If you’re struggling to get pregnant, have experienced miscarriages, or feel like fertility treatment keeps skipping over the real issues, this episode will change how you understand fertility.

In this conversation on The Lizzie Ens Show, Lizzie sits down with Dr. Marina, a board-certified OB-GYN with over 30 years of experience who transitioned into functional and root-cause medicine after witnessing the limitations of conventional fertility care.

Dr. Marina explains why fertility is often treated as a checklist of tests and procedures, while the most important factors, egg quality, sperm health, lifestyle, nutrition, toxin exposure, stress, and metabolic health, are overlooked.

You’ll learn why sperm quality plays a critical role in placental development and early pregnancy, why fertility challenges must be addressed as a shared responsibility between partners, and how endocrine-disrupting chemicals have contributed to dramatic declines in sperm count and morphology over the last two generations.

This episode also dives into PCOS, hormone testing gaps, AMH misconceptions, birth control masking symptoms, nutrigenomics, and why improving health before IVF dramatically increases success rates, and in many cases, leads to natural conception.

Whether you’re trying to conceive naturally, preparing for IVF, or want to protect your fertility for the future, this conversation offers clarity, empowerment, and practical direction.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

Why fertility struggles aren’t just about ovulation timing or procedures
How egg quality and sperm quality affect conception and miscarriage risk
Why sperm health is essential for placental development
The alarming decline in sperm count and morphology
How endocrine-disrupting chemicals impact fertility in men and women
Why fertility should be approached as a couple, not a single patient
What conventional fertility testing often misses
Why AMH is not predictive of natural conception
How PCOS, insulin resistance, and inflammation affect fertility
Why birth control often masks underlying hormonal dysfunction
How lifestyle, nutrition, sleep, and stress influence reproductive health
The role of micronutrients like vitamin D, B12, omega-3s, and inositol
Why improving health before IVF improves outcomes and reduces risk
How nutrigenomic testing supports personalized fertility care

We talk about:

00:00 Why fertility treatment often misses key factors
01:45 Dr. Marina’s background and shift into functional medicine
03:30 Egg quality, stress, and fertility preservation
05:15 Sperm quality and placental development
07:10 The decline in sperm count and morphology
09:20 Endocrine-disrupting chemicals and fertility
11:45 PCOS, hormones, and insulin resistance
14:30 Why AMH causes unnecessary fear
16:40 Birth control and masked fertility issues
19:15 Lifestyle, nutrition, and inflammation
22:00 Why IVF outcomes improve with root-cause care
25:30 Nutrigenomics and personalized fertility support
28:30 Fertility as a shared responsibility
31:00 Final takeaway and empowerment message

Connect with Dr. Marina

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marina-straszak-suri-md-frcsc-9b32351a
Website: https://drmarinaobgyn.com/

Connect with me

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lizzieens_wellness
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lizzieenswellness
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lizzieh_wellness
Website: https://undietyou.com/

#FertilityHealth #EggQuality #SpermQuality #TryingToConceive #FunctionalMedicine #PCOSSupport #HormoneHealth #RootCauseCare #PreconceptionHealth #TheLizzieEnsShow