This content was created by Erica Hoke. This content was uploaded by Erica Hoke. This is a YouTube video titled "3 reasons you should be angry at your infertility doctor" (posted October 22, 2021) featuring Erica Hoke — an infertility mentor and empowerment coach — delivering a solo talk. In the video she critiques common infertility doctor practices: recommending tests only after another miscarriage or failed IVF/IUI, delaying or missing important tests (e.g., genetic clotting panels, MTHFR, ferritin, thyroid), and failing to offer holistic or alternative supports (acupuncture, nutrition, emotional healing). She urges viewers to seek second opinions, consider proactive testing and holistic care, offers consultations to help troubleshoot next steps, and ends with a YouTube call-to-action.
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Hey everyone, happy Friday. I am excited to be here this morning and I'm a little bit fired up, just so you know. So in thinking about my topic for today, um, I was thinking about the things that really make me upset or kind of PO'd about infertility doctors and treatments and why you should be angry too. And why, if this is your infertility doctor, if they are saying these things to you, why you should consider just moving on and getting a second opinion. So if you don't know me, I'm Erica Hoke. I'm an infertility mentor and empowerment coach, and these are the kind of things that I want you to be empowered in, in your choices, in your decisions, in your education, so that you can, um, so that you can get to your baby as quickly as possible. Let's just be real, that's what we're working for, right? So why am I angry at the infertility doctors? So many of the people that come to me will say to me, well, um, I had a miscarriage and then the doctor said we can do this test now. You've had a miscarriage and you can have this test now, or you've had a miscarriage and, um, and we can't do this test until you have another one. So let's just break down what that doctor is saying. So you've already had, for instance, you've already had 2 miscarriages I'm sorry if that's the case. You've already had 2 miscarriages and your doctor says to you, well, we can do that test if you have another miscarriage. Well, that means we can do this test if your baby dies, if you have another miscarriage. And if you've ever experienced miscarriage, it's gut-wrenching. It is way more difficult than people realize if they haven't been through it. I will just say that from personal experience. So that's not, that's not something I'm willing to tolerate in my medical team, and you should not either. You should not have to wait for another baby to die for you to get testing, and that is sometimes what is told to people. So I have my notes today because I don't want to forget anything. Also, if you're— if this treatment doesn't work, then we'll test for this. Who does that benefit? That does not benefit you. It doesn't benefit anybody but the doctor. So yes, these tests are very expensive, and many times you have to pay out of pocket. But would you rather pay for an $800 test or a second round of IVF that's $30,000? So you have to ask yourself, who does that benefit? Does it benefit you to do delayed testing until your IVF or IUI doesn't work? Or does it benefit the doctor? And just so you know, this happens frequently where testing is not done until treatment is proven unsuccessful. Why is that the case? You have to ask yourself those questions. I think that you know the answer. Okay, um, so the second point is delayed testing. So, uh, these are all kind of mixed up together. Um, so delayed testing in the terms of miscarriage, delayed testing in terms of IVF or IUI not working, and who does that, who does that benefit? Okay, usually these infertility doctors are not providing any alternative support. So some of the really good ones, there are some really good ones out there, and if you've got one, you should hang on to them, but many of them do not provide any alternative support. So what that means is they don't look at you as a patient. And, uh, and many— let's just be real, like Western medicine is like this a lot. So they don't look at you as a whole person and as a patient, but they should because this is, you know, in some ways elective. And say to you, hey, I want, I want to help you with your IVF or IUI procedure, but I think that because of your stress levels PCOS, or any number of things, maybe you should consider acupuncture alongside of it. Maybe you should consider doing some emotional healing from your trauma alongside of it. Maybe you should take a look at your diet, not just lose weight, because infertility doctors will tell you all the time, lose weight, but why don't you look at your diet and see if you can make some adjustments there before we start treatment because it's really going to make a big impact on whether or not your treatment's successful. Again, you have to look at why not telling you that is not benefiting you, it's benefiting them. Um, so those all— those offices, those practices that provide acupuncture, they provide emotional support and dietitian support, those are gems of offices and that's what you should be looking for. You should be looking for a holistic approach to your fertility. Okay, missed testing. So again, this kind of goes back to the first one, but it's different in the fact that not only are they not, are they not testing up front before procedures begin, or they're saying to you, well, we're just going to test after you have a miscarriage or at a failed procedure. They're missing tests that haven't been done. They're not even considering tests., that could potentially lead to positive results. Things like, genetic blood clotting disorders. Um, there's a whole panel for that for infertility. Um, things like MTHFR mutations, which are, if you have an MTHFR mutation and you're taking hormone, uh, if you're taking hormones, um, to elicit your, uh, sorry, elicit your ovulation, sorry, couldn't get that word out, and you have MTHFR, your body could be responding really poorly. So there's a lot of missed testing, things like ferritin, thyroid levels being, you know, I've talked a lot about this, look for my other videos, I don't wanna go into it too much, but there's a lot of missed testing that just doesn't get done because they have like a little, block of their tests that they run, and they don't look beyond that. So I hope that you get fired up and that you find the support that you need for your IVF and IUI treatments, or, you know, you let me help you if you have been told that the doctors can't help you. I was told I was not a candidate for IVF or IUI. My chances— I could have done IUI, my chances were really low, and we just weren't willing to invest in something with such poor prognosis. So instead we invested in acupuncture and things like that. So I'm here to help you. If you would like to schedule a consultation with me, it is just troubleshooting for your next steps and the path that you should go down, things that you should look for. So I just kind of go through a list of what you've done and what can, what can your next steps be. So health and blessings to you guys. I hope you have a fantastic weekend. Hey, if you're watching on YouTube, go ahead and hit that like and subscribe if you like my content. I'm here every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Health and blessings to you guys. Bye-bye.
