Over the 30 years I've been in practice, I've helped hundreds of couples become pregnant without high-tech or pharmaceutical interventions. But many of my patients also add Chinese medicine to conventional fertility treatments to increase their effectiveness and alleviate some of the side effects.

Looking eastward has another benefit, too. In the rush to develop increasingly sophisticated ways to treat infertility, doctors often skip over a critical element: bolstering the patient's overall health, which can suffer in the course of treatment. Where Western medicine concentrates solely on the reproductive organs, Chinese medicine works to strengthen and balance all systems of the body, using a combination of acupuncture, herbs, and nutritional supplements.

Here are some of the fertility-related questions I hear most often.

Q: I've been trying to conceive for one year, so far unsuccessfully, and I'd like to avoid the hassle and expense of conventional fertility treatments. How effective is Chinese medicine alone in helping women get pregnant?

A: That depends on several factors. Your first step should be to see your gynecologist for a few exams. She can check for any physical obstructions that might be preventing pregnancy, such as a blockage in your fallopian tubes, and assess your levels of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), which affects ovulation, to make sure you haven't entered early menopause. If your FSH levels are above 10, your chances of getting pregnant without any kind of conventional fertility treatment are very small; if you have high FSH levels and an obstruction, your chances are essentially zero.

However, if your FSH levels are 9 or below, and there are no physical obstructions, traditional Chinese medicine alone can substantially improve your odds. For instance, if you are between the ages of 35 and 40 and your FSH is around 9, you have about a 4 percent chance of getting pregnant without any treatment whatsoever; with acupuncture and Chinese herbs, I've found that the probability rises to about 25 percent.

If you do need to see an infertility doctor, Chinese medicine can still help. Many of my patients are women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) or egg donation, and I've found that adding acupuncture, supplements, and herbs to the mix can raise their success rate by about 15 to 25 percent. One recent study from Germany reported that women who received a regular course of acupuncture immediately before and after in vitro fertilization were 58 percent more likely to get pregnant than those who underwent IVF alone.

Q: Will the fertility herbs my acupuncturist gave me interfere with the fertility drugs I'm taking?

A: No, with one exception. The drug Lupron is prescribed to shut down hormone production (as part of IVF treatment), so herbs that promote hormonal activity can interfere with it. I tell my patients to stop all herbal treatments while taking this drug.

Q: Are there any changes I can make to my diet, or any herbs I can take, that will help me get pregnant?

A: Diet definitely plays a role in fertility. One of the most important things you can do to increase your chances of conceiving is to up your intake of omega-3 essential fatty acids.

Although fish is often touted as a good source of essential fatty acids, I advise women who are pregnant or trying to get pregnant to stay away from those that contain high levels of mercury, such as swordfish and tuna. I would even avoid some species that are generally considered a low mercury risk, such as halibut and salmon, since they are relatively long-lived and have plenty of time to accumulate mercury. In the same vein, make sure that any fish oil supplements you take are molecularly distilled or steam-stripped, which means they have had the mercury and arsenic removed.

Flaxseed is also an excellent way to get omega-3s. Buy ground flaxseed and sprinkle a couple of tablespoons on your breakfast cereal every day.

As for herbs, an herbalist or acupuncturist can customize them to your individual constitution and to the phases of your menstrual cycle. If you prescribe them for yourself, you could wind up with some unwanted effects, such as extra estrogen production at times in your cycle when it should be decreasing.

Q: My husband and I are having trouble conceiving, and the doctor says this is because of defects in my husband's sperm. Can Chinese medicine treat this?

A: If the defects are due to a genetic mutation, they cannot be corrected. Otherwise, Chinese medicine is actually more effective at treating male than female infertility.

By age 45, most men's sperm show low motility and are more likely to be misshapen, and both of these problems are very responsive to Chinese medicine and supplements.

I recommend that men trying to produce viable sperm take 30 to 60 mg of zinc, divided into three to four daily doses, as well as get 400 to 800 IU of vitamin E. As for herbs, I'd suggest that your husband see an acupuncturist for an individualized herbal regimen, along with weekly acupuncture treatments.

Q: How long should I try to conceive using Chinese medicine alone before going to a doctor for fertility treatments?

A: I would give any couple trying to conceive at least four months of weekly acupuncture treatments, plus daily supplements and herbs. Newly produced sperm take four months to mature, so any improvements in the man's sperm will take that long to show up.

If you haven't conceived by the tenth ovulation, see a Western fertility specialist. In my own practice, I've found that women who don't get pregnant after ten months of my treatment have very low chances of succeeding without the help of Western medicine.

Q: My periods are irregular, but at 33, I'm too young to be entering perimenopause. Can Chinese medicine help me regulate my cycles so I can get pregnant?

A: The first thing you need to do is make sure you're ovulating. Pick up one of the ovulation kits sold in drugstores-they're fairly reliable. Try using one for three months, and if you can't find any evidence of ovulation, ask your doctor to check your pituitary function with a simple blood test.

If the results are abnormal, the problem could be that your ovaries are not responding to your follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). This can be indicative of ovarian failure and if it's due to overexercising, poor nutrition, or past contraceptive use, acupuncture and herbs can be very effective in returning your body to a normal monthly cycle. However, if the condition is a symptom of early menopause, and thus genetically induced, it cannot be reversed.

Q: My wife and I would like to have a child, but I've heard our different blood types could make us incompatible when it comes to fertility. Can Chinese medicine help us?

A: Certain genetic and immune system differences between partners can cause repeated miscarriages. However, the problem of incompatible blood types is very rare-affecting only 1 percent of infertile couples-and has gotten more press than it deserves. Testing for these differences can be very expensive, so unless you've been trying for a pregnancy for a long time and have explored all other possible explanations for your fertility problems, I wouldn't waste your money.

This article reprinted with permission from Alternative Medicine Magazine [12]