Social Impact Heroes: Why & How Tara Angeles of The Fertility Academy Is Helping To Change Our World
Last but certainly not least, a leader is a fierce advocate. A leader goes out of their way to make sure that those they lead are getting what they need. A leader also teaches others how to advocate for themselves. It’s so important in our current medical system that women and couples ask lots of questions, seek second, third, or fourth opinions, and make sure that their healthcare providers are aligned with their health needs, their own principles, and their values. It is not necessary for women and couples to stick with a healthcare provider that they don’t feel is listening to their needs or they don’t feel aligned with. Women and couples deserve to be heard and listened to.
As part of my series about “individuals and organizations making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Tara Angeles.
Tara Angeles is a former IVF Nurse turned Holistic Fertility Expert. In 2022 she founded The Fertility Academy, a holistic fertility practice devoted to helping couples naturally transform and heal their fertility so that they can have their dream families and prepare for a healthy pregnancy and baby. Tara teaches her clients that the body has an incredible and innate ability to heal when key fertility blockers are removed and the right support is provided with diet, nutrition, and lifestyle.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
So, there are three main factors that have brought me to where I am today: my youngest brother being born with a near fatal disease, my experience as an IVF nurse at a top-rated US fertility clinic, and my own pregnancy complications with my first pregnancy.
Let me start from the beginning. When I was ten years old, my baby brother Ray was born with a rare disease caused by black mold exposure in a house my family briefly lived in. After he was born he soon started developing rashes all over his body and started to lose weight, but his pediatrician dismissed his symptoms as being from the winter cold. Ray continued to get worse. Finally, my mom found a doctor who recognized that his symptoms were from black mold exposure and she saved his life. He spent weeks in the hospital before finally improving, and my whole family was so happy to have him come home! After his discharge, nurses would visit our home several times a week to check on him. Witnessing their care and compassion was my first experience with nursing.
After completing nursing school, I started my career in the fertility field, as I took my first job as an IVF nurse. During my time in the fertility clinic, I noticed a common theme of patients asking the question: “What can I personally do to improve my chances of conceiving?” Hearing this question over and over sparked a new journey for me, as I realized there was a huge lack of knowledge and support for couples seeking care while trying to conceive. Couples are not taught about the many factors that impact their ability to conceive, and individualized natural pre-conception care options are rarely addressed. Many of these factors exist “outside of the reproductive system” and as a result are rarely addressed. Additionally, couples are not taught about the possibility to dramatically improve their fertility naturally by addressing these factors, even when over the age of 40. A few examples of lifestyle changes that can dramatically improve conception odd are: detoxing accumulated toxins and chemicals in the body that interfere with conception, ensuring sufficient nutrition to support egg and sperm health, and learning how to optimize hormone and menstrual cycle balance. I started to delve into the research on how to improve fertility naturally and found an entire world of holistic fertility support that is missing from our traditional reproductive care. Women and couples deserve to be empowered with every option for fertility support and treatment so that they can have their dream families.
The third part of my story comes in with my experiences with my first pregnancy. I experienced hyperemesis gravidarum, a complication characterized by severe nausea and vomiting. This lasted for half my pregnancy, and I lost a lot of weight. Halfway through my pregnancy, I finally started gaining weight back, but I had a lot of questions. I asked the doctors and midwives I was working with lots of questions, but never felt satisfied with their answers: “It’s common to experience these symptoms, just keep trying to lead a healthy lifestyle”. What exactly did that mean? Why did this happen to me when I thought I was already following the recommended dietary guidelines for pregnancy and living a healthy lifestyle? Was there anything I could do to prevent this from happening again? I began expanding my research into what goes into preparing for a healthy pregnancy. Towards the end of my pregnancy, I developed pre-eclampsia, another pregnancy complication that causes high blood pressure and can lead to organ damage, stroke, and both maternal and/or fetal death if not treated quickly. Fortunately, after an emergency C-section, both my baby and I survived, but this was the final experience that inspired me to pivot in my career. I wanted to learn everything there was to know about how to help couples heal their fertility naturally and how to best prepare for the healthiest pregnancy and baby possible.
After my first pregnancy, I decided to go back to school and became an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, specializing in hormone health. I had the privilege of learning from many exceptional doctors. What I discovered and learned was incredible and mind-blowing. The body has an incredible innate ability to heal itself when the fertility blocks are removed and then replaced with the right nutrition, diet, and lifestyle support. And it is much easier to start this healing journey than most believe. Couples that I’ve worked with have found that addressing fertility in a holistic manner not only has helped them to conceive but has also improved their overall health. Many recovered from other conditions that impacted their menstrual health for years or even decades.
Another important area I discovered is the study of Epigenetics, which has found that even the expression of our genes can be influenced for the better by our behavior, nutrition, and other environmental factors. Studies have repeatedly shown that positive Epigenetic changes can then impact the ability to successfully conceive, have a healthy pregnancy, and make “super-babies” (babies that are extraordinarily healthy due to pre-conception lifestyle choices implemented by parents before conception).
As I studied, I started to incorporate everything I was learning into my own life. What happened next was amazing. My husband and I conceived our second child on our first try. I did not have hyperemesis gravidarum in this second pregnancy. And I did not get pre-eclampsia in this second journey through pregnancy, even though my previous doctor had told me I would likely get it in every succeeding pregnancy. I also had a successful VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). I was so excited to see these improvements!
At this point in my career, I committed myself to compiling and sharing this incredibly empowering information with couples trying to conceive. So, two years ago, I founded The Fertility Academy and have since had the honor of helping numerous couples fulfill their dream of becoming parents and expanding their families. Holistic Fertility is one of the most amazing careers to be in, and I am so honored to be able to help couples build their dream families.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company or organization?
I have a client, let’s call her Rebecca for privacy reasons, who has an incredibly inspiring story. Rebecca and her husband were ready to try for their second baby. However, they experienced a miscarriage. Seeking answers, they decided to consult with a reproductive endocrinologist. Rebecca underwent some blood work and was diagnosed with diminished ovarian reserve due to borderline high FSH levels. Their doctor informed her immediately that her best chances of success would be to go forward with IVF, so they went through that process over the next few months and obtained several embryos.
Shortly after completing IVF, Rebecca experienced another miscarriage. Following another D&C procedure and further months of waiting, Rebecca was finally ready to move forward with an embryo transfer cycle. However, as the cycle started to progress, Rebecca’s doctor informed her that her uterine lining was not thick enough to move forward with her embryo transfer. And in fact, she was told it was unlikely her uterine lining would ever reach the required thickness to move forward with transferring an embryo. As a result, her doctor recommended that they start considering surrogacy as their next option! Rebecca was shocked, and asked her doctor if there was anything else she could do to improve her uterine health. Unfortunately she didn’t receive any helpful recommendations or support on how to improve her uterine lining thickness.
Despite the overwhelming disappointment, Rebecca refused to give up and discovered The Fertility Academy, where she began working with me one-on-one. I provided Rebecca with guidance on natural methods to improve the health of her uterine lining, and astonishingly, within just two weeks of implementing key diet and lifestyle changes, she saw her uterine lining grow 50% thicker than previous months! Her doctor was astounded! Even more incredibly, Rebecca went on to successfully conceive naturally without the need for a surrogate. Her story is just one of many incredible success stories we have witnessed at The Fertility Academy.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
The funniest mistake I made happened during my early days as an IVF Nurse. It was a classic rookie blunder that taught me a valuable lesson. I was headed to the patient waiting area to call a patient back for their IVF appointment. However, I didn’t realize we had two patients with the same name scheduled at the same time. Without adding the last initial, I called out only the first name, unknowingly bringing the wrong patient back for an IVF appointment with me. I proceeded to explain the intricate details of the IVF process to her, oblivious to the fact that she was actually there for a different appointment. It wasn’t until her perplexed expression caught my attention that I realized my error. We shared a good laugh, and I promptly directed her to the correct appointment.
Although I have always had a keen eye for detail, this simple mistake taught me the importance of thoroughness in all aspects of my work. I am unwavering in my commitment to leaving no stone unturned when assisting my clients. In fact, one of my clients affectionately refers to me as “the fertility mechanic” because of the impactful knowledge I continued to support her with during her fertility journey. Every time she had a symptom show up, we would find the root cause and natural solutions to help her address those symptoms.
Can you describe how you or your organization is making a significant social impact?
Having worked in the fertility world for seven years now, it’s become very apparent to me that there is a massive gap in our current reproductive health care sytem that needs to be addressed. Couples who are struggling to conceive are sent straight from their primary care provider to a reproductive endocrinologist at a fertility clinic as the next step on their fertility journey. These clinics quickly move to put patients on a path to IUI, IVF, or donor/surrogacy options, however, there should be an intermediate step where couples are given education and options for improving their fertility with natural methods. Most couples don’t need or want to choose IFV/IUI options but have no awareness of other alternatives. It’s imperative to identify the root cause(s) driving their fertility challenges and then give them targeted support to address the root cause(s).
When I was in nursing school, my favorite class was Community Health Care. It focused on health and prevention BEFORE there was a need for care, with the goal of having fewer individuals ending up in the hospitals and health care system. We should have the same goal for fertility. If couples receive the right education on how to improve and maintain their fertility naturally, many would not need to move forward with invasive IVF/IUI procedures at all. That education should be widely available for all couples before they are sent to artificial reproductive technology.
The Fertility Academy is making a significant social impact by addressing this critical gap in our current reproductive health care system. There are too many couples and women who feel lost, defeated, and hopeless while struggling to conceive. They don’t know where to turn and often don’t even know they have other options. Dealing with fertility challenges has been described as one of the most difficult and stressful experiences for many women and couples to go through, as they have to navigate through the pain, loss, failures, and questions month after month.
The Fertility Academy is filling this gap by providing evidence-based essential knowledge and support for couples to improve their fertility naturally and reduce or completely avoid the need for fertility drugs or invasive procedures. The Fertility Academy is also dedicated to providing this support at an affordable cost that doesn’t cause more financial hardship to couples. Every couple who wants to have a family deserves access to this information. Our goal is to ensure that holistic health information and support are accessible to every couple trying to start a family.
Through our one-on-one and small group coaching programs, we have already witnessed tremendous success, even with couples that have had failed IVF/IUI cycles and who feel they are running out of options. However, we recognize that the demand for holistic fertility healing knowledge far exceeds what can be met through individual and small group coaching alone. To address this, we’ve expanded our educational offerings to include an online community with self-paced learning opportunities, allowing a much broader audience to access this critical knowledge, and at a much lower cost per couple.
Our ultimate vision is to contribute to the next evolution of women’s health care and practice in society. We believe that education about the benefits of holistic women’s health treatments is crucial and should extend far beyond current reliance on pharmaceutical and invasive medical interventions. Women are looking for answers that actually address their health concerns and conditions. They don’t want to be dismissed or told that their symptoms are in their heads. By empowering couples and women with holistic knowledge and resources, we aspire to create a more comprehensive and inclusive approach to women’s health, and we’re starting with fertility.
Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?
This story has been echoed by many of the women I have talked to about fertility and hormone health. One of my clients had struggled with period pain since her menses started as a teenager. For a few days every month she would be in so much pain. She recalls spending a few days in the nurse’s office every month when she was in school because the pain was so bad. And that experience continued into adulthood. This client ended up joining my coaching program as she was trying to conceive — and she did successfully conceive! In the process, however, she also got another benefit she was not expecting — her period pain disappeared! This is an amazing example of how our health conditions are not separate or disconnected. Holistic health looks at the health of the whole individual and works to bring the whole body back into balance. A balanced, healthier, and cleaner body does what it was designed to do: it heals itself!
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
- Funding for prevention over treatment: There is a massive need for investment in preventive measures and education to address women’s health issues, rather than solely focusing on treatment once symptoms are already present. Primary care providers and fertility clinics should offer holistic pre-conception care to couples as an additional option or as a supportive option to more invasive treatments like IVF.
- Rethinking traditional approaches to women’s health: The use of hormonal contraceptives, such as the birth control pill, should be re-evaluated as they can mask concerning symptoms/conditions and disrupt the critical communication of the endocrine system, often leading to long-term health complications, which include fertility challenges. Women deserve to know the full extent of the side effects of birth control and what their alternative options are.
- Decreasing Toxin Exposure: The United States needs much stricter regulations on the toxins that are allowed in our personal care products, in agriculture and food, in our water, and our air, etc. The health of the American people needs to be prioritized over corporate profits. Subsidies for wheat and corn production need to be reduced and instead given to farmers who are restoring the land, practicing regenerative farming, and growing nutritious non-toxic foods. We need to move away from supporting companies that are poisoning our soil. Decreasing toxin exposure is critical not only for supporting couples trying to conceive, but also for every single individual’s health. In our everyday lives today, the average person is being exposed to toxins at four to five times the rate that our bodies can effectively detox naturally. What this means is that, over time, the body of the average person is experiencing a gradual accumulation of toxin build-up, which leads to a plethora of concerning health conditions. Toxin exposure impacts every single couple trying to conceive. Reducing toxin exposure and safely removing the toxins already in the body would dramatically contribute to improved women’s health and fertility across the board.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
I always look at leadership through the lens of a woman leading and supporting other women, and these key principles guide my work:
- The most important aspect of leadership is to create the space for women and couples to grow and get their power back. I’ve heard so many women express that they feel like they have no control of their fertility journey, like they are at the mercy of medical programs and processes completely out of their control. I don’t just want to help women and couples find their answers. I also want to empower them with their own knowledge so that they can take their power back. Along those lines, I believe a leader strives to discover what each individual needs/wants and helps them get there in the best way for them. Leaders should always prioritize the well-being and growth of those being led, actively listening to their needs, and striving to take care of them to the best of their ability.
- Leaders lead by example and strive for continual improvement. Leaders can’t fully preach what they’re not practicing, and you can’t ask others to improve if you are also not devoted to improving. I believe leaders should be striving for continuous improvement and self-growth to be the best leader they can. A leader is learning from those they lead, working on personal development, and becoming the most compassionate and effective version of themselves. For me to be able to masterfully teach about the fertility-healing pathways I teach my clients about, I must be implementing those practices in my own life on a daily basis. I’m striving to walk the walk every day and bringing the lessons I learn back to those I’m leading. Anyone can teach based on acquired intellectual knowledge, but being able to teach from a point of experience gives you far more credibility, as you can fully share the experience you gain from walking the same road that you’re asking them to travel. A health care provider should be willing to take the same actions they are recommending their clients/patients take.
- Leaders passionately and resolutely maintain the vision for those they lead. In the world of infertility, hope and faith are incredibly difficult traits to hold onto when women and couples believe they’re failing month in and month out. A leader should relentlessly hold the vision for those they are leading and act as an unyielding champion for their followers’ future success. I strive to do this for every one of my clients — encouraging them, supporting them, and continually holding space for their progress and healing, especially when they are having a hard time and are unable to do so for themselves. This means calling attention to small wins when the only focus is on the big goal of conceiving, maintaining hope in their future victory, no matter the odds, and continually shining light on the forward path to success. If you can give individuals hope and continue to help them put one foot in front of the other, they can climb mountains that they once thought were insurmountable. I celebrate all victories with my clients, both big and small. In a world where we feel like we don’t make progress unless we’re making big changes, it can feel hard to continue moving towards our goals. This is why celebrating the small wins is so important! The small wins are often accomplished without anyone else seeing them, but each small win leads to the eventual big win. Leaders celebrate every step of the journey to help those they lead continue to move forward and affirm they are worthy of accomplishing their big goals.
- Leaders balance progress with self-care and rest. It is important for leaders to find balance between charging forward in pursuit of goals and taking the time for self-care and rest. Female leaders need to teach other women this very important principle of balance. I’ve learned as a mom and business owner that you can’t pour from an empty cup. To show up as your best you must implement the daily habits that help you to feel nurtured so that you can then turn around and nurture those you are supporting and leading. This leadership approach especially acknowledges and addresses the fact that due to the nature of our bodies; women require more time for rest and rejuvenation, ultimately allowing them to show up at their best. Charging full speed ahead every day of every week and every year quickly leads to burn-out. So many women are feeling burnt out right now and returning to a place of balance is key.
- Last but certainly not least, a leader is a fierce advocate. A leader goes out of their way to make sure that those they lead are getting what they need. A leader also teaches others how to advocate for themselves. It’s so important in our current medical system that women and couples ask lots of questions, seek second, third, or fourth opinions, and make sure that their healthcare providers are aligned with their health needs, their own principles, and their values. It is not necessary for women and couples to stick with a healthcare provider that they don’t feel is listening to their needs or they don’t feel aligned with. Women and couples deserve to be heard and listened to.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I would inspire the Women’s Health Defender Movement! Women have many different hormonal health stages they go through in their lives. It starts with menarche (a young woman’s first period) and ends with post-menopause. However, the various stages that women go through all have very different health needs, driven by the different interplay of hormones in each stage. A woman who is trying to conceive will very have different health recommendations than a woman who is breastfeeding, a woman who is post-menopause, or a young woman whose body is trying to regulate her hormones over the first several years of her menstrual cycle. The problem that I’ve briefly touched on already is that our current health care system does not typically provide women with the care they deserve to truly live healthy lives that properly sync with their varying hormonal and health needs.
Do any of these situations sound familiar at all?
- A young woman has acne, painful periods, headaches, etc. and instead of finding the root cause, it’s recommended she get on a form of hormonal contraceptive.
- A woman struggling to conceive is told after a few assessments that her best option is to undergo IVF, even if the problem may be the male component of the fertility equation.
- A woman going through peri-menopause has very heavy periods and a hysterectomy may be recommended.
- A woman going through menopause is experiencing depression and anxiety, and she’s put on an antidepressant.
Do any of these solutions actually address the root cause of what’s going on, or do they just cover up or attempt to eliminate the problem? While I’m not bashing the recommendations, as there definitely is a time and place for each solution, these should not be the only solutions.
What I would love to see is a Women’s Health Defender Movement and Full Women’s Health Program that provides holistic women’s health care for EVERY STAGE of a woman’s life. For example, wouldn’t it be incredible if when a young woman started her cycle, she would have access to a holistic program that teaches her what’s happening in this stage of menarche, and teaches her how to live her life in accordance with the four phases of the menstrual cycle? Wouldn’t it make sense to teach her how to identify and holistically correct any menstrual symptoms that show up? Shouldn’t we give mothers access to similar education, so that they can support their daughters through this phase, helping to answer questions and identify issues. Let’s empower women of every age to take back control of their health!
In the broader movement towards holistic healthcare, it is essential to prioritize holistic treatment. Poor women’s health is a growing challenge globally, and so many women lack an awareness of alternative options. The reality is that there are so many holistic health alternatives that are less expensive and less intrusive than traditional medical options and have an incredible track record of proven success.
I speak with many women who missed their window for having children, with many experiencing immense pain and heartache within the IVF system. They frequently relay their wish there had been another answer, and that it is crucial that other women have the knowledge and support for exploring alternative options.
We need a healthcare movement that truly caters to and defends women’s true needs and is built by women for women. We need to eliminate societal gaps in women’s healthcare education and practice and address the discrepancy between what women truly need and what they are actually being provided today. We need to build an evolved healthcare system that ensures women receive the care, knowledge, and support that they deserve. This includes improvements in education, targeted nutrition, and adopting health-focused lifestyle practices for every stage of a woman’s life.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Step by step the victory is won.” I love this quote because, one step at a time, enormous mountains can be conquered. It’s often overwhelming to look at your end goal when it is far away, but if you just look at the next step in front of you, you can keep taking that one step. This is how I approach every day. And I make it a point to celebrate every small step I make.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
Absolutely! Dr. Jolene Brighten has been a leader in women’s health for so long and I am so inspired by the work she is doing and how she is speaking for women and their needs. I’d love to thank her for being a pioneer in women’s health and would love to talk with her about how we can continue growing the women’s health revolution.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Feel free to visit me at https://www.thefertilityacademy.com!
This was very meaningful, thank you so much! I hope many of your readers will join me on this journey to drive a new health movement for women and couples everywhere!
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
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