Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has gained a foothold in the Western medical modalities for pain, sports injuries skin conditions, anesthesia, and overall health maintenance (see WHO report; http://www.who.int/en/). Prior to 1990s, assisted reproductive technologies (ART or IVF – in vitro fertilization) depended on massive technical, pharmaceutical, and medical interventions to produce modest enhancements in expected outcomes (i.e., live births from treatments; see CDC at www.cdc.gov). The scope of the improvement was about 1 percent per year elevation in live births per embryo transfer from 1986 to 2000 (www.cdc.gov and Figure 61.1 SART data).

In 1996, a sentinel paper was published in human reproduction by Stener-Victorin et al. (1), which created a groundswell of interest by TCM practitioners in ways to assist IVF patients. She reported that acupuncture (Ac) in the form of electrostimulation (e-Stim) Ac increased uterine artery blood flow in IVF patients. This was quickly followed by another paper published in Fertility and Sterility (F&S) by Paulus et al. 2002 (2) that demonstrated enhanced pregnancy rates when Ac was used before and quickly after embryo transfer (ET). Although these studies provided important information, Western clinicians considered it far from proven, with editorials expressing condescension about premature adoption of TCM for IVF patients (3, 4).

Although the initial reaction by reproductive endocrinologists and infertility specialists was one of cautious resistance, persistence by D.K.C. in 1999 resulted in the first true collaboration of East and West research in this area.