The KInd Life Community Forum

Recently my husband and I have been talking about starting a family and I'm worried about how being vegan/vegetarian will effect our chances of getting pregnant. I'm also getting questions from my family about this issue and I don't really have any answers to give them. What books or websites to you suggest to read to get all the facts?

A variety of sources:

http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/veganpregnancy.htm

http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/preginfchil

http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/pregnancy.html

http://books.google.com/books/about/Becoming_vegan.html?id=R7FRvTyRF0cC

http://www.eatright.org/about/content.aspx?id=8357

http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/healthy-eating/why-the-american-dietetic-association-endorses-a-vegan-diet.html

Just do some online research and you can find plenty of information. Like Holly says, many things women should do for a healthy pregnancy are natural on a healthy vegan diet - healthy weight, good cholesterol and blood pressure, etc. Your chances of getting pregnant on a vegan diet are not going to be affected negatively if you are eating healthfully. A junk food vegan diet isn't healthy. Any person, regardless of being veg*n or omni, needs to pay attention to their nutrition, so I would suggest reading what you can, even just about vegan nutrition in general, to know more about a healthy vegan diet. That way, you will have responses to others' concerns. What are they concerned about? That would be the best place to start - protein, calcium, etc? Then you can answer their questions directly. Also, the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility may help you understand your body better, and depending on your health and cycle, might be able to help you get pregnant.