77: Pregnancy At 50 With Jake Leiske Willis

Today’s guest, Jake Leiske Willis, takes us on an inspiring journey through getting and staying pregnant in her late 40’s. She shares insightfulness lessons learned through the many struggles and fears she endured along the way, and the important lifestyle changes and rituals she implemented. Jake gave birth at 51 years of age, and her purpose in sharing her story is to create space in the world for conversation around the idea of getting pregnant later in life. Jake’s pregnancy story begins with the relationship she has with her now-husband, Chris Willis. They met over 30 years ago in their 20s, in a gospel band they were in together. They instantly fell in love, but ultimately went their separate ways to pursue music. They remained close throughout the years and re-connected in their late 40s. After traveling together and attending a wedding as each other’s guests, they asked each other why they didn’t have a family. One year later, Jake and Chris found themselves starting to research if it would even be possible for her to carry a baby at her age. Their journey began with getting aligned with a fertility clinic that they felt comfortable with. Jake talks about how it’s important to align on all levels with your fertility clinic because they are your lifeline, literally. So find a good fit and don’t settle. They ended up choosing a fertility Center in New York City where there were Doctors who supported their journey, so long as everything looked okay medically.Once they got the go-ahead from their Doctors at the Fertility Clinic, they started getting into the medical journey of their pregnancy. Their journey started in 2014 and their daughter, Avalon Berlin, was born in January 2017. Because of Jake’s age, they needed to decide if they wanted to use an egg donor. After looking through the list of donor’s on file at the clinic, Jake concluded that she would feel more comfortable if their baby had a small piece of her DNA. She then had the idea to ask her niece, Savannah, who is like a daughter to her if she would be willing to donate. At the young age of 25, Savannah immediately said yes, and was more than willing to help Jake and Chris on their journey to pregnancy and parenthood by becoming their egg donor. Jake and Chris felt very blessed to have an Integrative Doctor and a Fertility Doctor that supported each other’s recommendations in Eastern and Western Medicine techniques, and most importantly, Jake and Chris’ decisions. As far as techniques, they tried everything. They would constantly research various techniques, talk about them with their Doctor’s, try them, and if they failed, they started over. They were determined that this was going to happen for them and one way in which they were able to stay in this mindset was by using auto-suggestion and positive mantras. They also incorporated the following methods: acupuncture, Chinese medicine, healthy diet, exercise, meditation, and working with an energy healer.Jake shares what she placed as an intention in her mind and how it worked for her. Everyone’s journey will be completely different, and that’s okay, but she just always kept their end goal in mind and then did the work to make it happen. The word “impossible” or “not probable” were banished from her vocabulary. She learned that throughout the three years of ups and downs, they were building the capacity to be the parents they are today. She said that they needed that time to learn about themselves first, and then truly open their hands (and hearts). “If you can do this,” she says, “It will happen for you in the way that it’s suppose to happen - which isn’t always the way you think it should happen.”You can follow her here:Website: www.thejaketake.comInsta: @jakeleiskewillisFacebook: @jakeleiskewillisLooking for more information on my Warrior Muvement program? Check out my website www.muvelife.com/the-muvement to apply.