Acupuncture for Infertility: An Expert's Perspective

Question
Dr.

I would like to get your opnion about taking Eastern Medicine(acupuncture to be exact) for infertility treatement.  We have been TTC for about 15 months now with no success. All the test(my husband-34 and mine-31) came back normal and I was recently told by my OBGYN that I fall into "unexplained infertility"category.  This one is hard to unerstand/accept and would like to seek alternatives. In your experience, what was more effective, Acupuncture or Clomid ?  Any comment would be appreciated.

Thank you very much!
Sophie

Answer
I have not seen any studies or articles describing acupuncture for the treatment of infertility. HOwever, acupuncture is not harmful in any way and certainly is worth a try. Clomid is a medication that we use to enhance the probability of ovulation. Clomid works on the hypothalamus to inhibit the negative feedback mechanism of FSH, thus continuing to produce FSH in the anterior pituitary gland and, in turn, causing more graafian follicles to mature in the ovary, thus increasing the chances of ovulation. If your tests showed that you are not ovulating, I would first try a course (6 months) of Clomid before you start acupuncture.