condition to become pregnant and has listed the methods in her newly published book, ‘FertilitySOS’.
“It was all natural, nothing invasive,” she said.
She discovered that throughout the day there were simple things which could stifle one’s chances of conception, like over-the-counter drugs, stress, coffee, unhealthy food choices, as well as vitamin deficiencies, medication to treat diabetes, cholesterol and hypertension.
Low iron levels in women and too high iron levels in men were also to blame, she said.
Surprisingly, the condition of a man’s mouth was also a key factor.
“Bad oral health can impact on sperm quality. So can drinking tap water because it contains a lot of fluoride which kills sperm,” said Senekal-Griessel.
LIke the Chinese, she believes that a woman can have kids as long as she menstruates and says according to research, in 35 to 50% of cases the problems faced while trying to conceive lie with the man.
She cites Janet Jackson as an example of a woman who had a child at 50.
The World Health Organization says 15% of reproductive aged couples are affected by infertility and women usually bear the brunt of this.
“Women in particular are at greater risk of violence, divorce, social stigma, emotional stress, depression, anxiety and low self-esteem. In some settings, fear of infertility can deter women and men from using contraception if they feel socially pressured to prove their fertility at an early age because of a high social value of childbearing,” according to the WHO.
It said infertility could also have negative financial consequences when households incurred catastrophic out-of-pocket expenditure to access treatment.
Senekal-Griessel believes that usually invasive treatment is not needed and that only in 3% of cases couples have no option but to try other treatments like in vitro fertilisation (IVF).
“IVF is a massive industry and usually it’s only successful after the third round.
In Pretoria a round of IVF costs about R80 000; it’s a big money spinner,” she said.
Following the birth of her first child, Senekal-Griessel again struggled to conceive and was told to consider IVF.
At the age of 47, by using her tried and tested method based on personal research, she gave birth to a girl.
“Don’t give up, there is always hope, just work with someone who is knowledgeable and you can have a miracle baby.”
She says by the time people go to her for fertility coaching they have lost all hope.
And while she is not a doctor, she can assist them with the necessary lifestyle changes, supplements and recommend what blood tests will help.
Her fertility coaching programme typically lasts six months. She says men typically do not want to attend fertility coaching because they become embarrassed. Because of that and for the sake of convenience, the two consultations she has per month can be done online.
- Those who are struggling to become parents can go to her website, www.fertilitysos.com, or call her at 084 652 8586.
- ‘FertilitySOS’, the book which details how to prepare your body for pregnancy, can also be purchased at Exclusive Books, Takealot and Amazon.
The Independent on Saturday