dr-angela-potter_full_length nov 14,

[00:00:00] Welcome to the PCOS Fertility Health Podcast, where you will learn how to boost your chances of getting pregnant. You are in the right place if you have PCOS and you are struggling to get pregnant. You are tired of getting dismissive information like, just eat better and stay on birth control. And you want fertility answers.

[00:00:23] Join me, your host, Dr. Angela Potter to learn key steps to optimize fertility with PCOS. I am the creator of the PCOS Fertility Protocol and have also shared the stage with leaders from companies like Microsoft and Google. So get ready for another powerful episode about boosting fertility with PCOS.

[00:00:44] Let's dive in.

[00:00:49] Are you feeling like your body has failed you and time is running out every cycle? If that's you, then this episode is perfect for you. [00:01:00] We are diving into egg quality and egg quality is one of my favorite topics to talk about when it comes to PCOS fertility. So today you're going to learn what a quality is.

[00:01:13] Why it is a huge misconception in the fertility world, how to know if you have poor egg quality. And you're going to walk away just with so much clarity on how important this step is for you and improving your chances of getting pregnant. Okay. Egg quality is so important that it's step number five in my PCOS fertility protocol.

[00:01:40] So everyone who is working with me to help improve their fertility, we are always talking about egg quality at this point in the process. So the other day, just last week, someone was talking with me and she said, well, my doctor was telling [00:02:00] me that my egg quality is set when I'm born and I can't do anything to change it now that I'm here trying to get pregnant and I was shocked when I heard this because This is at core what the misconception is about a quality, this idea that, oh, you can't do anything to change it.

[00:02:23] And you're just. It's like, good luck. You just have the quality of your eggs once you're born and you can't do anything about it. What's happening there, and it happens a lot in different situations, is that egg quality is being confused with egg reserve. So we're going to talk about both of those, talk about why there's frequently miscommunication and misinformation about these things, and then you're going to understand why egg quality is.

[00:02:54] so important for your fertility journey. [00:03:00] So this misconception about egg quality, I see it a lot talked about in different settings. Testing is one area where I see this misconception between egg quality and egg reserve show up. pretty dramatically. And that's because of the AMH testing, the anti Mullerian testing.

[00:03:24] Has your doctor tested you for this? It is typically ordered in like the standard fertility tests. And a lot of providers will say, okay, we're looking at your egg quality. Okay. We got your AMH levels tested. They look good. Egg quality is good. And that's when you have to go, take a step back, put the foot on the brake and say, Hey, that is not looking at my egg quality.

[00:03:52] That test is looking at my egg reserve because the anti Mullerian hormone is. Looking. [00:04:00] It's a hormone that the follicles let out. And so that number that you get back just shows the egg reserve in your ovaries. Do you have enough eggs to last you in the time that you're trying to get pregnant? It says nothing about actual egg quality.

[00:04:21] Okay, so with that, let's just dive into what egg reserve and egg quality mean, and we're going to start with egg reserve. So, egg reserve refers to the number of premature eggs that are in the ovaries. So, that number Is set when you are born, you know, actually, it's really cool because the eggs in your ovaries are actually getting made when you are in your mother's womb when she is getting made.

[00:04:58] in her mother's womb. [00:05:00] It's fascinating to think about that generational passing forward. So the egg reserve, you are born with the amount of eggs that you're going to have for the rest of your life. And that is what we're doing when we're looking at AMH levels, we are looking at egg reserve. Okay. So now let's talk about egg quality.

[00:05:26] Egg quality is the ability of that egg that will ovulate, the ability of that egg to divide chromosomes, to become a mature egg that has 23 chromosomes. Okay? And this is really important because the amount of eggs that try to get ready, I mean, you have like thousands of eggs that try to get ready to be ovulated, but They don't divide into that [00:06:00] 23 chromosomes.

[00:06:01] And so they just dissolve and they are not able to be mature to go ovulate. And you want to be sure that you have at least 1 egg, right? Because really, unless you're having twins or triplets, it's 1 egg that pops out of the ovary on a monthly basis. And so it's that egg's ability to divide those chromosomes, that is what we are talking about with egg quality, and that changes throughout your lifetime.

[00:06:33] This has to do with folliculogenesis, okay? If you're a science... It's called folliculogenesis and it is about the development of the egg in the ovary. So you're born with the eggs that you have and they're just, you know, doing, they're just dormant, which means they're basically sleeping, they're turned off.

[00:06:54] And then about a year before you ovulate that one particular [00:07:00] egg, it starts... developing and changing and shifting. And what that means is that it's dividing those chromosomes to get to 23. It starts at that year before that egg gets released. A lot of the research finds that it's the three months leading up to ovulation where that activity is the highest.

[00:07:23] And so that egg is working on dividing those chromosomes to get to 23 chromosomes. At that point, that's when the egg is happy, it's where it wants to be, and it can say, hey, I'm ready, I'm ready, I am going to go shoot out of this ovary, go fly down the fallopian tube, and go try to find some sperm, okay? If that egg doesn't have 23 chromosomes, it might not ovulate at all, so you know, you might not have any eggs that release that month.

[00:07:59] It [00:08:00] might release, connect with the sperm, but you have a higher chance of miscarriage rates. Okay? You can also get pregnant with an egg that has either more or less. Uh, chromosomes. So the most common chromosomal change is Trisomy 21 or Down Syndrome. Okay. So a baby can be made with a different number of chromosomes, but then that's why genetic testing is done so that we can understand, okay, are there changes and.

[00:08:34] So that egg, it needs to be at that 23 chromosomes for it to be in a place where it can ovulate, it can connect with the sperm, it can implant, and it can stay there to develop your, your baby throughout a full term pregnancy. And so do you see that big difference between egg quality and egg reserve? So egg reserve is just purely [00:09:00] looking at the number of eggs that are in your ovaries.

[00:09:03] Whereas a quality is the ability of that egg in that whole year leading up to ovulation, how it's able to get those 23 chromosomes in order to be healthy and to. You know, move through the whole process of making a baby. Well, in that year and the three months leading to that egg ovulating, what you're doing to support your body with exercise, the way you're eating, there are specific nutrients that the eggs and the environment of the egg needs in order to divide these chromosomes are used.

[00:09:41] you know, giving your body those nutrients to help improve egg quality. You can be actively supporting your body to improve your egg quality. Sure, it's going to take a few months for you to see results, but egg quality is not [00:10:00] something where you can just say, Oh, well, you know, the quality of your eggs was just decided when you were young and you can't do anything about it.

[00:10:08] No, no. So how do you know if you have poor egg quality? Well, testing can be done, but typically it's done in the egg freezing or IVF setting. So that's when your eggs are actually taken out and they are looked at to see how many chromosomes they have and if they are ready to then move forward for the next step in the process.

[00:10:34] So, you could potentially do that, you know, search out a place that's going to look at your eggs, but there's a couple of signs that your body is going to give you. There's no other real testing right now that's going to look at your eggs outside of them being taken out of your body and looked at, okay?

[00:10:57] Um, but if you have, [00:11:00] um, no positive ovulation tests, Sure, there are a variety of things that can lead to ovulation not happening in your body, which is why working with a PCOS specific fertility expert is so important because they're going to be able to help you figure out, okay, well, these are all of the things that cause ovulation to stop with PCOS.

[00:11:24] So what is your body doing? But also having poor egg quality, that is a sign if you don't have any positive ovulation tests, right? Because as we talked about, if the eggs that are developing for that cycle don't have the 23 chromosomes, then they're just not going to ovulate at all. That's a possibility.

[00:11:50] And so potentially your egg quality has been low this whole time and is the missing link in helping you get pregnant. So you need [00:12:00] to evaluate, okay, what are the different ways that are keeping my body from ovulating? And is egg quality a piece of that? If you have a history of miscarriages, egg quality can be a part of that as well.

[00:12:16] Poor egg quality, for that matter. So, like I was saying, the egg could very well ovulate and connect with the sperm, but you have a higher chance of miscarriage with poor egg quality. And then, you know, also, if you are just trying to get pregnant, and you haven't gotten pregnant yet, You need to be sure that somebody is talking to you about a quality because it is frequently dismissed and there are doctors out there like this person that I was talking to the doctor she was talking to was talking about how she couldn't do anything to help improve a quality that kind of information is out there.

[00:12:58] So if you are [00:13:00] struggling to get pregnant and nobody has. talk to you about egg quality yet. That's going to be a very important next step to figure out who can help you to get a plan to help improve your egg quality, to see if that's another missing link in keeping you from getting pregnant. So poor egg quality is also a big factor in age and infertility, okay, because people will say, well, you know, you're of a certain age, so you can't get pregnant.

[00:13:32] Egg quality is also closely intertwined with age and infertility. So there's a lot of providers out there that will say, oh, well, you're a particular age. You're not going to be able to get pregnant because your egg quality is so low. At this point in the process, well, I don't fall into that camp at all.

[00:13:53] Sure. There's a certain point because all of us who have ovaries and are able [00:14:00] to carry children or have the organs to carry children, there will be a certain point where that is no longer a possibility in our lives. But if you still have eggs in your ovaries, you have not gone through formal menopause yet, then there is still a chance that you can get pregnant.

[00:14:20] And to be in that mindset of, well, I'm just, you know, I'm 39. And so I'm never going to be able to get pregnant because my eggs aren't what they're supposed to be. It has less to do with the number of eggs that are left and more to do with how you are supporting egg quality. I'm going to say that again.

[00:14:43] It has less to do with the number of eggs that are left in your ovary than it has to do with how you are supporting your body and your egg quality. So, somebody who is in their 20s might be [00:15:00] a smoker, eating a really crappy diet, and has tons of eggs. But through smoking and eating that crappy diet, her egg quality is low.

[00:15:11] You could be at a place where you're 39, and you're trying to get pregnant. You have a plan for your food and exercise and specific nutrients that have been researched to help improve egg quality. You have those things on board. Your egg quality would be higher even though you have less eggs. So there's still a chance of you getting pregnant.

[00:15:38] Getting pregnant naturally. For some people, that's the goal, and I can support them with that, but perhaps something else needs to, you know, a fertility medication or a fertility therapy needs to come on board. But if you are not doing anything to support egg quality, then you're continually keeping your eggs.[00:16:00]

[00:16:00] your egg quality low, keeping your chances of getting pregnant low. And so having those correct nutrients on board and supporting your egg quality can help improve your chances of getting pregnant. So this is a really exciting topic for me, as you can tell, um, and mainly because So many people out there are getting the wrong information about egg quality, getting that information that nothing can be done, that, oh, they just are stuck with the egg quality that they have.

[00:16:35] And, you know, this is just going to be a barrier between them and getting pregnant. Um, but that's just not true. And you can be taking. steps in order to help improve your egg quality. And if that is one thing that's keeping you from getting pregnant, then supporting egg quality increases your chances of getting pregnant.

[00:16:58] So if nobody [00:17:00] has talked with you about how to improve your egg quality, if nobody has Helped you figure out if a quality is a necessary part of your fertility journey. And if you're getting dismissive information, like, oh, you can't do anything to help improve a quality or you're struggling with fertility and nobody is helping you with an egg quality boosting plan, then reach out.

[00:17:25] and talk with me. I have PCOS fertility breakthrough sessions open. You and I will talk about, you know, what this looks like, is poor egg quality a part of your fertility struggles, and what you can do in order to overcome that, okay? Um, this also reminds me that the way to sign up for a PCOS fertility breakthrough session has recently changed.

[00:17:51] So what you do is you enter your name and email in order to get access to the I Want My Body to Work [00:18:00] Right Get Started questionnaire, and you'll fill out those few questions. I will review that just to make sure that your fertility needs are in line with my fertility expertise, and then you'll get a link to Go sign up to see the calendar.

[00:18:18] I have you pay 1 in order to get access to the calendar. And that is because I am making my cancellation policy a little more strict because my practice is getting busier and a lot of people have been signing up for these sessions and then just not showing up for them. So, um, you know, as long as you join me at your session, and you're committed to being here and experiencing this.

[00:18:44] So if you are excited to learn about what you can do to help your body, then the 1 is the only charge. Uh, but if you miss the session, then your card gets charged 99. Okay. So I will pop the link to sign up for one of those sessions down [00:19:00] below. Uh, super excited to talk with you at one of those sessions.

[00:19:05] If that feels like it's in alignment with what you were looking for. Um, but you know, as we close today, I just want you to know. That you are wonderful and you have incredible gifts to share with this world. And I am so grateful that you are here in this community. So go out, have a beautiful rest of your day, and I will see you next week.

[00:19:29] Thank you so much for being here. It is such an honor to be on this platform with you and to have you in this community. So thank you. As we wrap things up today, I want to share the legal language with you. This podcast is for informational purposes only. It should not replace the medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment given to you by your doctor.