How Katherine Had 4 Children After Being Told She Could Never Conceive

December 6, 2017

Have you been told that you will never be able to conceive a child? Before you resort to costly fertility treatments, check out your hormones first.  Hormonal decline and hypothyroidism are common causes of infertility. Watch this amazing story of Kathryn Ritchie, who was told by all her doctors that she would never have children.  Learn what happens when her hormones are replenished and put back into balance.

Video Highlights

6:27:  Kathryn:  I was losing weight rapidly, even though by then I could eat again, and I stopped having a period. I didn’t have a period for several years there.

10:46: Kathryn: And then, one issue was that doctors had said I would probably never have children, because of all the injuries that I had had, and that also just being in menopause. I was technically in menopause. And so, I was just grieving that, trying to figure out if there was some hope somewhere, that maybe my husband and I would be able to have children after all.

11:10: Dr. Hotze:  How many physicians did you see over that ten year period?

Kathryn Ritchie:  I stopped counting at 50, because I realized it was getting just too negative to say I’ve been to 50 doctors.

21:09: Dr. Hotze: And so, you had a paradoxical symptom of a low weight level, as opposed to high weight level. But you had the fatigue, you couldn’t think clearly, you couldn’t sleep, you had joint and muscle aches and pains with current and chronic infections, you were basically amenorrheic, which means you weren’t having your periods, you’d been told you were menopausal at 28.

So we put you on some natural desiccated thyroid hormone, compounded hormone, here from Hotze Health & Wellness Center. We also gave you natural progesterone, put you on a little bit of cortisol, got you on some vitamins and minerals. And what happened?

Well, immediately I started feeling better. The ovarian cysts went away. Just really, it was within a few weeks. I was so surprised…I felt like I could just function again in normal society without doubling over all of a sudden.  And I started to go to sleep at night and actually sleep through the night. And I could go out to a movie in the evening not feel like I was going to fall asleep, or like I could hardly walk to a restaurant with my husband. And I just felt like I could be a good wife for the first time, like I had wanted so much to do ever since we had gotten married.

23:47: Kathryn: We called my mother and father-in-law, and just said, “We have an announcement. We’re adding an addition to our family.” And my mother-in-law … I mean, everyone thought we couldn’t have kids. So my mother-in-law said, “You did not just get another dog, did you?” That was her response. “No, it’s not a dog. It’s not a dog.” So, yeah. But God just granted that desire of our heart, and November of that year our son, Nicholas Junior, was born.

29:46: Dr. Hotze:  Well, I’m proud of you, and I’m delighted and happy for you and Nicholas and the four beautiful children you have. Thank you for giving us the privilege of serving you and your family.

Video Transcript:

Stacey:  Welcome to Dr. Hotze’s Wellness Revolution. This is Stacey Bandfield here with Dr. Steven Hotze. Just a reminder to everybody out there, we have a lot of podcasts that are available for you to download absolutely free. All you have to do is go to HotzePodcast.com. That’s H-O-T-Z-E Podcast.com, and Dr. Hotze, we’ve got such a special guest on today. A long time guest, as a matter of fact, and she has such a compelling story. I know that people will be blessed by it.

Dr. Hotze:  Right. We have with us Kathryn Ritchie, who’s been a long time guest. When did you first come here? What year?

Kathryn Ritchie:  It was 2010.

Dr. Hotze:  2010. So it’s been seven years.

Kathryn Ritchie:  Right.

Dr. Hotze:  And Kathryn’s story is so very remarkable, and very moving, and it’s got a sad component to it, but it’s got a very wonderful, happy ending on this story. So Kathryn, tell us about yourself. Where did you grow up, and what did your family do while you were growing up?

Kathryn Ritchie:  Okay. Well, I grew up in the Midwest, in Michigan and Kansas, and my dad was a pastor, but he had always wanted to go overseas as a missionary. And so finally, when I was a teenager, my various people in my family went overseas, but eventually our whole family went over to Russia where we lived in an orphanage, through the invitation out of the Moscow Department of Education. And we took care of orphans there.

Dr. Hotze:  And that would have been in what year?

Kathryn Ritchie: I went over not until 1999.

Dr. Hotze:  And how-

Kathryn Ritchie:  So I was actually in college when I finally went over.

Dr. Hotze:  And how old were you at that time?

Kathryn Ritchie:  I was 18.

Dr. Hotze:      Okay. And so your mom and dad were doing Christian missionary work in Soviet Russia, or in Russia. I guess it wasn’t Soviet Russia anymore. Or was it? I guess the wall-

Stacey:  In 1999 it was-

Kathryn Ritchie:  Well, it was-

Stacey:  … the Soviet Union.

Kathryn Ritchie:  … it was technically not. It was technically not the Soviet Union.

Stacey:  I mean Russia.

Kathryn Ritchie: But a lot of the-

Stacey:  Had it reversed.

Kathryn Ritchie:  … mindset and the philosophy was still there.

Dr. Hotze:  Right. So, you all were running an orphanage, right?

Kathryn Ritchie:  Right.

Dr. Hotze:  And so, tell us what happened to you and your sister while you were there in Moscow.

Kathryn Ritchie:  Right. Well, it was October 2nd of that year, and we were realizing we needed more soap for the orphans. It was just a small thing, but we needed to go downtown to one of the stores there to buy some soap. And so, a few of us walked across the road from our orphanage, and we were standing at a bus stop there. It was just a normal, everyday type of situation, and I just remember looking down at my bus ticket, hoping it wasn’t expired ’cause I didn’t know how that worked. Would I go to Russian jail or something if I had an expired bus ticket?

I just remember that thought, and that was the last thing that I remember, because at that moment a drunk driver whirled around the corner and just plowed into the bus stop, and plowed into my sister and me, and then one of my … Actually, it was one of the orphans who eventually became my sister also was run into, but she was yanked out of the way. And the car just careened right into me and my sister, Christie.

And Christie flew one direction, and slammed into a pole, and I flew the other direction, and landed on that dirty street that fall day. And my sister died. She went one minute from the dirty streets to walking into heaven, and I went into a totally new world for me. All kinds of medical things I started to face. I actually … they didn’t know if I was going to make it at first. They were able to finally air evacuate me to Finland, where I was in a long surgery. It took a whole day to try to repair my legs. And then I was in intensive care for a week, and then I was in a trauma hospital for several weeks, until they felt that I was ready to handle the flight back to the United States.

Dr. Hotze: And how did you-

Kathryn Ritchie:  So at that point…

Dr. Hotze:  When you flew back to the United States, how did you fly back? Privately? Did they put you in a private jet and fly you back?

Kathryn Ritchie:  Well, you know, actually, originally I was private, but when I flew to the United States from Finland I was actually on a, I think we went Swiss Air, and yeah, it was a little crazy, because I couldn’t bend my legs. So they actually took out the seat in front of me so that I could actually sit. I was on a stretcher on the tarmac, and then they just put me in, and they had designed the seats accordingly so I could-

Dr. Hotze:  Wow.

Kathryn Ritchie:  … actually fly that way. Yeah. It was crazy. So-

Dr. Hotze:  And you were how old when this happened?

Kathryn Ritchie:  I was 18.

Dr. Hotze:  Okay. So, you came back to the States when you were 18.

Kathryn Ritchie:  Right.

Dr. Hotze:  And did you have some more surgery done then?

Kathryn Ritchie:  I did. So, we went through the next several years, our major focus was seeing if I would be able to walk again, because my legs weren’t healing from the severe breaks. But also, I swallowed, or somehow part of my hinge bone just disappeared in my mouth. So my jaw is technically permanently broken. I don’t have the hinge anymore there. So, the doctors focused lots on how to heal my jaw so that I could talk and eat, and those types of things, smile again. I went to several different countries just working on those issues. But in the meantime, other facets of my body were failing. I was losing weight rapidly, even though by then I could eat again, and I stopped having a period. I didn’t have a period for several years there. I just-

Dr. Hotze:  So, how-

Kathryn Ritchie:  … all the time-

Dr. Hotze:  … old-

Kathryn Ritchie:   … I felt tired all the time.

Dr. Hotze:  How old were you when you ceased having periods?

Kathryn Ritchie:  Well, when I was 18.

Dr. Hotze:  So that year-

Kathryn Ritchie:  …and then-

Dr. Hotze:  … right after the trauma?

Kathryn Ritchie:  I didn’t for probably a year. Maybe less than a year. But then I maybe had one or two a year, very rarely, completely irregular, and painful.

Dr. Hotze:  And so-

Kathryn Ritchie:  And that continued on for a decade.

Dr. Hotze:  Right. So you were having an occasional period, once or twice a year then, after that?

Kathryn Ritchie:  Mm-hmm (affirmative). Right.

Dr. Hotze:  Okay. So, you tell me you went to work. At some point you were working for a doctor’s office that handled, or a psychologist’s office that handled people who had eating disorders.

Kathryn Ritchie:  Right. Well, I was actually working at a mega-church in South Florida, and I was in the women’s ministries, and part of my job was counseling young women with eating disorders.

Dr. Hotze:  So, what did they think about you?

Kathryn Ritchie:  Well, my boss called me in one day, and she said, “You know, we’ve had some concern, because you are so thin yourself, that we think you have an eating disorder, and we don’t know how you can be counseling young women with eating disorders if you yourself have an eating disorder.” Which I did not. I ran to my childhood doctor back in Kansas and I said, “Write a form or something. Tell them I don’t have an eating disorder.” And he did. I don’t know if that helped or not. But I had to prove to my own boss, with whom I’ve worked for several years, that I did not have an eating disorder. I was eating, and was trying to eat very healthy. But I just kept losing weight. I looked … I did. I looked like I had an eating disorder. Something was definitely wrong with me.

Dr. Hotze:  How did you … Did you go back to-

Kathryn Ritchie:  And no one knew what to do.

Dr. Hotze:  Did you go back to college?

Kathryn Ritchie:   Well, yes. I actually … What happened is, after I was hit by the car, I finished college in a wheelchair and on crutches in the United States, and then I worked for a congressman for three years at the Heritage Foundation-

Dr. Hotze:  Right.

Kathryn Ritchie:  … in D.C. And then I went to seminary in South Florida, and then I stayed there and worked at a church in women’s ministries. So this all was going on over the next ten years after the accident, and my health continued to fail more and more. And I continued to hunt for doctors to help me. I went to some of the best doctors. I went to Georgetown and Mayo Clinic, and I spent a lot of money on doctors, and-

Dr. Hotze:  What was the main symptom or symptoms about which you were concerned-

Kathryn Ritchie:  Well, I think-

Dr. Hotze:  … to see physicians?

Kathryn Ritchie:  Several different things. I would just walk in, I think, with so many issues they sometimes just didn’t know what to think of me. I was not gaining any weight. I was down to just a little over 100 pounds, and I’m tall. I’m 5’9″, just so you can picture that. It just wasn’t healthy to be that thin. So that was one issue.

And then, I never had any energy. Or I’d be wide awake at two o’clock in the morning, and finish up with work, and I would literally be crawling around my house because I was so tired. I would just be lying on the floor, unable to move. And I started having ovarian cysts rupturing, and I was in the ER several times trying to figure out what to do about that, and the doctor would keep saying, “Oh, maybe you need more … ” And they would tell me all these different things that I needed, like more estrogen. And yet, that just continued to cause me to have more cysts.

And then, one issue was that doctors had said I would probably never have children, because of all the injuries that I had had, and that also just being in menopause. I was technically in menopause. And so, I was just grieving that, trying to figure out if there was some hope somewhere, that maybe my husband and I would be able to have children after all.

Dr. Hotze:  Well, how many-

Kathryn Ritchie:  So those were-

Dr. Hotze:  How many physicians-

Kathryn Ritchie:  … the main issues.

Dr. Hotze:  How many physicians did you see over that ten year period?

Kathryn Ritchie:  I stopped counting at 50, because I realized it was getting just too negative to say I’ve been to 50 doctors.

Dr. Hotze:  So, tell me about-

Kathryn Ritchie:  So I just…more than 50. I don’t know-

Dr. Hotze:  … that.

Kathryn Ritchie:  … how many.

Dr. Hotze:  So, you ended up going to Mayo Clinic up in Minnesota.

Kathryn Ritchie:  Right.

Dr. Hotze:  And what did they tell you?

Kathryn Ritchie:  Oh, we actually flew to the one in … We went to Arizona.

Dr. Hotze:  Went to Arizona. And so, what did they tell you there?

Kathryn Ritchie:  I actually just recently looked over those records again, and they said that I was in menopause, and they didn’t particularly think that I would be able to have children. And, oh, they did suggest I do some special psychological treatment. Oh, one thing, I was starting to not be able to breathe. Like, I was getting asthma, which was very strange. Or I’d get into a pool and I wasn’t able to breathe with the water pressure. And they said, “Well, maybe you haven’t dealt with the trauma of the accident, so I think you need to go to some psychological blah blah blah.” And my husband was wise enough to know that wasn’t the case. So instead, that day we just drove to the Grand Canyon and looked at the sunset, and then went back down for another day of medical treatment. But, yeah, they had a lot of thoughts that I went away really with no more answers except more discouragement.

Dr. Hotze:  Did any of the physicians recommend you take anti-depressants?

Kathryn Ritchie:  I don’t … See, I talk with my husband about that now. I don’t know if they officially did, or if I just kind of gave them … I was so against that, and I knew that was not what was wrong with me, that we just kind of cut them off and didn’t let them go that direction. But they never handed me a prescription. But I think several of them did think that’s what I needed, especially, actually, at Mayo Clinic.

Dr. Hotze:  So, if we can summarize your symptoms, after ten years, which had been going over ten years, you had very low energy level. On a scale of one to ten, ten being brimming with energy, what was your energy level?

Kathryn Ritchie:   Oh, I think two. I’d wake up and I would count how many hours until I could go back to sleep.

Dr. Hotze:  So you had low energy levels. Surprisingly enough, you had weight loss. And we’re going to talk about-

Kathryn Ritchie:  Right.

Dr. Hotze:  … why this is paradoxical in her case. How was your mental sharpness and mental focus?

Kathryn Ritchie:  I just felt fatigued all the time. I remember I was in Greek class, which, hey, everyone probably struggles with Greek, but in seminary, and I just remember staring at the blackboard and just, it’s like it wasn’t connecting. And I remember thinking something is wrong. Something is wrong with me. But I don’t know what. But I don’t think normal people just stare and can’t-

Dr. Hotze:  Can’t figure out what it is.

Kathryn Ritchie:  … put one … Right.

Dr. Hotze:  And your sleep was poor. Of course you had body aches and pains, probably, from injuries and-

Kathryn Ritchie:  Right.

Dr. Hotze:  … otherwise.

Kathryn Ritchie:        Yes.

Dr. Hotze:  So, were you having any recurrent illnesses, like sinus or … You said you started to develop some-

Kathryn Ritchie:  Yes.

Dr. Hotze:  … wheezing.

Kathryn Ritchie:  I was sick all the time. Even on my wedding day, that morning I was in urgent care because I had more problems. I think it was just a cold or something like that. But I was always, always ill.

Dr. Hotze:  Did you have to take many antibiotics?

Kathryn Ritchie:  I did. Way too many. Yes.

Dr. Hotze:  Okay. So, and when did you meet Nick? How old were you when you met him and when you got married?

Kathryn Ritchie:  Well, we met…we were both at a law conference in 2001. So, that’s a very long story. But we did not actually get married until 2009.

Dr. Hotze:  Okay. So you got married in 2009. Now, he knew, you had told him, that the doctors had told… And he’d been there at Mayo’s, but they told you were in menopause and you wouldn’t be able to have any children.

Kathryn Ritchie:  Right.

Dr. Hotze:  And what did you think about that? I mean, what were your thoughts? Did you think that was going to be your case? It’d been going on for ten years. I guess you believed it.

Kathryn Ritchie:  Yes. I think I had just grieved it again and again every time a doctor would say that. Just a little more of my heart had died, because the greatest desire of my heart besides being a good wife and someone who could glorify God in what God had called her to do, was to be a mom. And I knew that maybe God was going to open up doors for adoption. I had seen just wonderful things, and what had happened in Russia. And so I was open to that, and yet my dream was really to have many children.

And so, yeah, I just died again and again in my heart, and on the back of my Bible, actually the one that Nicholas gave me when we got engaged, I have all kinds of verses that talked about the barren women, someday knowing joy with a house of children. And I just had all kinds of promises from God, knowing even if he didn’t change that, God would still be good, and God would still be sovereign, and God would still give us great joy in life. But I just held on to this very tiny fading hope that maybe somehow God would do a miracle.

Dr. Hotze:  And of course, you know, really I admire Nicholas all the more, because he was taking on and marrying a woman who was unhealthy.

Kathryn Ritchie:  Yes.

Dr. Hotze:  And didn’t-

Kathryn Ritchie:  I know.

Dr. Hotze:  And wasn’t going to be able to give him children. I mean, it really tells you how much he really loved you.

Kathryn Ritchie:  He is incredible. Yes.

Dr. Hotze:  It’s really a sweet story. So, anyway, how did you end up here at the Hotze Health & Wellness Center?

Kathryn Ritchie:  Well, I trucked around the country sharing my testimony, Russia and various things, and I was speaking at a conference in Oklahoma at the beginning of 2010. And at that time, my father had seen in a Southwest Airline magazine about the Hotze Center. And he had talked with Nicholas and me about it. And I wasn’t completely closed, but at the same time I had been to so many doctors. I had spent so much money. And I had heard them say everything from hopelessness to “You are crazy.” And I really just didn’t think that y’all would be any different. I just wasn’t really interested in going.

So, we had kind of scheduled maybe later we would go. And I was pushing ahead with, “We are going to do adoption,” and this and that. And we had opened our adoption savings account, and I was just kind of settling on, “This is my life and I’ll always be feeling poorly.” But my dad and my husband, Nicholas, really believed God still had something different for our family. Anyway, at that conference where I was speaking, right before I spoke I almost passed out. And barely got through my speech, and I called Nicholas, and he said, “You are not going to fly home to South Florida. You are going to fly directly to Houston,” where it just so happened that Nicholas was working at the time. Now we live here in Houston. But back then, he just happened to be in Houston right then.

So instead, we changed my ticket and I flew directly to Houston, and a few days later I walked into your center for the first time.

Dr. Hotze:  So now, Nicholas had heard about it too, so he had told you that he-

Kathryn Ritchie:  Right.

Dr. Hotze:  … wanted you to come. Okay.

Kathryn Ritchie:        Yes.

Dr. Hotze:  So you came in.

Kathryn Ritchie:  Right.

Dr. Hotze:  How was it any different than any of the other 50 plus doctor’s offices you’d been in, and doctors with whom you’d met?

Kathryn Ritchie:  Oh, a night and day difference. I loved it immediately…just the whole spirit of your office was just so peaceful and uplifting, and the kindness of everyone on staff there, and I could just tell your pursuit of excellence, and you saw me as a person instead of just another statistic or another person that had to fill out forms. And everyone was not running around in white, dirty lab jackets. It was just so different. I felt like I had gone to a very fancy hotel, or somewhere where, kind of almost like a spa. And I was just treated like a princess in so many ways. And right from the first, from when I spoke with Becky up at the front desk and then went in a spoke with the doctor, I felt heard, and I mean, really listened to. Not just kind of listened to and, “Uh huh, uh huh, okay, well, you’re crazy.” But really listened to.

And then, for the first time ever, I was told there was hope. And I remember specifically the doctor saying, “Blah blah blah blah blah blah, we can help you in all these areas.” But then, she said, “And I don’t see why there’s any reason why you can’t have children.” And that was the thing that stuck out to me the most that I walked out of there with. But at the same time, that was the most scary hope. So I just kind of had tucked it away, way back in my heart. Because I was almost too afraid to think that could really be the case.

Dr. Hotze:  Well, I know that … The physician you saw, did you see Dr. Ellsworth or Sheridan?

Kathryn Ritchie:  I actually, no, that was a different doctor that’s not-

Dr. Hotze:  Right. That was here-

Kathryn Ritchie:  … there anymore.

Dr. Hotze:  Yeah.

Kathryn Ritchie:  Now I see Dr. Ellsworth.

Dr. Hotze:  Right. So, the doctor at that time determined that we were going to give you…you had all the symptoms of hypothyroidism except the fact that, paradoxically, you were thin. Normally you think of hypothyroid women as being healthy. But you had a failure to thrive, and we see this in some individuals, that when they don’t have enough thyroid hormone, they’re hypothyroid, they fail to thrive. Little kids, they don’t grow. They’re thin. They don’t gain weight.

And so, you had a paradoxical symptom of a low weight level, as opposed to high weight level. But you had the fatigue, you couldn’t think clearly, you couldn’t sleep, you had joint and muscle aches and pains with current and chronic infections, you were basically amenorrheic, which means you weren’t having your periods, you’d been told you were menopausal at 28.

So we put you on some natural desiccated thyroid hormone, compounded hormone, here from Hotze Health & Wellness Center. We also gave you natural progesterone, put you on a little bit of cortisol, got you on some vitamins and minerals. And what happened?

Kathryn Ritchie:   Well, immediately I started feeling better. The ovarian cysts went away. Just really, it was within a few weeks. I was so surprised. Yeah, the last one was at my sister-in-law’s wedding. I remember feeling like, “Oh, I have a cyst rupturing,” and then it never happened again. And that was just a few weeks after that I had come for the first time. So, that in itself was amazing, because I felt like I could just function again in normal society without doubling over all of a sudden.

And I started to go to sleep at night and actually sleep through the night. And I could go out to a movie in the evening not feel like I was going to fall asleep, or like I could hardly walk to a restaurant with my husband. And I just felt like I could be a good wife for the first time, like I had wanted so much to do ever since we had gotten married.

So that was immediate. But about a year later, it was actually St. Patrick’s Day 2011, I was driving somewhere and I just had this thought, “I should check if I’m pregnant.” And then I thought, “That is the craziest thing I’ve ever thought.” But it wouldn’t go away, so I went to Walgreen’s and I got a pregnancy test, and then I was afraid to bring it home because I didn’t want Nicholas to get his hopes up or think I had my hopes up when I really didn’t. So I went to a Starbucks and I hid in the bathroom, and I took the test and it was positive. And I remember just standing there, and then I was so shocked. I didn’t really know what to do. So I just got in line at Starbucks and ordered coffee, in shock, till I could get myself together.

And I went home, and it just wasn’t like on the movies where they have some wonderful announcement to their husband about pregnancy. I just was so shocked, I stuffed it in Nicholas’s chest where he was working in our home office, and then I cried. And he had no idea what that meant except, if I was crying and holding a pregnancy test, it was probably a good thing. So, yeah, total shock. We called my mother and father-in-law, and just said, “We have an announcement. We’re adding an addition to our family.” And my mother-in-law … I mean, everyone thought we couldn’t have kids. So my mother-in-law said, “You did not just get another dog, did you?” That was her response. “No, it’s not a dog. It’s not a dog.” So, yeah. But God just granted that desire of our heart, and November of that year our son, Nicholas Junior, was born.

Dr. Hotze:  That was tremendous.

Kathryn Ritchie:…six. Yeah.

Dr. Hotze:  Now, we go back to 2010. At the Hotze Health & Wellness Center at that time, we offered to all our guests to tell their story on iPhone and to send it in, and we were going to post them, and then let anybody vote on who had the best story, and the winner of the best story had an all paid, the couple had an all paid vacation, a four day vacation, to the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. So, all the videos were turned in, and Nicholas and Kathryn Ritchie won, based upon the fact that they had this amazing story about having their little baby, when even Mayo Clinic said they’d never be able to have kids and she was in menopause. By the way, could we be smarter at the Hotze Health & Wellness Center than all these other doctor’s offices?

Stacey:  It seems that way.

Dr. Hotze:  I mean, it’s so simple and straightforward what we do, and you had to see 50 doctors to find the right location.

Stacey:   They wanted to over-complicate it.

Dr. Hotze:  Yeah. Anyway. So, you go off. What time of year did you end up going to Colorado Springs?

Kathryn Ritchie:  We went in February, right before Valentine’s Day, and that just in itself was just such a wonderful, special thing. Because I had always felt just a little bit guilty, even though Nicholas would never make me feel guilty, but I had felt guilty that our honeymoon I was so ill. I was literally so ill that week, just from not being well yet, that it just wasn’t what it could have been. And so, this was like God giving us back a honeymoon in a sense.

So, we were there, it was just so magnificent. And after a day or two, I started feeling really sick, and threw up, and just like all that kind of thing. And my husband said, “Oh, you have mountain sickness and you need to drink more water.” So, the more water I drank the more sick I became, and so we were there. The last day I took a pregnancy test, and that’s when we found out about baby Lizzie, who was born that October.

Stacey:  That’s amazing.

Dr. Hotze:  So, you were pregnant again. And you were told by Mayo Clinic and other doctors that you would never be able to get pregnant, that you were in menopause. So, now how many children have you given birth to?

Kathryn Ritchie:  We have four.

Dr. Hotze:  Got four kiddos. Isn’t that marvelous? And I’ve seen them all, of course. They’re cute as they could be. It’s an amazing story. And for those of you out there, now, we don’t consider ourselves an infertility clinic. We don’t do any artificial insemination, any of that IVF, none of that. But we know this, is that if women have problems conceiving, if women have problems carrying their babies, if they have problems with their periods, if you balance the hormones, you kind of set things up for good things to happen.

And I always tell women, “Don’t blame us, now, if we balance your hormones and you get pregnant.” And that’s sure as in the world what happened to you. Of course, you wanted to get pregnant, and it was a wonderful story.

Kathryn Ritchie:  Right. Yes.

Dr. Hotze:  But it just tells you the power of the natural hormones, folks, that you need to be taking as you walk through life or you develop the symptoms consistent with hormone decline. They need to be replenished, and they need to be balanced. And you did that, Kathryn. Now, you’ve been a guest at our center for seven years.

Kathryn Ritchie:  Right.

Dr. Hotze:  And you brought your husband, Nicholas. You brought your kids in. You brought your-

Kathryn Ritchie:  Yes.

Dr. Hotze:  … family in. Last I looked, you’d referred and had 20 different individuals come in because of what happened to you. Now, you’ve had a dramatic effect, and I’m going to tell you what. I’m proud of you, I’m proud of Nicholas, that y’all did a 180 and took charge of your health. And you got a doctor and a staff of professionals to help coach you onto the path of health and wellness naturally, so you enjoy a better quality of life. Now, can you imagine what your life would be like if you’d stopped at Mayo Clinic and that had been the last visit you had?

Kathryn Ritchie:  Yeah.

Dr. Hotze:  What would your life be like?

Kathryn Ritchie:  Oh…life.

Dr. Hotze:  You wouldn’t have those four kids.

Kathryn Ritchie:  No, we wouldn’t have children. And you know, I think even if somehow we had miraculously had one child, say, even just the post-partum after, where so many people struggle with depression, you know, I had none of that. Because immediately, I knew how to handle my hormones, start taking progesterone, this and that. So I’ve had none of that depression.

So even if I would have had one child, say, I still would have walked through so many other hard things. Post-partum depression probably, painful periods, low energy, I mean my life would be totally different. But also, my extended family have been so significantly helped by what y’all have done for them and their children, and my extended family that live overseas in Mongolia, that’s been life changing to them. So, we are so grateful for what you all have done. And I’m always telling people about what you do, and encouraging them to come. And I hope that that number-

Dr. Hotze:  Grows.

Kathryn Ritchie:  …a bit higher than 20. But you know, I think sometimes people have to be a little desperate to look outside of the normal medical-

Dr. Hotze:      Right.

Kathryn Ritchie:  … system, which we’ve been told to look to for so long, like I was.

Dr. Hotze:  Sure.

Kathryn Ritchie:  And to finally reach out and do something different.

Dr. Hotze:  Well, I’m proud of you, and I’m delighted and happy for you and Nicholas and the four beautiful children you have. Thank you for giving us the privilege of serving you and your family.

Kathryn Ritchie:  Well, thank you.

Stacey:  Yes, thank you, Kathryn.

Dr. Hotze:  Thank you for joining us today. God bless you.

Kathryn Ritchie:  Oh, thank you. Thanks.

Stacey:    And so, if any of Kathryn’s symptoms sound familiar to you, maybe you’ve been struggling with fertility, never underestimate the power of hormones. And of course, there are a lot of other people who are suffering with chronic issues, and hormones very well may be at the root of what you’re suffering from. So definitely give us a call today. It would be a privilege to serve you. 281-698-8698. That’s 281-698-8698. Thank you for joining us today on Dr. Hotze’s Wellness Revolution.

 

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AboutHotze Health & Wellness Center

Since 1989, Hotze Health & Wellness Center has helped over 33,000 patients get their lives back using bioidentical hormones that restore hormones to optimal levels, strengthen immune systems, and increase energy levels. Our treatment regimen addresses the root cause of hypothyroidism, adrenal fatigue, menopause, perimenopause, low testosterone, allergies, and candida.

Led by best-selling author, radio host and leading natural health expert, Steven F. Hotze, M.D., our medical team has over 100 years’ combined medical experience backed by a staff of nearly 100 caring professionals who provide an environment of hope and extraordinary hospitality for each of our patients, who we call our guests. It is our deepest desire to help you obtain and maintain health and wellness naturally so that you may enjoy a better quality of life, pure and simple.

 

What I BelieveBY DR. STEVEN HOTZE

Do you want to live a healthy, happy, purpose-driven life? Do you want to restore your health so that your loss of energy, weight gain, joint pain, depression and lack of drive or motivation won’t hold you back from achieving your personal and professional goals?

Dr. Steven Hotze wants that for you, too. In fact, in his powerful and passionate video entitled, “What I Believe”, Dr. Hotze shares how his Christian worldview and pivotal experiences have ignited a deep desire to offer the message of hope and optimal health to all who need to hear it.


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At Hotze Health & Wellness Center, our doctors are changing the way women and men are treated through the use of bioidentical hormones. Our natural treatments have helped over 33,000 individuals with hypothyroidism, adrenal fatigue, menopause, perimenopause, low testosterone, allergies, candida, detoxification and nutritional deficiencies.

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"I went from from having fatigue to regaining my energy, motivation, and drive after age 50!”

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