Suzanne Proksa:
Welcome to the Suzanne show with me, Suzanne Proksa, HR and business strategist, former featured Etsy seller, plant addict, concert lover, gardener, landscaper in training, and human straight up obsessed with helping others and cheering on women. Here, we talk a little business, personal development, women's health, and a whole lot about things that matter, help people, and give them joy. Grab your coffee or your wine, Break out one of your hundreds of notebooks. Light that soy candle, and let's dive in. Hello, everyone. Suzanne here. I am here today with Monica Cox. She is a top holistic, functional fertility coach and infertility warrior.
Suzanne Proksa:
And I know that this is going to be a very important show for a lot of people. And so I feel very blessed to have her here. Monica, I would love to start with just one basic question, but I think it really sets the stage for understanding, and that is how many women struggle with fertility. I suspect this is a pretty significant number, but I'm wondering if that is something that you know offhand.
Monica Cox:
So the statistics right now are 1 in 8. But those statistics have been around for quite a few years. And that's here in America. I think it's similar in can no, in United Kingdom and Australia. I think it's 1 in 6 in Canada. But the reality is is fertility issues are massively on the rise, starting a lot younger in women. And on top of that, we're also seeing a lot more complications in the birth process, the pregnancy process, and postpartum, and in our children's health. So there is a really big, larger discussion to have, but for for fertility issues, definitely way more common than it used to be.
Monica Cox:
And I think the time right now is just really incredible that women can actually talk about it, express their feelings about it, and really get the support that they need.
Suzanne Proksa:
So you you've been doing this for a while. And based on the number that you just shared, in your experience, what percentage of cases do you think could be solved by a holistic means?
Monica Cox:
So other than women dealing with physical structural issues and, genetic issues that cannot be reversed by holistic or functional practices at the moment that we know of. I would go out on a limb and say over 90% of women dealing with fertility issues, if they get the right support and guidance that they need, they can massively improve their situation, get pregnant naturally. There will be some cases that either need medical support or even just choose to use medical support. But yeah, it, you can radically radically improve your situation, even if you've been given the diagnosis of the only way is through IVF. I've worked with several women who are a little bit on the mature side. And what we're seeing is that so many people have actually fallen off the cliff. So there are ways of massively improving cellular health and regulating hormones in boosting that uterine lining. But unfortunately, because we haven't had the knowledge as a wider society that you really have to take care of so many different aspects of your day to day health and it can trickle down quite dramatically to your fertility.
Monica Cox:
And over a long period of time, you just kind of reach this point where you are gonna need medical support. But even if that is the case, I still recommend everyone take 3 to 6 months to really work on their cellular health, both physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
Suzanne Proksa:
Why do you think that infertility has become such a significant widespread issue?
Monica Cox:
Like I mentioned before, we just have not been given this knowledge that our our whole body is connected. And so a lot of more people are dealing with normal and common health issues and they're just fine. And, they're not ending up in hospital and they're just going on to their day to day. Maybe they're using over the counter medication or prescriptions to put a band aid on these issues and just move on through life. And unfortunately, our body can only take so much, and eventually it will start breaking down. The fact of the matter is that your fertility doesn't work on your own. Your hypothalamus, your pituitary, your penile, your thyroid, your adrenals, your liver, your gut health, among other organs in your body, you know, they they control your fertility. That is what is actually needed.
Monica Cox:
Those functions are needed in a certain amount of quality. Obviously you don't have to get perfect to be pregnant, but for the rise of fertility issues, it's because we are not taking care of our day to day health. And this was so true for me. I had a lot of normal and common health issues, but I was still very highly active, motivated, achieving a lot, but and I didn't know that it was causing a lot of inflammation throughout my whole body and affecting my a quality, my hormones a little bit. And really, it's stemmed from my gut personally. Everyone is a little bit different, but there are certain areas that everyone should start taking care of, which is your gut health, your mental and emotional health, detoxifying. But that's why it's on the rise is because we have all these normal and common health issues, and just the way you genetically express, it could be fertility issues for you. And fertility issues is just a sign and a symptom that your body is in overdrive.
Monica Cox:
It's stressed out. It's in survival mode, and it's telling you, look, I can't do this anymore. I can't I can barely take care of you. I cannot grow another human being. And we've taken fertility for grant for granted, rightly so, for so many years. But unfortunately, over the decades, it's just caught up with us. And now a lot of women and men, Sperm issues are a huge, huge problem, completely overlooked by most of the medical society and watered down because the range is wider, is much bigger for men's sperm to be fine because they're taking it, you know, the large samples and they're like, oh, well, these are the ranges now. Where if you look back at the seventies sixties, when maybe they started testing for these things, the Rangers were so much smaller to fit into the fine bracket.
Suzanne Proksa:
So Monica, as a certified wellness coach myself and a person with autoimmune conditions, I am painfully aware that the medical community does not always do the greatest job at looking at root cause. You taught quite a bit about finding the root cause of fertility issues, which I think is super important. I know I had a friend who went through all the procedures, I swear, only to find out when she had gotten beyond the age to have children that the issue was likely always thyroid related. So very sad story with what could have been an easy solution. I think a lot of people are afraid to question and guide their doctors. And I'm sure that when you're dealing with fertility concerns, that's no different. So talk to me about how people should go about getting to the root cause. And at what point of the journey should this be at the front of their minds, you know, looking, looking for that root cause?
Monica Cox:
Oh my God. I love this question. Yeah. It blows my mind that most of Western medicine will be working with patients who have thyroid issues and are like, oh no, that's not linked to your fertility. I know in Eastern medicine, some practices call the thyroid, the 3rd ovary, and it is part of your endocrine system, which I'm sure they learn about the endocrine system in schools. It just blows my mind. But yeah, this is where your intuition comes in. This is where, being strong about your beliefs, even though you're not the quote unquote expert.
Monica Cox:
I know that every time that I followed my intuition, I was right. And every time I didn't, I was wrong. And the reasons why I didn't in my journey was because I wasn't the expert and the person across the seat sitting in the white coat was like, no, that's not related. Or no, you don't present that way. Or no, it was always like, no, no, no. And, you know, I saw the cross going like, yeah, but I do think I feel this way. So it's really tapping into your intuition and standing strong in your beliefs. And if your doctor is not willing to even explore that route for you, go find a new doctor and I'm serious, like go find a new doctor or most of, well, all of my clients are working with doctors and they hire me to investigate this side for them.
Monica Cox:
And really not only investigate the side because they kind of already know, but to give them the confidence and to really listen to them and help them have the strength to go, no. This is what I want for my journey, and this is what I'm gonna get from you. And remember, you're paying the doctor. You know, like, whether it's through your insurance or national healthcare system or your privately, like, they work for you. So if they're not willing, definitely go find someone who is willing. It's worth the investment if you, you know, have to start paying out of pocket. But the fact of the matter is, and like I stated before, is that for most people dealing with fertility issues, it has nothing to do with your lady. It's really somewhere else in your body that is causing this inflammation, and it's just trickling down.
Monica Cox:
You know, think of your body as like a waterfall, and your fertility is kind of at the end because it's not needed to survive. You know? Like, your body, that's for some people, the first thing it's gonna shut down. It's like, okay. We can't give that energy to the ovaries, to the uterus, and do the things that we want it to do right now because we're struggling up here. Like, your liver is a mess. We can't detoxify. Your gut health is super leaky and it's like, you know, putting things into your blood system, causing an overactive immune system. Now we're gonna start attacking tacking your thyroid.
Monica Cox:
So it's it's really, really important to just look outside of the box, get outside of that fertility box and, just really start tapping into that gut feeling, that intuition. You know your body best. And when you're able to gain that confidence, your life will truly change. And, yeah, I do believe that this information I mean, even from my journey, let's say 10 years ago, maybe it's a little bit longer now, no one was talking about this. There was not a podcast out there like this, like yours, like mine, that was giving this information. I really had to piece it together and work really hard. So now this information is more readily available through social media, and podcasts and books and stuff. So I think it's even gonna continue.
Monica Cox:
People are gonna really start waking up and going, okay, Western medicine has a place and a purpose. We're grateful that it's here, but a lot of it is BS and I need to take back my power. And I do think there's people who are gonna wake up like your friend a little bit too late. And it's gonna be sad because there is gonna be a lot of people who are like, I could have, I could have changed that. I could have done something. And one of my main goals for my clients is for them to look at their journey, no matter how it comes out and be proud of themselves. Because if you are able to have that, if you are able to be proud and to have joy and love and gratitude in your life, the outcome actually doesn't really matter. So that's really important to just take these steps and, just be proud of yourself at the end of it.
Monica Cox:
And also another caveat to this is that there's a lot of mothers who didn't have fertility issues or maybe did struggle with fertility and had their babies via medical assistance and didn't do any of the holistic and functional practices. And now we're waking up to like, oh, I could have maybe prevented my kid from having list, you know, list any of the issues now that our kids are having at a high, high rate. And those are all things that could have been prevented or majorly reduced. And, I know with you dealing with the autoimmune issue, I dealt with an auto issue at a very young age in hindsight. These were all things that didn't need to be in my life. I wasn't born this way. They developed. Right? Obviously my mom didn't have the best pregnancy and stuff, and I was set up for these things, but, yeah, I think people are waking up and I think the sooner that this resonates with you and you start walking down your journey, the better you feel about what you are able to, give yourself and give your future children.
Suzanne Proksa:
Thank you so much for that. What types of things do you often see as root causes for fertility issues?
Monica Cox:
So like we talked about before, definitely in the thyroid gut health is a huge one because that kind of basically controls the inflammation and the oxidative stress going on through diet and even lifestyle. And just the real, real big thing is the subconscious belief. It is a lot of hidden emotional and mental trauma that brings along the subconscious of not being able to stick to the physical commitments. So we really hone in on the physical, where those areas need improvements and tackle that through diet, the environment, toxins, and stuff. But most of my practice now is really diving into those subconscious beliefs and those old mental and emotional issues that we can, remove work on reprogramming. And then the physical stuff just becomes a lot easier.
Suzanne Proksa:
Very interesting. This is obviously something that is very hard for people trying to have a family. What do you suggest to help people with the mental health implications of the infertility journey?
Monica Cox:
Yeah. The mental health aspect of this journey is so overlooked and really there's two aspects of it. So there's the mental health issues of fertility. First off, really, we really need to tackle the, feeling of failure around the fertility journey. But the reality is is that most of the mental health issues that we see around it is pre fertility issues. There was already stuff there before and it kinda just like compounds with the fertility issues. So really the first thing that we wanna look at is letting go of expectation and timelines. These are literally just stuff that we have made up, and it's really important to readjust and focus on the here and the now And have the hope, keep the hope that is the driver of change, that we're gonna get to our ultimate goal.
Monica Cox:
We need to take away the stress of infertility. And, once we can tackle those things, which is relatively easy, is then tackling kind of the more deeper issues of mental and emotional health that maybe some people don't even realize they were dealing with for decades, stemming from their childhood, their youth, maybe another situation in adulthood. But, yeah, it's a very, very sensitive subject because obviously you have to be very, like radically self aware that these are things that you're putting onto yourself. And once you're able to do that, it's the step by step just waking up every day, making different decisions on how you think, how you act, what you say about yourself. I know a big game changer, which just seems so minute for me was I started saying when I get pregnant, not if I get pregnant. And that does all sorts of amazing things for your subconscious mind. And the subconscious mind is the driver. So it's really important to just start putting in those little steps first.
Suzanne Proksa:
Thank you for that. That mental health piece is so incredibly important. So when people work with you, what should they expect? What does the process look like where you'd like to share about that?
Monica Cox:
So when people work with me, they are ready to get real with themselves. I am basically your honest best friend. My gift to them is my ability to really see where they need to focus. I'm able to call them out on things that they either know they need to be called out on, or maybe they're just not able to see those things. It is all about them. It's really their journey, and I am just the facilitator to help support them through this. I don't do anything for them. I I give them the nuggets of knowledge.
Monica Cox:
I give them guidance. I give them support. I give them friendship. I give them someone to that will listen to them. But really it's them being ready to do the hard things that they know they need to do now. They know they need to make big changes in their life, you know, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. And the clients that I work with are ready for that. And it's no really empowering place to be.
Monica Cox:
And I feel really honored to be there for them.
Suzanne Proksa:
So, of course, now people have heard what it looks like to work with you. They've gotten some information about things that could possibly be the issue. Can you, let people know how can they reach out to you for more help? And do you have any offers or anything that you think people might be interested in?
Monica Cox:
So I'm finding fertility everywhere on the internet, social media, my podcast, my website, so they can connect with me there. The podcast is the best place to hang out with me. And if they're ready, they can actually there's a free three step guide that they can join the email list and download that guide, really consume a lot of amazing content on there and just start their journey. Just take those little steps. And if you're really ready, it's, you can join my group coaching program online or my one to one coaching.
Suzanne Proksa:
Thank you so much for that information, Monica. So at the end of the show, I always like to ask my guests the following, and that is, do you have maybe 1 to 3 takeaways that you would like people to walk away from this episode with?
Monica Cox:
Okay. You just gotta start. You gotta start and be consistent, not perfect. Give yourself grace through this journey. It took you decades to get here. Luckily, it's not gonna take you decades to get out of it, but just know it's not an overnight success story when you're using holistic and functional practices, but you'll be much better off for it.
Suzanne Proksa:
Monica, thank you so much for blessing me with your time today about a topic that is just incredibly important. I really hope that this has helped some people hopefully change some lives and that if there are people in need of your help, that they reach out. So again, thank you so much for taking your time to talk with me, and I will talk to you soon.
Monica Cox:
Thank you so much for having me.
Suzanne Proksa:
I hope that you loved this episode. If you did, give me those shout outs, show me some love on iTunes, give me a rating, and, hey, if you wanna know where to find me, you can find me on pretty much all social media at suzanneproxa. That's suzanneproxa, and you can also head over to my website suzanneprosa.com. Until then, I'll see you in the next episode and here is parte music for you.
