Get Pregnant Naturally

Low AMH, high FSH, two miscarriages, told donor eggs were her only option. At 43, she conceived naturally. Here's what her clinic missed before the donor egg recommendation.
This episode is for the woman sitting with a donor egg recommendation. Low AMH or high FSH on the chart. Failed IVF or recurrent miscarriage in the history. A clinic that said the numbers leave you no other options.
Sarah Clark walks through the case of a 43-year-old client whose REI told her IVF or donor eggs were her only realistic path. Her FSH was 13.6. Her AMH was low. She had two pregnancy losses behind her. The diagnosis of diminished ovarian reserve was not wrong. The numbers were what they were. What had not happened was a structured investigation of why those numbers looked the way they did and whether the rest of the picture had been missed.
Eighteen months later, she was pregnant naturally with her own eggs.
What the clinic had not investigated was a long list. Her TSH was 3. Accepted as normal, but well above the range her own REI would have flagged before IVF prep. A full thyroid panel was never run.
Her stool DNA test showed H. pylori, an infection that impairs nutrient absorption and drives inflammation. She had been gluten-free everywhere else for years, but she had been taking a weekly communion wafer every Sunday without realizing it counted. The cabergoline she was on was lowering her cholesterol and impairing her ability to make sex hormones.
Her male partner had not been worked up. His semen analysis showed low volume and low concentration. His blood sugar was elevated. His kidney markers showed stress.
The vaginal microbiome had not been tested. The seminal microbiome had not been tested. Her night sweats and disrupted sleep had been mentioned and dismissed.
Her case is not a guarantee that anyone else will get the same outcome. Every case is different. The patterns we found in hers may not be the patterns in yours. But the principle holds: a diagnosis of diminished ovarian reserve, low AMH, or high FSH is a starting point for further investigation, not a complete picture of what is possible.
What this episode covers:
Why low AMH and high FSH are not the complete picture when donor eggs are recommended
Why a TSH of 3 is not normal for fertility even when a clinic accepts it
How H. pylori, hidden gluten, and gut infections affect egg quality and miscarriage risk
What a full male partner workup looks like when there has been pregnancy loss or implantation failure
What a structured second opinion covers when you have been told IVF or donor eggs are your only path
This episode is for you if:
You have low AMH, high FSH, or a diminished ovarian reserve diagnosis
You have had a failed IVF cycle, recurrent miscarriage, or implantation failure
You have been told donor eggs are your next step and you are not ready to agree before you understand what was actually evaluated
You are in your late 30s or 40s and want to understand whether natural pregnancy with your own eggs is still possible
Timestamps:
[00:00] Low AMH, High FSH, Donor Eggs Recommended at 43
[01:30] Functional Fertility Testing vs Standard REI Workup
[03:00] Thyroid and Fertility: Why TSH 3 Is Not Normal
[04:30] Cabergoline, Cholesterol, and Sex Hormone Production
[06:00] H. pylori, Hidden Gluten, and Gut Infections in Low AMH Cases
[08:00] Vaginal Microbiome and Implantation in Recurrent Miscarriage
[09:30] Male Partner Workup: Seminal Microbiome and Sperm Health
[11:00] Night Sweats, Sleep Disruption, and the Nervous System
[12:30] Constipation, Liver Function, and Hormone Clearance
[14:00] Pregnant Naturally at 43: The 18-Month Timeline
Take action:
If you have been told donor eggs are your only option and you want a structured review of your timeline, your labs, and your IVF history before the next decision, the Functional Fertility Second Opinion is where that review happens.
👉 Apply for a Functional Fertility Second Opinion: https://fabfertile.com/pages/book
Not sure what has been fully evaluated in your workup? Download the free Embryo Audit Checklist to map your past cycles and labs and see what may have been missed.
👉 Download the Embryo Audit Checklist: https://fabfertile.com/pages/embryo-audit-checklist
Or message the team directly: [email protected], subject line FERTILE to apply for a second opinion or CHECKLIST for the audit.
About the Host
Sarah Clark is the founder of Fab Fertile and host of Get Pregnant Naturally: A Functional Fertility Second Opinion, a podcast with over one million downloads.
For over a decade, Sarah and her functional fertility team have worked with couples navigating low AMH, high FSH, diminished ovarian reserve, failed IVF, embryo arrest, implantation failure, and recurrent pregnancy loss, reviewing functional labs and patterns that standard care often misses.
This episode is a re-aired case study originally shared in 2025. Client details have been anonymized.

Most women with low AMH and high FSH get one of two answers about their iron: "it's fine," or "it's low, here's a supplement." Both leave the real problem untouched. Failed transfers, failed IVF cycles, miscarriage, irregular cycles, exhaustion that won't lift, and nobody asking why the iron is low in the first place. This episode shows you what the full iron panel actually reveals.
In this episode, Sarah Clark sits down with Fab Fertile clinical advisor Katy Bradbury (registered nurse and nutritional therapist) to break down the iron panel every woman trying to conceive should be looking at. Not just the one number your doctor checked, but the full picture. They get into why the standard iron prescription is one of the worst forms you can take, why high dose iron can actually make things worse, and why symptoms you've been told are unrelated (brittle nails, cold hands, hair loss, ice cravings, exhaustion) could all be pointing at the same thing.
What you'll learn:
The full iron panel every woman trying to conceive should request, and what the numbers actually mean
Why being told "your iron is fine" off one number is missing the picture
The link between low iron and failed transfers, miscarriage, irregular periods, and pregnancy complications
Why low iron is so common with low AMH, high FSH, DOR, and POI
The thyroid and iron connection most doctors miss, especially with Hashimoto's and hypothyroidism
Hidden reasons your iron is low even when you're eating well: gut infections, H. pylori, SIBO, low stomach acid, celiac, heavy periods
Why the standard iron prescription often makes you constipated, nauseous, and no better off
What to take instead, and why every other day often works better than every day
Iron rich foods that actually move the needle, plus the foods and drinks blocking your absorption without you knowing
The thyroid medication timing rule nobody tells you about
This conversation is for women navigating low AMH, high FSH, DOR, or POI who have been told their iron is fine without anyone running the full panel. It's also for women who have been on iron supplements for years without anyone asking why the iron got low to begin with, and for anyone who has had a failed transfer, a miscarriage, or a failed IVF cycle and is trying to figure out what was missed.
Not sure what's been fully evaluated?
Download the free Embryo Audit Checklist to map your past cycles and labs so you can see what's been looked at and what may have been missed. 👉 Download the Embryo Audit Checklist here.
Ready to go deeper? If you want an expert review of your labs, IVF history, and full health picture before your next cycle, this is where we start. 👉 Apply for a Functional Fertility Second Opinion here.
About the host: I'm Sarah Clark, founder of Fab Fertile and host of Get Pregnant Naturally, a podcast with over 1 million downloads. My team works with couples navigating low AMH and failed IVF, reviewing functional lab results including gut microbiome, food sensitivity, vaginal microbiome, nutrigenomics, HTMA, DUTCH, toxin testing, and bloodwork, alongside nervous system work, to help identify patterns that may not have been considered. We work alongside your medical team, not instead of them.
Subscribe to Get Pregnant Naturally for weekly episodes on fertility optimization, IVF preparation, and the lab work your doctor probably isn't running.
Originally aired October 22, 2022. Rebroadcast for our growing community navigating low AMH, high FSH, and DOR.
Keywords: iron and fertility, low iron and miscarriage, iron and failed IVF, iron and failed transfer, anemia trying to conceive, low AMH iron, high FSH iron, DOR iron deficiency, POI iron, iron and pregnancy loss, iron and Hashimoto's, iron and hypothyroidism, why is my iron low, ferritin trying to conceive, Sarah Clark, Fab Fertile, Get Pregnant Naturally
Timestamps:
00:00 Why this episode matters if you have low AMH, high FSH, DOR, POI, or have had a failed transfer or miscarriage
02:00 Why iron matters for getting and staying pregnant: ovulation, miscarriage, and pregnancy complications
03:00 Why the standard "you're anemic, take this supplement" approach misses the bigger picture
06:00 Hereditary anemia and why some women look fine on paper but aren't
07:00 Symptoms of low iron most women don't connect: fatigue, hair loss, cold hands, brittle nails, ice cravings
11:00 The full iron panel every woman trying to conceive should request
15:00 The thyroid and iron connection: why Hashimoto's and hypothyroidism almost always need iron checked
17:00 Heavy periods, blood loss, and ruling out internal bleeding before anything else
19:00 Why your gut decides whether iron actually gets absorbed: H. pylori, SIBO, low stomach acid, celiac, Crohn's
23:00 When pregnancy, breastfeeding, endurance training, and even turmeric can drain your iron stores
26:00 The thyroid medication timing rule, plus the foods and drinks blocking your absorption
28:00 Iron rich foods that actually work: grass fed red meat, organ meats, salmon, dark leafy greens, blackstrap molasses
33:00 What to take instead of the standard iron prescription, and why every other day often works better
35:00 The vitamin C piece, and why store bought orange juice doesn't count
36:00 Final thoughts: get the full iron panel as part of your fertility workup

Sarah Clark was told donor eggs were her only option. No second opinion. No workup. Just an IVF brochure pulled off the shelf. This is the story of what was actually going on, and what nobody looked for.
At 28, Sarah was diagnosed with premature ovarian failure (now called premature ovarian insufficiency). Her OB/GYN handed her an IVF brochure during the appointment. She went to the REI, got on the donor egg list, and had both her kids through IVF with donor eggs. It took another decade before she discovered the underlying imbalances her REI never screened for: food sensitivities to dairy, gluten, and corn, plus a gut infection with H. pylori, streptococcus, fungal overgrowth and nervous system dysregulation (stressed out but didn;t even know it).
In this rebroadcast episode, Monica Cox interviews Sarah about the clues her body was giving her for years before the POI diagnosis, and what she wishes someone had told her in her twenties.
What you'll learn:
The seemingly unrelated symptoms that were early signals (irregular periods twice a year, cystic acne, fungal rashes, chronic yeast infections, dark circles since age 12)
Why a POI diagnosis at 28 doesn't automatically mean donor eggs, and why a second opinion matters
The post-pregnancy health collapse that exposed the underlying gut and immune dysfunction
Food sensitivities beyond digestion: mood, joint pain, skin, brain fog, autoimmune flares
Why partners have to be in the protocol from day one, because infections pass back and forth
The four foundational tests: food sensitivity, DUTCH hormone, GI-MAP stool, HTMA hair
Why IVF should be the last choice, not the first, given the $60K average spend and three-cycle average
Where to actually start: just diagnosed vs. one failed cycle vs. multiple failures behind you
Timestamps:
00:00 Why this episode is for you if you have low AMH, high FSH, DOR, or POI
02:00 Diagnosed at 28 with premature ovarian failure, handed an IVF brochure, no second opinion
03:00 The clues in her twenties: irregular periods, acne, fungal rash, yeast infections
07:00 Post-kids health crash: chronic sinus infections, bladder infections, vertigo, antibiotic damage
08:00 Discovering food sensitivities (dairy, gluten, corn) and gut infections (H. pylori, strep, fungal overgrowth)
13:00 Connecting the dots: why every "unrelated" symptom was related
15:00 Why partners must be in the protocol, because infections pass between couples
21:00 Multiple failed IUIs and IVFs: burnout, cortisol, and the case for a pause
24:00 The four foundational tests: food sensitivity, DUTCH, GI-MAP, HTMA 35:00 Where to start: just diagnosed vs. one failed cycle vs. multiple failures
This conversation is for women who've been told donor eggs are their only option, who are staring down a POI, low AMH, high FSH, or diminished ovarian reserve diagnosis, and who suspect their REI hasn't looked at the full picture.
Not sure what's been fully evaluated?
Download the free Embryo Audit Checklist to map your past cycles and labs so you can see what's been looked at and what may have been missed. 👉 Download the Embryo Audit Checklist here.
Ready to go deeper? If you want an expert review of your labs, IVF history, and full health picture before your next cycle, this is where we start. 👉 Apply for a Functional Fertility Second Opinion here.
About the host: I'm Sarah Clark, founder of Fab Fertile and host of Get Pregnant Naturally, a podcast with over 1 million downloads. My team works with couples navigating low AMH and failed IVF, reviewing functional lab results including gut microbiome, food sensitivity, vaginal microbiome, nutrigenomics, HTMA, DUTCH, toxin testing, and bloodwork, alongside nervous system work, to help identify patterns that may not have been considered. We work alongside your medical team, not instead of them.
Subscribe to Get Pregnant Naturally for weekly episodes on fertility optimization, IVF preparation, and the lab work your doctor probably isn't running.
Keywords: premature ovarian insufficiency story, POI diagnosis at 28, donor eggs second opinion, low AMH underlying imbalance, high FSH functional medicine, diminished ovarian reserve, H pylori fertility, gut infection infertility, food sensitivity fertility, Sarah Clark story, Fab Fertile, Get Pregnant Naturally

Your TSH is "normal." Your ferritin is "normal." Your glucose is "normal." And IVF still isn't working. Here's why normal lab ranges were never built for fertility and what optimal actually looks like.
Most reference ranges are designed to flag disease in the general population, not to optimize egg quality, embryo competence, or implantation. That gap is where a lot of unexplained IVF failure, embryo arrest, and recurrent loss live.
In this episode, Sarah Clark walks through the four biomarker categories most often dismissed as "fine" but influence cycle outcomes in women with diminished ovarian reserve, low AMH, high FSH, and failed transfers.
What you'll learn:
- What "normal" lab ranges actually measure and what they miss
- Why fertility-optimized TSH sits closer to 1–2 mIU/L, not 4.0
- Ferritin 80–100 ng/mL and what it means for egg energy and endometrial development
- Fasting glucose under 86, insulin stability, and follicular development
- Why hsCRP under 1 mg/L matters for implantation and embryo quality
- The full thyroid panel most REIs skip: Free T3, Free T4, Reverse T3, TPO, TBG
- Male factor inflammation, sperm DNA fragmentation, and recurring infections
- The reframe: normal protects against disease, optimal supports conception
Timestamps:
00:00 Why "normal" labs don't mean fertility-optimized
00:30 What conventional reference ranges actually measure
01:30 Why DIY fertility optimization stalls without functional lab review
03:00 TSH "normal" vs optimal and the full thyroid panel REIs skip (Free T3, Free T4, Reverse T3, TPO, TBG)
04:30 How thyroid signaling affects egg quality, ovulation, and pregnancy loss
05:00 Ferritin 80–100 ng/mL: the iron range for IVF and egg energy
06:00 Fasting glucose under 86, insulin stability, and follicular development
07:00 hsCRP under 1 mg/L: low-grade inflammation, implantation, and embryo development
07:30 Male factor inflammation, sperm DNA fragmentation, and recurring infections
08:30 Embryo Audit Checklist + Functional Fertility Second Opinion: next steps
This conversation is for women navigating diminished ovarian reserve, low AMH, high FSH, embryo arrest, implantation failure, or recurrent pregnancy loss who keep being told their bloodwork looks fine.
Not sure what's been fully evaluated?
Download the free Embryo Audit Checklist to map your past cycles and labs so you can see what's been looked at and what may have been missed.
👉 Download the Embryo Audit Checklist here.
Ready to go deeper?
If you want an expert review of your labs, IVF history, and full health picture before your next cycle, this is where we start.
👉 Apply for a Functional Fertility Second Opinion here.
About the host:
I'm Sarah Clark, founder of Fab Fertile and host of Get Pregnant Naturally, a podcast with over 1 million downloads. My team works with couples navigating low AMH and failed IVF, reviewing functional lab results including gut microbiome, food sensitivity, vaginal microbiome, nutrigenomics, HTMA, DUTCH, toxin testing, and bloodwork, alongside nervous system work, to help identify patterns that may not have been considered. We work alongside your medical team, not instead of them.
Subscribe to Get Pregnant Naturally for weekly episodes on fertility optimization, IVF preparation, and the lab work your doctor probably isn't running.
Keywords: normal labs IVF failed, fertility-optimized lab ranges, TSH for fertility, ferritin and egg quality, hsCRP fertility, low AMH normal labs, diminished ovarian reserve, IVF failure functional medicine, fertility second opinion, Embryo Audit Checklist, Sarah Clark, Fab Fertile, Get Pregnant Naturally

If you're heading into another IVF cycle after a failed transfer, you're probably being told to trust the process and try again.
But what if the process is the problem?
In this episode, we get into how to tell whether your next cycle is actually different — or whether you're about to repeat the same outcome with a new protocol number.
In this episode you'll learn:
The three signs your last cycle wasn't fully interpreted, just failed
Why changing the protocol doesn't always change the outcome
What "unexplained" actually means and why it's often a gap, not a diagnosis
How time pressure pushes couples into decisions that don't serve them
The specific questions to ask before you commit to another cycle
I'm Sarah Clark, founder of Fab Fertile and host of Get Pregnant Naturally, a podcast with over 1 million downloads. My team works with couples navigating low AMH and failed IVF, reviewing functional lab results including gut microbiome, food sensitivity, vaginal microbiome, nutrigenomics, HTMA, DUTCH, toxin testing, and bloodwork, alongside nervous system work, to help identify patterns that may not have been considered. We work alongside your medical team, not instead of them.
Not sure what's been fully evaluated? Download the free Embryo Audit Checklist to map your past cycles and labs so you can see what's been looked at and what may have been missed. Access it here
Ready to go deeper? If you want an expert review of your labs, IVF history, and full health picture before your next cycle, this is where we start. Learn more and apply for a Functional Fertility Second Opinion here.