Simple Steps To Improve Your Fertility

Dr. Cleopatra Kamperveen

Thank you, Dr. Terry. I’m so excited to be here with you. You know how much I appreciate and honor your work and your expertize. And this event is so important for so many people. So thank you for this beautiful labor of love in which you have been engaged to create this event. I am a fertility and pregnancy and intergenerational health scientist and I developed something called the Prime Esther Protocol. And it is an incredible system for helping to Prime or prepare every part of your body, your brain, every part of yourself for healthy pregnancy, healthy fertility, healthy pregnancy, and passing down the strongest possible epigenetic foundation for your children and also your grandchildren. And all I can talk a little bit more about that in the future. And I started doing this work. I think that many people assume that when you do work like this, that you yourself must have had fertility challenges. And I have to say that fertility and pregnancy and family, my own family have been the easiest thing in my life and I’m so thankful for that. 

But I lost my mother at birth and my beautiful young mother was only 27 years old. And that beginning to life, as you can imagine, was really rocky and difficult. And it also impressed upon me just how critical reproduction is when it goes well. It’s one of the most beautiful and magical things in the world. And when it doesn’t go well, it’s one of the most painful experiences a person can have. And I committed at the age of five or six to spending my life helping reproduction go as well as possible for as many families as possible. And it brought me here today to being a retired tenured USC professor, having had millions of dollars in grant funding in support of my research, I’ve been cited in over 2000 studies in the past five years alone. I was very young professor starting on the tenure track at the University of Southern California and also the first woman of color in history on the tenure track in my school at the University of Southern California. So all of that led to where I am today. The founder and chief scientific officer of the Fertility and Pregnancy Institute, where we help women all over the world, have their super babies, as we call them.

Terry Wahls, MD

Excellent. Now, the reason I’m so thrilled to have you is that I know many people with multiple sclerosis and near immune conditions have higher rates of infertility. Higher rates of endometriosis. And many of us know we still want to have children. And we have these conversations with our specialist, whether it’s a neurologist or a rheumatologist, GI doctor, because we’re being treated for autoimmune condition. And so we’ve worked out that, okay, we’re going to go off offer duties and we’re going to have this window of time. We’re going to try and get pregnant. And that’s why I think it’s so important that we have you here with us to help people prepare for that window of time so it can be most effective. So let’s say well, some I’ve got M.S., but this could also work if I had rheumatoid arthritis or lupus. I and I’ve convinced my physician, I’ve been doing all that I can. We’ve just taken me off my M2 or that I’m planning to come off my duty and I know I try and get pregnant. So I call you up, too. Okay, Cleopatra, I want to have kids in 2024. Mm hmm. What should I be doing? Something now? It’s 20, 23. I’ve got. How should I prepare?

Dr. Cleopatra Kamperveen

Such a great question. So first I want to thank you for having that perspective to ask what should I be doing in 2023 in order to have a baby in 2024? Because that is something that we’re not taught in society and we need to be. And there’s nothing else that’s as important in life that we don’t prepare for. We prepare for what we want our wedding day to look like, what major we’ll have in college, what internship we’ll do in the summer, what outfit we’re going to wear to a special event. But we think we’re just going to wake up and get pregnant one day. And that’s all that we need to do. And it may be that people with M.S. have a deeper understanding that that might not be the case for them, but I don’t think we have enough discussion of this. And we have had a lot of women with M.S. come to us because it is more common for women with M.S. and other types of autoimmune disorders to experience fertility challenges. So it’s really critical to know this one piece of information, and I call it the four month rule. 

And the four month rule is this If you have tried to get pregnant for three months and you make it to your fourth cycle and you’re not pregnant yet, your fourth menstrual cycle and you’re not pregnant yet, you need to stop and assess and adjust what you are doing, because we know from the scientific data that the people who are going to get pregnant easily will get pregnant. Within the first three months of actively trying to get pregnant, almost 70% will get pregnant by the third month after the third month, starting with the fourth month, there are drastically diminishing returns on time, such that between month four and month 12, less than one out of four will go on to get pregnant. So this is a critical piece of information. If you’re going off your medication and you need to control the amount of time that you’re going to be on medication, off of that medication. Right. Because people might tell you, oh, no worries, if you’re not pregnant in six months, it’s only a problem if you’re pregnant, if you’re not pregnant in the year. And actually, the scientific data show that that piece of advice is wrong. So what you really want to do is use the two parts of the four month rule. And the first part of the four month rule is that if you, prime or prime minister for 120 days or four months before beginning to try to get pregnant, you will drastically reduce the likelihood that you ever make it to that fourth month without getting pregnant in the first place. And that’s what you want to do. So here’s what you want to do. You want to Prime Minister or prepare prime your body down to the level of your cells, your DNA for healthy fertility, healthy pregnancy, and healthy transmission of health to the next generation. And then you want to make sure that you’re getting pregnant within those first three months of trying. That is always the goal.

Terry Wahls, MD

Okay. That is profound information. It’s profound.

Dr. Cleopatra Kamperveen

Nobody tells us this. It is very important that we spread the word about this, whether you have Ms., you have some other autoimmune disorder or you have no conditions that you’re.

Terry Wahls, MD

Just going to have. You just want to have kids. We should all be intentionally preparing. So let’s get down to. Okay, I’ve decided, you know, 24 is the year. So, you know, I should start getting ready. So which are we doing?

Dr. Cleopatra Kamperveen

Okay, so here’s what I want you to know. Your trimester, that period leading up to conception where you’re priming yourself for pregnancy. And by the way, this isn’t just the work of women. This is the work of the people providing sperm daddies as well. And I don’t say.

Terry Wahls, MD

Well, let me interrupt for a moment. I was just looking at the literature. There’s a higher rate of infertility in men who have M.S. and have autoimmune disease as well. So absolutely, this is a male and female issue. And I ask you.

Dr. Cleopatra Kamperveen

I just got goose bumps because I don’t I don’t know, we don’t talk about this enough either. I’m but I feel like my role in the world is to push the boundaries of what we believe to be possible for the biological clock. Using the science of epigenetics in our everyday lives, and also to speak the truths that were completely left out of our health, education, and all of our doctor’s visits, and to speak them, not from my opinion or my belief, because who cares about what my opinion is? What I care about is what the scientific data say. And that’s what really sets us apart here at the Fertility and Pregnancy Institute. And the thing that we have to know is that both the person providing sperm and the person providing egg and uterus, and sometimes those are different people. By the way, the person providing egg in uterus, all these people are an important contribution, but the sperm and egg are at our 5050. And in fact, in some cases, the sperm is more than 50%. And that’s pretty shocking because we always think healthy mom, a healthy baby. We need the mom at a prime minister, but we need the dad out to prime minister, too. And I don’t say that to leave out people who are identify as non-binary in terms of their gender. I don’t mean to exclude people who are in a same sex relationship or anything like that. When we serve all kinds of families, we love all families. What I’m talking about is the genetic and epigenetic material that we are passing on through egg and sperm, which is why you hear me referring to mamas and dads. So one thing that we now know is that epigenetically through the sperm, the dads can condition the health and function of the placenta that is so mindblowing because we have always thought that the placenta was entirely related to the mama. It is a neuro it’s a neuroendocrine organ that is transient in the mama we thought it’s only about the mama and it’s also about the health of the pregnancy. Because if the placenta isn’t doing well, the pregnancy doing well, the placenta is the source of life. 

It is the fountain of youth. But Dad has passed down through there. Sperm influence on the health and function of the placenta. And we know that men who are experiencing depression, diabetes, hypertension, which is high blood pressure and obesity, are more likely to program a placenta that doesn’t work as well and have a higher risk of pregnancies that end in early and late loss, including stillbirth. So this is not just a conversation about women. This is a conversation about men as well. And I want to make sure that people know that in those conditions that I just talked about, diabetes, obesity, depression, hypertension, those are some of the most common conditions. And these conditions are sadly becoming normative among men, among people. And they have such a profound impact on the programing of the placenta and the health of the next generation. 

And when we are in this period called the Prime Esther, this window of time leading up to conception that matters for everyone providing DNA and and the epigenome for the baby. We have the power to we can never change our genes. We will always have the genes that we’re born with. But we have the power to change the way that our genes express themselves. That is a game changer for providing the epigenetic foundation that will make our fertility strong even when we have a lot of things working against us, like an autoimmune disorder. It will make our pregnancy strong. It will ensure that the programing of the fetus, what we call fetal programing or perinatal programing, will be as optimal and healthy as possible. And that epigenome that we are cultivating in the Prime Minister, get this, it gets passed down through a process called epigenetic inheritance. 

And we know from the scientific data that this epigenetic heritage inheritance crosses at least two generations. We think probably more than two, but we know for sure, too. So that means what you take the time to do in your Prime Minister 120 days is a small sacrifice for great fertility, a healthy, happy pregnancy without complications, but also is creating the fertility, longevity, mental health and physical health. Your babies and your grand babies are going to have. So this is something that matters so much. I cannot emphasize the importance of taking this time. You put more time into choosing a pair of shoes than most people than preparing for a pregnancy because most people, they decide, Oh, we’re ready for a baby, let’s have sex and get pregnant. And you can do that if you’re not having fertility challenges, if you’re if you’re not experiencing some fertility. But I don’t recommend it because we have a serious problem in our world today, which is this there is an incredible mismatch between the modern world that we live in and the world that our reproductive biology evolved to function in. And this modern world reproductive biology mismatch is contribute. It’s the same thing that’s contributing to an increase in autoimmune disorders, by the way. But it is the thing that is contributing to incredible declines in fertility across the board. When I say across the board, I mean across gender lines, across age groups. In fact, fertility challenges have risen even more in younger ages than in older ages. 

So I know that the M.S. is most commonly diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 40, and even women in their twenties are already experiencing fertility challenges at an incredible rate. So we have to have to do so much more preparing for our biological clocks and for the families that we want to have. And to me, there’s nothing more important to invest your time and energy in than ensuring, number one, that you get to have the family that you’re dreaming of. If you’re somebody who wants a family, obviously not everyone wants one. But for those who do. And second, that your family is as well as possible because a woman is only as happy as her least wild child.

Terry Wahls, MD

And that is profound. You know, we have this epidemic of declining health and our children.

Dr. Cleopatra Kamperveen

Yes.

Terry Wahls, MD

With more autoimmune disease, more anxiety, depression, obesity, diabetes. And I see that as part of the genetic damage we are passing to our children. And as I’m listening to you, I’m thinking as part of that we could be addressing by doing a prime minister for trying to conceive. And that would be some of the wisest investments you could do for your future happiness for yourself, for your grandchildren. You know, now I’m in my sixties and, you know, I I’m lucky that my son, who’s married and I’m hoping that they decide to have kids and I’m planting very bushes, hoping that I get to pick them with little, little people or little people in my neighborhood. We’ll see. 

But you know, anyone who’s listening here, I just I so want you to hear deeply what Cleopatra is urging you to do that when you decide you you think you want to have children, reach out and look at something like the prime minister program. So that we’re helping you address the environmental factors that may be pushing your fertility off the rails. It and as I was saying to you, Cleopatra, I’m thinking that these same types of interventions would also be helpful, probably for whatever autoimmune and and other health challenges that you have. But there’s probably more specific things that we’re doing to more specifically optimize reproductive function. But globally, for your health. So I so certainly expect that would be globally beneficial.

Dr. Cleopatra Kamperveen

We have seen that obviously it wasn’t design the Prime Minister protocol wasn’t designed specifically to address autoimmune challenges or mental health challenges, but it was designed to address the brain, the immune system. And we see clinically significant levels of improvement in my symptoms in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and other types of rheumatoid arthritis, other types of autoimmune disorders, also in terms of anxiety and depression and stress resilience. And I want to say something because Dr. Terry, you said something so important, which is this in an investment we make in this period of time is so critical. We know that almost one out of every two children has a chronic mental or physical health condition today. That is a horrible thing. I mean, children are born perfect, should be born perfect. It should be the wear and tear of life that starts to make people less well over time. But children should I mean, I don’t I don’t want to get less mental over time. I have no I’m I’m about to be 45. I have no intention of that. But I’m saying it should not be happening in children and it is at an alarming rate and one out of every I believe it’s 27 boys is autistic, one out of every, I believe 44 children overall. I may not have those numbers exactly right off the top of my head, but they’re close. 

This is a tremendous problem. And let me say this. We have not one known case of autism in our FPI village, and I credit that to the prime minister taking time out. I mean, Dr. Rosen, we both know her. She’s a leading the world’s leading pediatric psychologist and says to me constantly, it is so unbelievable that there are no known cases of autism in your community. And it’s even more remarkable when you know that the risk of autism increases with both maternal and paternal age. And our parents, they range from 23 to 48 years old by the way, that we’ve helped on six continents and over 41 countries now have overcome fertility challenges, have a beautiful pregnancies and have their super babies. But here’s what’s important. The average age of our mamas, the average age of our mamas is 41 years old and the dads are even older. And so that we have no known cases of autism in our community to begin with is amazing. But then when you factor in the older, maternal and paternal age, it is nothing short of remarkable. But I credit that to the Prime Minister and taking the time. 

So most people come to us because they’re having fertility, very severe fertility challenges. I’m talking up to two decades of not being able to get pregnant, up to 17 losses. People come to us having experienced so very failed IVF, turned away from IVF, really such hard cases. But even if you’re someone like me, no expectation of fertility challenges. No fertility challenges whatsoever. But I, prime minister, like it’s my job when I’m ready to have another super baby and I’m proud and happy and delighted to say I have three and they really are. They live up to Super Baby. I mean, they’re just such remarkable people in this in physical body, but also brain and spirit. You know, their spirits are so strong. I mean, in every way I couldn’t I couldn’t have dreamt something better. And I credit that to the tremendous pouring in of love and commitment that I given the prime minister. So I want to encourage everybody to do that.

Terry Wahls, MD

So if you are thinking that you would like to have kids maybe in the future, I encourage all of you to check out the Prime Minister program. This is a great investment for your children, your grandchildren. I’m going to go on to say your great grandchildren and your great great grandchildren, because my read of the lectures that epigenetics school for generations. So profound, I urge all of us to be looking at this. This would be a great gift, perhaps, for your kids who are getting married or are letting you know that they’re thinking about having children. Now, Cleopatra, you and I could talk for hours, but we should probably wrap this up. So what is the one thing that you want all of our listeners to take from our conversation?

Dr. Cleopatra Kamperveen

The one thing that I want our listeners to take from this conversation is that you have the ability to shape your epigenome, which means you have the ability to shape your biology, your goal, reproductive age. And you can work to make that younger than your chronological age, and you must in service of your fertility, in service of your longevity, in service of your lineage. You must do that and don’t run from or shy away from that responsibility, because I know it feels big, but it’s an incredible opportunity. And that’s a thing that I want you to focus on. And I’m going to say this It’s easy to look around and see people with a beautiful family, a beautiful life, and think they’re special. They were blessed in some way. But every time there are uncommon investments, there’s UNC’s common commitment behind those uncommon results. And so I want you listening to be committed to uncommon investment so that you get uncommon results for your family. Because what’s common today is one out of every two children with a chronic health condition, fertility challenges and for infertility diagnosis in 186 million people worldwide today, that doesn’t even include all the undiagnosed people, etc.. So we can’t be normal anymore. This is what’s becoming normal. We need to be weird and that requires an uncommon and level of commitment. And that’s what I want for you. Like you don’t have to just accept what everybody else is accepting and I pray you won’t because you deserve better. And your children, your future children and grandchildren. And like Dr. Terry said, great and great great grandchildren deserve more.

Terry Wahls, MD

Okay, well, this has been wonderful. Where can people find you?

Dr. Cleopatra Kamperveen

We are at fertility pregnancy dot org. That’s the Fertility and Pregnancy Institute website. So fertility pregnancy dot org.

Terry Wahls, MD

Excellent. Thank you so much, Cleopatra.

Dr. Cleopatra Kamperveen

Thank you so much, Dr. Terry. It’s been an absolute pleasure.