Is It Age or Inflammation? The Truth About Fertility & Egg Quality with Dr. Natalie Crawford

Is it just your age, or is inflammation really affecting your fertility? In this episode, I'm breaking down the real relationship between hormones, inflammation, and egg quality — why age isn't the whole story, how chronic inflammation impacts your fertility, what your cycle is really trying to tell you, and how to balance lifestyle changes with treatment like IVF for the best possible outcome.

Joining me is one of my favorite fellow fertility doctors, Dr. Natalie Crawford @NatalieCrawfordMD a board-certified reproductive endocrinologist, co-founder of Fora Fertility in Austin, Texas, host of the As a Woman Podcast, and author of The Fertility Formula.

✅️In this episode, we cover:
- Why simplifying fertility decline to "just age" does a disservice to patients
- How chronic inflammation affects egg quality, mitochondrial function, and chromosome alignment
- Why your menstrual cycle is a vital sign and how most tracking apps get ovulation wrong
- The best tools and methods for accurately tracking ovulation (BBT, LH tracking, cervical mucus, wearables)
- Why baseline cycle knowledge matters, especially after stopping contraception
- How to balance lifestyle changes with moving efficiently toward treatment like IVF
- Why IVF success starts with preparation, not just the procedure itself

🎯Resources
Read: https://www.draimee.org/the-fertility-formula-hormones-inflammation-and-the-truth-about-optimizing-fertility-with-guest-dr-natalie-crawford

The Fertility Formula by Dr. Natalie Crawford - https://amzn.to/3Q6xP5k

Dr. Natalie Crawford online: @NatalieCrawfordMD (Instagram/social media): https://www.instagram.com/nataliecrawfordmd

As a Woman Podcast, hosted by Dr. Natalie Crawford: https://www.nataliecrawfordmd.com/podcast

Fora Fertility: Dr. Crawford's practice in Austin, Texas: forafertility.com

Natural Cycles app (for BBT-based cycle tracking): https://www.naturalcycles.com/

Oura Ring (wearable for basal body temperature tracking) https://amzn.to/4dFPgU2

Apple Watch (wearable for BBT/cycle tracking with Natural Cycles) https://amzn.to/4mvxdCm

Do you have questions about IVF?
Click here to join Dr. Aimee for The IVF Class.

The next live class call is on Monday, August 19th at 4pm PST, where Dr. Aimee will explain IVF and there will be time to ask her your questions live on Zoom.

Click to find The Egg Whisperer Show podcast on your favorite podcasting app.

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Dr. Aimee Eyvazzadeh is one of America's most well known fertility doctors. Her success rate at baby-making is what gives future parents hope when all hope is lost. She pioneered the TUSHY Method and BALLS Method to decrease your time to pregnancy. Learn more about the TUSHY Method and find a wealth of fertility resources at www.draimee.org.