[Trigger warning: in this episode, we mention pregnancy loss]

So, every year on my birthday, I get a reading from a psychic, she’s the High Priestess of Brooklyn. She does my tarot cards, my astrology, and tells me an outlook for the year - it’s a whole thing. 

Two years ago, she gave me a timeline of when a baby could come into my life. It was the middle of a pandemic, I had just gone through an insane medical thing - so all signs should have pointed to, “no, thank you” for me. 

However, my first reaction was, “what else are we doing?” So I went to an OBGyni, took out my IUD and bought some pre-natal vitamins. 

Meanwhile, I neglected to tell my husband the plan from the cosmos and the doctor until I came home with those gigantic pills. We, of course, had a discussion, during which we realized that our timing was not aligned with the timing of the stars. 

But I come back to those pre-natal vitamins, time and time again. Sitting in a giant container in my cupboard. Doctors tell us to take them before trying to conceive, and while pregnant, but why and which vitamins really matter?

Then a few months ago, I met the co-founders of WeNatal, Ronit Menashe and Vida Delrahim. They met while working at Nike and became fast friends. They bonded over the shared experience of pregnancy loss and Ronit did what a nutrition-obsessed human does. She started looking at studies and consulting with experts like Dr. Mark Hyman to try to figure out how to optimize her chances of having a successful pregnancy.

And she came to find that the sperm of it all is often left out of the nutrition equation for people trying to conceive. Often, the burden of fertility and infertility is put on the human giving birth, but that’s really only one piece. 

So here’s the lunacy: sperm regenerates around every 70-ish days, but it could as quickly as every 40 days according to new studies. That means prenatal vitamins for men can have a real impact on the quality of sperm, and quickly.

So together, the pair created a prenatal vitamin that’s meant to address this, creating vitamins for both men and women who are trying to conceive that address the very unique needs of each side of the coin.

And I want to acknowledge that all sorts of families are bringing life into the world, with two mommies, two daddies, or just one loving parent. And WeNatal serves those needs too - now we just need to get men’s prenatal vitamins into sperm banks …

It's also important to note that as a human or a couple is trying to conceive they can do absolutely everything "right" and still need help with fertility. That's more than OK.

Ronit, Vida and I discuss a lot of pregnancy nutrition questions I have as well as what it took to formulate these vitamins. I’m excited for you to hear this interview, no matter if you never want kids, are riding a fence, or are trying to conceive right now. 

Resources:

• Learn more about WeNatal and learn more about the research they'd done
• Follow @We_Natal on Instagram
• Stats and facts on sperm regeneration here.
• Woman is born with all of the eggs she’ll ever have
• Folate Study: You'll hear the pair discuss folate on the episode. Here's more about why: In a 2018 study - Thirty couples with fertility problems lasting for at least 4 years were included in this program. At least one of the partners was a carrier of the MTHFR genetic mutation which we know 40-50% of people have. The couples were given 600 micrograms of folate per day for 3 months, Thirteen of the couples were able to conceive.
• Extensive research has been conducted to study the effect of antioxidant therapy in improving male fertility. .
• Taking the right amount of nutrients for women AND men before pregnancy assists in the growth, development, and long-term health of future children. Antioxidants may increase male fertility four-fold and can increase the chance of a successful pregnancy by up to five times.
• Men's health tied to pregnancy loss
• Sperm counts have dropped 60% since 1973 and could reach zero by 2045.
• New research suggests that sperm plays a greater role in pregnancy success and healthy offspring than we ever realized. Scientists observed sperm "communicating" with the female immune system with triggered changes in gene expression of the female's immune signaling molecules. This supported acceptance of the new embryo and reduced risk of pregnancy loss.