MTHFR Fertility

Meet

Carolyn Ledowsky

I first got involved with folate because of my fastidious nature of never giving up.

I used to look at folate blood results and wonder why some people had high levels and some people had low levels. Talking to laboratories, Doctors, Specialists, university professors didn’t help me because they all said that high levels were a good thing because it showed that people were eating a lot of leafy green vegetables, but I knew that wasn’t the case. So I delved into biochemistry books and did countless hours of research but it wasn’t until I was sitting at a conference 13 years ago that a female Dr here in Australia mentioned that high folate levels were associated with the MTHFR gene.

I thought OMG what!!! It was the information that I’d been looking for for months.

So I said to her after her presentation “What is MTHFR?” She told me to google. That was the beginning of the fertility journey for me. I started to experiment with the fertility patients that I had and got them off folic acid (because the people with MTHFR genetic polymorphisms can't use this form as well) and put them on the biologically active form of folate that I knew they could use.

Unbelievable when I did that their blood levels of folate started to come down to acceptable levels and they started to feel better.

 Their mood improved, energy improved and their hormones improved. My next goal was to understand that if I tested everyone with high folate in their blood for the MTHFR genetic polymorphism (mutation) would they be positive and almost 100% of the time the answer was yes.

So it's taken me 10 years and I’ve now perfected what I believe is the right amount of folate for the right person (whether they be male or female). Sometimes, we give 10 times the amount of folate that somebody thinks they should take and 91% of the time we are successful.

Let me tell you about one of our success stories. Lauren and her husband Justin found my course online and started it because they found out that they both had the MTHFR polymorphisms. Unfortunately a few months before they had had a stillbirth at 38 weeks which completely destroyed their world as you can well imagine. We did genetic testing, blood testing and some functional testing to find out the true state of their hormones and key nutrients. We found that Lauren had some minor clotting genes that may have affected the health of her placenta and we counseled her on what it meant for both of them to have the MTHFR gene and other genes related to fertility. We spent 4 months in preconception ensuring that they didn’t fall pregnant during this time, as this is the time we set aside to adjust the nutrients we need to adjust, particularly folate. They were so diligent, so committed and the trust she gave to me was so amazing. I was really honoured that she gave me such a big job. I consider it the greatest honour to be entrusted with the preconception journey. Once we were satisfied that all was good they started to try and within a couple of months they were pregnant again. So exciting. So amazing. But this was where the work really started for me, because the emotional roller coaster they experienced in the pregnancy before had taken its toll, so the monthly support we gave them both was critical and I just knew that because she had done things differently and they had prepared so well, this was going to be different. I’m delighted to say that it was and here's their beautiful bub Leyland. 

Here's what Justin and Lauren had to say.

So my mission in life is to empower you to reclaim your fertility, know that you need to do and do things that are tailored to you and stop the anxiety.

Experience and Education

Presenter: NHAA conference Brisbane, Australia – MTHFR and Fertility 2021

Presenter and MC : Methylation and Genomics Conference, Chicago 2019

Presenter and MC: Methylation and Genomics conference, Sydney 2018

12 years experience as a health care practitioner

Presenter: gallbladder and liver summit March 2022

Educational Background

PhD University of Sydney, School of Public Health, University of technology Sydney - current

Maryland University (Genes and the Human condition)

Duke University (Genetics and Evolution)

Bachelor of Health Science (Naturopathy) Honours

Bachelor of Naturopathy

Bachelor of Herbal Medicine

Advanced Diploma of Nutrition

Bachelor of Economics (Sydney University)

Your Baby Course

The Your Baby coursebrings together all the elements of my training and experience and is designed to help people like you to find the underlying genetic susceptibilities and work out the right amount of folate for you.

It will take you through:

  1. Genetic analysis – analysing and uncovering specific factors that are unique to you and tailoring the nutrients you need to assist your fertility and hormones directly
  2. Functional testing – this allows us to understand your biochemistry here and now. What do you need? What are you deficient in or what needs to be down regulated?
  3. Emotional support – we understand how much you are struggling emotionally now. Its really not easy. So helping you along the way is part of the program. We have dedicated Facebook groups and/or private sessions to support you EVERY step of the way.