Acupuncture: Natural Cure for Infertility

At least 2 million women in the United States suffer from infertility, or the inability to have children. Infertility can be an emotionally distressing diagnosis for a woman to receive. Until recently, there have been only a few treatments for infertility, but their success rates and health effects have been debated.


The most common treatments for infertility include hormone therapies and painful surgical procedures. Doctors have been hard pressed to find a treatment that is both effective and safe to use – the answer may lie in an age old alternative healing technique called acupuncture.

Most people these days have heard of acupuncture for its use as a stress-relieving therapy, few have heard of its reputation as a natural cure for infertility.

Acupuncture has struggled to gain acceptance in the mainstream medical community, but Dr Brian Kaplan of Fertility Centers of Illinois seems optimistic about the growing number of patients that elect to use the therapy over other methods.

“We offer acupuncture to all of our IVF patients and between 10 – 20 % elect to use it,” he tells IH.

One of the biggest hurdles that acupuncturists and holistic healers have had to face is the lack of formal scientific evidence. Acupuncture deals with the movement of energy throughout the body, which is hard if not impossible to quantify even with the latest advancements in technology.

Tami Quinn a holistic healer and Co-Founder of the holistic healing cente Pulling Down The Moon says that despite the lack of official scientific information, she has seen the treatment work.

“Acupuncture has been shown to increase blood flow and enhance conception rates when done in conjunction with medical fertility treatment,” says Tami.

Ben Cooke, A Los Angeles Public Relations specialist spoke with IH about the lack of publicity he sees in the alternative health industry industry as a whole. Despite the lack of formal scientific research, acupuncture has a great deal of support that continues to spread across the fine line that separates alternative and conventional medicines.