What if the key to fertility isn't about trying harder, but about understanding your body's fundamental needs first? Sleep might matter more than your hormone levels when it comes to conception.

Kirsten Karchmer has spent 25 years working in women's health and fertility after her own health crisis led her to Chinese medicine. She shares her journey from competitive gymnast with MS to fertility expert who has helped thousands of couples conceive. She explores why IVF might be starting backwards, how the menstrual cycle serves as a monthly health report card, and why energy levels are the most important metric she tracks. Kirsten explains her approach to precision medicine for fertility, the five key categories she evaluates, and how she created an AI app that actually outperformed her clinic results. She covers the fertility stress paradox, why "doing everything" often backfires, and how to focus on the right interventions at the right time.

Whether you're trying to conceive or simply want better hormonal health, Kirsten's insights will change how you think about your body's signals.

Episode Highlights:

• How sleep impacts fertility more than hormone levels like AMH
• The connection between energy levels and reproductive health
• Why exhaustion from over-exercise can harm fertility through cortisol pathways
• Why starting with IVF might be backwards
• The difference between getting pregnant and staying pregnant
• How to build a "conceivable cycle" before attempting conception
• Using monthly cycles to diagnose underlying health issues
• How Chinese medicine principles apply to modern fertility treatment
• The five categories that predict conception success: energy, blood, temperature, stress, and hormones
• How "trying too hard" can prevent pregnancy through stress responses
• Why focusing on pregnancy instead of healthy babies misses the point
• The importance of preparing the body for a successful pregnancy, not just conception

About Our Guest:

Kirsten Karchmer, MS, M.Ed, is a health tech pioneer and women’s health expert and is the founder and CEO of Conceivable Technologies, which developed, patented, and validated the use of use patent-pending assessment and prescriptive AI techniques to help identify the underlying factors impacting their ability to get and stay pregnant – then curate a multi-disciplinary intervention to fix them while improving long-term health outcomes at the same time.

As one of the first board-certified reproductive acupuncturists in North America, and the former President of the American Board of Oriental Reproductive Medicine, Kirsten spent 20 years in her clinical practice and has helped more than 10,000 infertile women. In 2013, Kirsten translated her successful clinical programs into technology-enabled platforms that provide an affordable and scalable fertility solution. Conceivable was named one of the most innovative health tech startups by MedTech in 2015 and Best Fertility App by Healthline in 2016 and has been featured in TechCrunch, Fox News, The New York Observer, PSFK, The Daily Dot, and Huffington Post.

She also has more than 300,000 devoted Tiktok followers.

A highly sought-after speaker, Kirsten has presented at SXSW, Health 2.0, Fertility PlanIt, and lectures internationally on infertility, PCOS, endometriosis, women’s health, the future of integrative medicine, and using technology better to serve patients, providers, and healthcare systems. Kirsten has been recognized as one of the top female start-up founders to watch, the recipient of the Texas Trailblazer award for innovation in health care, and is a contributor to Huffington Post, MindBodyGreen, and Goop Magazine. Follow Kirsten on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Connect with Dr. Avi Charlton

• Website | www.kirstenkarchmer.com
• X | @Baby_Makers
• LinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/in/kirsten-karchmer-0139808
• Facebook | www.facebook.com/KirstenKarchmerOfficial
• Tik Tok | @yourfertilityexpert

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