After a failed attempt at in vitro fertilization, an unsuccessful frozen embryo transfer and other fertility treatments, Caren Harvey and her husband, Paul, were emotionally, physically and financially exhausted.
Three years earlier, fertility treatments and surgery had made the couple's dream of having a baby a reality. Perhaps, they decided, a second child was not to be.
"We were devastated," says Harvey, 38, of her last unsuccessful attempt at a frozen embryo transfer. "Do we give up? What do we do? Do we just embrace our one baby and be happy, or do we try for another child and continue to torture ourselves?"
The Harveys decided to try once more. But this time, they used an ancient Chinese medical procedure as part of their treatment. They credit the birth of their second daughter, Brooke Judith, born in January 2007, to acupuncture — at least in part.
"We thought it was a little quirky at first," recalls Harvey. "I'm a nurse, so this felt very odd to me. Western medicine is very traditional; then you walk into an office, and this beautiful soft music is playing and she's looking at my tongue and telling me what [my body] is lacking. I know it [acupuncture] made a dramatic change. I really wish I had done this before I tried anything else."
