Bonnie McRae tried acupuncture for the first time. She wants to bring her body back into balance. Bonnie McRae has never had regular menstrual cycles. Although she's been pregnant before,  she's hoping acupuncture will help her have a second child without having to again use fertility drugs.

Acupuncturists say needling certain points on the body helps increase bloodflow to the reproductive organs.

LORNE BROWN, DOCTOR OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE, SAYS, "MORE BLOOD TO THE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS, MORE NUTRIENTS, MORE OXYGEN, MORE HORMONES, HOPEFULLY YOU GET A RICHER THICKER LINING HELP WITH UTERINE RECEPTIVITY THAT MEANS BETTER IMPLANTATION. NORMALLY THE POINTS WE USE ARE BELOW THE ELBOWS AND KNEES, AS WELL IN THE LOWER BACK AND BETWEEN THE PUBIC BONE AND NAVAL."

Karen Racey's convinced acupuncture and chinese herbs helped her conceive Rachel, her second child.

Karen Racy used acupuncture to concieve. After a year and a half of trying to get pregnant, she got pregnant after her 2nd month of acupuncture.

WHILE ACUPUNCTURE AND CHINESE MEDICINE SEEMED TO WORK FOR KAREN, MOST ADMIT IT ISN'T A CURE FOR ALL FERTILITY PROBLEMS

Doctors say acupuncture can't help with age-related fertility problems, but it may help with menstrual irregularity and improve the chances of in-vitro fertilization.

DR. ANTHONY CHEUNG, MEDICAL DIRECTOR, IVF PROGRAM, UBC REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH, SAYS, "CERTAINLY IT'S GOT A ROLE IN PAIN RELIEF FOR EGG RETRIEVAL DURING IN-VITRO FERTILIZATION TREATMENT... AND ALSO PERHAPS OF CHANCE GETTING PREGNANT IN SOME PEOPLE AT THE TIME OF EMBRYO TRANSFER BUT THAT ALSO REQUIRES MORE STUDIES."

Karen still encourages others to give acupuncture a try.

KAREN RACEY SAYS, "I FELT GREAT DURING THE TREATMENT AND I FELT GREAT AS A PART OF EXPERIENCING IT AND ALL OF THAT IN TRYING TO CONCEIVE."

Monday January 30, 2006