Helping Infertility Treatment Succeed 

These are reports from two Indian origin couples who were unsuccessful in conceiving a child despite multiple aggressive infertility treatments. From their reports, we come to know that the women’s severe stress made the treatments ineffective. In the case of 'Couple One', the strained relationship between the partners caused a lot of stress on the wife. Once their stress was significantly reduced by practicing the 'meditation on breathing' and better handling of their thoughts and emotions, both of them conceived and gave birth to healthy babies.

Couple - One (Sept 2009)

Wife: "I am now pregnant after 9 frustrating years!"

“I have been married to a wonderful person for 9 years. We had everything in life, but didn’t have any kids. We consulted at least 6 different doctors and had several tests. All the results came out normal. 

We went on vacation, did a lot of spiritual things, and ate the things recommended on Google search. Nothing worked. As the years passed by, we got tense and frustrated. 

On the suggestion of my primary care doctor, we went to the IVF clinic for 6 months, did 2 IUI procedures (intrauterine insemination), but nothing happened. 

We took a break. Then in 2009, I had two IUI again, but they still failed. We were totally heartbroken. The social pressure from our parents and relatives to conceive a child was adding to our stress. We were fighting with each other because of all this tension. My fertility doctor then told us that it was better to do IVF. 

By this time, my husband saw a brochure on the ‘Meditation on breathing’ technique displayed at the Albany Hindu Cultural Center. He attended the weekly classes on this meditation technique offered by Suryanarayana Chennapragada (Surya). Within 3 months, I saw a tremendous change in his health as well as behavior. He became very gentle, handling things smoothly, even when I fought with him. This really surprised me, especially because I was all the time a tensed character. I suffered from insomnia, lying awake up to 2 am, and getting thinner and thinner. 

My husband suggested that I should also attend the meditation classes. I was very skeptical, as in the past I attended 3 meditation programs without any success. I used to meditate in those classes but skipped the practice at home, as I felt that I didn’t have the peaceful time or mind to do it. I also felt that it was tough. 

My husband forced me to attend one meditation class along with him. He told me that if I didn’t like it, I would not go further. I gave it a try, especially on seeing my husband change. 

I immediately liked the class. I didn’t see any change in myself in the first month. As my practice continued, I felt a tremendous change. My insomnia disappeared, and I was sleeping like a baby! We attended the meditation classes for 6 months. Both our stress levels came down. 

We restarted the fertility treatment. To our surprise, my fertility specialist showed a chart showing a tremendous change in my hormone level over the 3 months that I was attending the classes. Another big change we noticed was that we both became very calm and were taking everything cool, like we used to be, once upon a time. This was really wonderful.  We realized how stress could affect a person. Reducing stress was the main thing we were focusing on in the meditation classes. 

As planned, I had the IVF treatment. I am now pregnant after 9 frustrating years! We could not ask for anything more in life. Our teacher Surya helped us change ourselves completely. We are so grateful for that. 

These meditation classes were unique. This technique is so simple that even a child can do it.  I regularly practice this meditation. I gained weight. We got our life back, and we are once again a very happy couple."

This woman delivered a healthy baby girl on December 10. Both mother and baby are doing well.

Husband - "My personal relations improved at work and at home"

Due to work stress and being a short-tempered person, I had difficulty sleeping and, unable to spend time happily with my wife. I was interested in learning stress management techniques and Yoga for better health.

I happened to see a brochure about “Meditation on Breathing”. I wanted to learn from a teacher to learn the right technique. I attended classes by Surya at the Albany Hindu Temple Cultural Center. During my initial practice, I could not stick to a planned schedule as there are no ‘rules’ in this technique. But this aspect proved to be good.  Due to the full flexibility given in the practice, it created curiosity and offered more opportunities to practice at different times of the day. As the practice continued, I felt more relaxed and enjoyed better sleep. My personal relations improved at work and at home. My stamina in long-distance running improved.

Apart from improving my health, the meditation practice helped my wife and me spend more time together and share the experiences of inner peace and happiness at work and outside.  When we spent more good time together, we had a more harmonious relationship, which helped a lot when we planned to have a child. Initially, due to work stress and other reasons, we had some medical conditions that delayed the pregnancy. As our meditation practice continued, we could see good results in the medical tests. Finally, my wife achieved pregnancy!

We are very happy to share the success with the ‘meditation on breathing’ practices and the way they changed our personal lives. We encourage everyone to learn this technique that helps not only in getting good sleep, but also in improving the overall personality, leading to a stress-free life.  We are thankful to Surya for making a big difference in our lives.

Update from this couple in 2014, after more than 4 years

“Thank you for all your great teachings and the opportunity to learn the meditation practices. I try to follow whenever I have difficulty sleeping or am upset.  It definitely changes the mood for the better and makes me more relaxed.  My wife, who attended your classes, also conveyed her thanks and good wishes.”

The first couple were friends with another couple who had similar failure of fertility treatments. After experiencing the benefits of meditation and counseling, they suggested the second couple follow the same route. They contacted me in a few months.  

Couple Two (May 2010)

Wife - "Within a month, I was blessed with pregnancy"

My husband and I were trying to have a child for more than six years. We tried all the treatments in the US and in India. Some were so severe that I had to stay in the hospital for a month. Nothing good happened from these treatments. On the other hand, I suffered from stress and depression. I blamed myself for not having a baby.  At some moments, I even thought, what was the necessity of living in this world.  Then, my husband convinced me to take a break from all those horrible doctor visits and blood work.

After six months, when we were planning again for the treatment, one of our friends introduced us to Mr. Suryanarayana Chennapragada, who was teaching  ‘Meditation on breathing’. They said his classes were helpful for their own infertility treatment. We joined the classes. In a couple of classes, the teacher made me understand that worrying and building up stress was not doing any good for me or for my treatment. He taught us different modes of meditating on breathing that helped me relax a lot. He also helped me question and resolve the recurring negative thoughts I had about myself. I started seeing a change in myself and gained some confidence that I would have a baby of my own someday. After a couple of months, my fertility specialist put me on a mild treatment. I combined it with a lot of meditation practice and prayers. Within a month, I was blessed with pregnancy. I am so happy that we took the classes on ‘meditation on breathing’.

Husband - "My wife was pregnant with the least aggressive treatment"

"After 2 years of our marriage, we started planning for a child. As the result was not coming, we began fertility treatment. Since then, every year passed by without success, building up frustration on top of the pain caused by the series of the most aggressive treatments (10 on a scale of 10).  After a while, we realized that we had been under treatment for many years, without any success. We stepped back and took a break for a year.

Then, one of our friends introduced us to the classes on “Meditation on breathing’ offered by Suryanarayana Chennapragada, as they helped them with a similar problem. While attending these classes, we were able to practice the technique along with a series of Yoga-based stretching movements, fully focusing on breathing. We were able to practice them regularly with a little adjustment in our daily routines. We felt a lot of change in body and mind – felt relaxed and experienced positive thoughts.

After practicing for a couple of months, we were ready for the fertility treatment again. This time, our doctor started with the least aggressive treatment (1 on a scale of 10). In a few weeks, we received the long-awaited good news that my wife was pregnant. I want to continue practicing these techniques as part of my daily routine, as a little effort every day goes a long way in helping the body and mind work at their full throttle."

Good news: They had a healthy baby boy, and all are doing well.

These couples reduced their stress in three phases.

Phase1

Practicing ‘Focusing on breathing’ at bedtime, on waking up, and any other times.

Phase 2

Practicing some basic Yoga-based gentle stretching movements, matching with appropriate breathing.

Phase 3

The women were coached to critically question and resolve some recurring and negative thoughts about themselves and/or partners. 

Related pages

Stress and infertility – Article from WebMD