Monica Cox, founder of Finding Fertility, reveals how gut health directly impacts fertility through inflammation and immune system dysfunction. She explains how leaky gut can cause the immune system to attack embryos and shares her journey from infertile at 17 to naturally pregnant at 36.
Gut health and fertility connection
Key Insights
Actionable Advice
Monica Cox explains how leaky gut triggers immune responses that can attack embryos and prevent conception. She shares her journey from being technically infertile at 17 to conceiving naturally at 36 after healing gut inflammation.
Cox challenges the belief that fertility declines with age by sharing how she couldn't conceive with medical help from 27-34 but succeeded naturally at 36. The key is cellular health, not chronological age.
Both Rosanne and Monica discuss how the control and overdrive mentality that makes women successful at work actually works against them in fertility. The journey requires slowing down and setting boundaries.
Cox provides three actionable steps: learning to say no and set boundaries, identifying personal food intolerances rather than following generic diets, and increasing food variety to support gut microbiome diversity.
“Your gut and your brain are connected, so they're intertwined. But I would go out on a limb and say everyone dealing with fertility issues needs to fix their gut at a certain level.”
— Monica Cox▶ 9:23
Gut health directly impacts fertility through inflammation and immune system dysfunction. When you have leaky gut, food particles enter your bloodstream, triggering immune responses that can attack embryos and prevent implantation.
“Tell me how I couldn't get pregnant with medical assistance between the age of twenty seven and thirty four, but I got pregnant naturally at thirty six. Make that make sense.”
— Monica Cox▶ 7:30
Yes, fertility is about cellular health, not chronological age. Many women conceive naturally in their late 30s and 40s after addressing root causes like inflammation and gut health.
“Find your food intolerances. There's no perfect fertility diet out there. Find your food intolerances right now that's causing the most inflammation and oxidative stress.”
— Monica Cox▶ 32:32
Rather than following a generic fertility diet, identify your specific food intolerances through testing. Foods that cause inflammation in your body can trigger immune responses that interfere with conception.
“The stress levels for thirty years were so high that it attacks your endocrine system, it attacks your hormones, it attacks your ovaries.”
— Monica Cox▶ 7:20
Stress creates inflammation and oxidative stress in your body, which affects egg quality and overall reproductive health. Your eggs live in your body's environment, so chronic stress creates a toxic environment for conception.
“An embryo is a foreign agent until the placenta takes over. So your body innately knows that that foreign agent is safe and is allowed to be there. But when your immune system is on overdrive, they're like, uh-uh. Nope. Nope. Attack. Attack.”
— Monica Cox▶ 14:00
Recurrent miscarriages can result from immune system dysfunction caused by leaky gut. When your immune system is on overdrive from gut inflammation, it may attack embryos as foreign agents instead of allowing implantation.
“I really believe there's a difference between needing and choosing. But really just empowering ourselves like, okay. I'm not functioning correctly here now. What can I do to empower myself and really move through this journey?”
— Monica Cox▶ 5:07
There's no one-size-fits-all answer. The key is making empowered choices rather than fear-based ones. Many women benefit from addressing root causes like gut health alongside or before medical treatments.
Monica Cox's three-step approach to addressing gut health for fertility optimization
Set Boundaries and Slow Down
Start saying no at work, to family, and friends. Stop sacrificing yourself for everyone else's happiness and get selfish about what you need right now.
Identify Your Food Intolerances
Get testing to find foods causing inflammation in your body specifically, rather than following a generic fertility diet. Remove these inflammatory foods consistently.
Increase Food Variety
Expand from eating 20 foods per week to 40+ different foods. Shop at farmer's markets, buy seasonal local produce, and keep rotating your food choices to support gut microbiome diversity.
Ninety percent of fertility issues stem from inflammation and oxidative stress, primarily originating from gut health and mental/emotional stress, not age
Monica Cox couldn't conceive with medical assistance between ages 27-34 but got pregnant naturally at 36 after addressing gut health and inflammation.
Leaky gut allows food particles into the bloodstream, triggering immune system attacks that can prevent implantation or cause early pregnancy loss
Monica Cox experienced recurrent pregnancy loss due to high natural killer cells from leaky gut, which caused her immune system to attack embryos as foreign agents.
Your egg is one of the largest cells in your body and reflects the inflammatory environment it's living in - eggs aren't separate from your overall cellular health
Monica Cox was technically infertile by 17 due to autoimmune issues but conceived naturally at 36 after improving cellular health through gut healing and inflammation reduction.
Fertility issues are your body's way of saying 'I'm not healthy enough to grow a human being right now - can you please take care of yourself first?'
Monica Cox observed clients coming to her sicker after multiple IVF rounds because their bodies couldn't handle the drug overload on top of existing inflammation.
You can't overdrive your way out of fertility - the type A approach that made you successful at work doesn't apply to the miraculous process of conception
Rosanne Austin shares that she interviewed a woman who's 46 and holding a newborn after natural conception when IVF failed, demonstrating that slowing down and addressing fear-based choices can lead to success.
Your body is a healing machine - if it wasn't, everyone would be dead by 25 given the stress, poor food, and lifestyle choices most people make
Monica Cox emphasizes that bodies naturally heal and asking 'what will you do for me if I actually take care of you?' can unlock the body's healing potential for fertility.
Start by learning to say no and getting selfish - you need to stop sacrificing yourself for everyone else's happiness to create space for what you want
Monica Cox explains that type A overachievers typically have fertility issues because they're constantly giving to others and not slowing down enough to listen to their bodies.
Find your specific food intolerances rather than following a perfect fertility diet - there's no one-size-fits-all approach to reducing inflammation
Monica Cox still had high natural killer cells after a year of clean living because she was eating foods she was intolerant to, showing the importance of personalized nutrition.
Fear-based choices suck - there's a difference between needing medical support and choosing it from a place of empowerment versus panic
Rosanne Austin mentions a 46-year-old woman who conceived naturally after IVF failed once she stopped making fear-based choices and started acting from consciousness.
This journey is about becoming the mom you say you want to be, and that work starts now - not after you get pregnant
Monica Cox admits that if she'd gotten pregnant at 27, she would have been divorced within a few years because she lacked the emotional intelligence to cope with motherhood.
Ninety percent of fertility issues stem from inflammation and oxidative stress, primarily originating from gut health and mental/emotional stress, not age
▶ 2:33Leaky gut allows food particles into the bloodstream, triggering immune system attacks that can prevent implantation or cause early pregnancy loss
▶ 9:12Your egg is one of the largest cells in your body and reflects the inflammatory environment it's living in - eggs aren't separate from your overall cellular health
▶ 10:54Fertility issues are your body's way of saying 'I'm not healthy enough to grow a human being right now - can you please take care of yourself first?'
▶ 15:32You can't overdrive your way out of fertility - the type A approach that made you successful at work doesn't apply to the miraculous process of conception
▶ 20:01Your body is a healing machine - if it wasn't, everyone would be dead by 25 given the stress, poor food, and lifestyle choices most people make
▶ 20:20Start by learning to say no and getting selfish - you need to stop sacrificing yourself for everyone else's happiness to create space for what you want
▶ 30:19Find your specific food intolerances rather than following a perfect fertility diet - there's no one-size-fits-all approach to reducing inflammation
▶ 32:32Fear-based choices suck - there's a difference between needing medical support and choosing it from a place of empowerment versus panic
▶ 17:16This journey is about becoming the mom you say you want to be, and that work starts now - not after you get pregnant
▶ 26:51“Fertility declines with age and there's nothing you can do about it after 35”
CONSIDER: Fertility is about cellular health, not chronological age - you can improve your cellular environment at any age
“Your body is broken and needs medical intervention to fix fertility issues”
CONSIDER: Your body is giving you information that it needs support - fertility issues are often your body saying it's not healthy enough to grow a baby right now
“Being selfless and putting everyone else first makes you a good person and future mother”
CONSIDER: You need to get selfish and set boundaries to create the space and energy needed for conception and motherhood
“Tell me how I couldn't get pregnant with medical assistance between the age of twenty seven and thirty four, but I got pregnant naturally at thirty six. Make that make sense.”
“Your body is a healing machine. Like, literally, everyone would be dead by twenty five if your body was not healing.”
“You can't overdrive your way out of fertility.”
“Fear based choices suck. It's not you and your power. It's not you and your consciousness.”
“I believe fertility issues is a way for your body to say, I'm not healthy enough to grow a human being right now. Can you please take care of yourself first?”
“How can you stop sacrificing yourself for everyone else's happiness and start getting really selfish?”
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A fertility doctor reveals why IVF isn't the solution you think it is and how the conventional approach may actually be making things worse.
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Frameworks & Methods
Common Beliefs
The fertility journey can be a catalyst for complete life transformation if you allow it to wake you up to an entirely different way of living
Lavinia spent 10 years on her fertility journey from age 33-43, transforming from someone living in victim mentality to an empowered woman who now coaches other women through fertility struggles.
You can meditate all day, but if you don't change the underlying belief system that's causing you to be stuck in worst-case scenario thinking, meditation alone won't create the transformation you need
Lavinia tried meditation and felt better physically but still had racing thoughts about 'what if I transfer and it doesn't work' until she addressed her limiting beliefs through mindset work.
Many women get pregnant naturally just from having an educational consultation with a fertility doctor, without any treatment at all
Dr. Merhi reports that after consultation alone, many stressed patients who had been exposed to negative information suddenly conceive naturally because addressing their mental state removes a major barrier.
Women with recurrent miscarriages who can make embryos naturally often can't even create one embryo after high-dose IVF because the medications damage egg quality
Dr. Merhi sees daily examples of women who conceive naturally but miscarry, then after IVF with high doses can't even make blastocysts - proving their issue wasn't egg quality but uterine receptivity.
