Fertility Astrology: A Case Study

by Nicola Smuts Allsop

Raylene and Jaques - A Couple in Consultation

Raylene met Jacques when they were both nineteen years old and at university together. He proposed to her when she was twenty-four and they decided to try to conceive straight away. As a consequence of recurring teenage acne, Raylene had been on the contraceptive pill, since the age of thirteen. She was justifiably concerned about her fertility, but during the months leading up to the wedding, her acne returned and she starting taking the pill again until after the ceremony in June 2005. In June 2006 they started trying a little more seriously to conceive. Raylene went off the pill and started taking herbal supplements, and they tracked her cycle and ovulation, noting that she had a disturbing sixty-day cycle. This was the first indicator of problems to come. In March 2007, Jacques had a sperm test at a fertility clinic, the results were devastating: a low count and zero morphology. Raylene was diagnosed at the same clinic with PCOS (Polycystic ovary syndrome) and, at twenty-six years old, they faced the possibility of never becoming parents.

The clinic advised two cycles of IUI (artificial insemination). During these cycles Raylene needed a lot of medication to stimulate her to ovulate. Her hormonal challenges meant that even after a cycle of IVF (in vitro fertilizsation), the embryos that were harvested were all of an inadequate quality to re-implant. It seemed as though the sperm was a major contributing factor, although at this point no genetic testing had been done to confirm whether it was a sperm or egg issue. The doctors were of the opinion that it was a bit of both – poor egg quality due to the PCOS and poor sperm, resulting in substandard embryos. In short, both partners had fertility problems, and together they compounded the problem.

In April 2008 Raylene had another cycle of IVF. This time she did fall pregnant – there was a heartbeat at six weeks, but sadly, she miscarried at eight weeks. Again, the opinion of the medical team placed the blame on the quality of her eggs and his sperm. Another cycle in August 2008 yielded fifteen eggs but no embryos, again the doctors blamed her egg quality. A further IVF using GIFT (where the embryo is put into the fallopian tube and not directly into the uterus) in December 2008 resulted in more disappointment. The medical team then had the tough conversation about using donor egg and sperm with a couple only in their twenties who were desperate to be parents.

Jacques was not keen on using donor sperm at all. Raylene pushed for it, following her primal urge to be a mother. Irrational, not sleeping and not always hormonally balanced, she went from one treatment to another, trying some fairly unorthodox methods to get pregnant.

In June 2009, September 2009, and December 2009 the couple experienced more attempts that did not result in pregnancy. With Raylene considering suicide and finding it impossible to go on in this state, she contacted Tertia Albertyn who had an egg donor company in Cape Town. Here she found a compassionate listener and also someone who had my contact details. Raylene wasted no time and made an appointment to see me.

On first review of their charts, although Jacques’ sperm issues were fairly obvious to me, Raylene’s chart didn’t seem as bad as her story reflected. This is the testing point for the astrologer: you hear a really difficult narrative history, then you see a challenged chart, but not nearly as bad as the story suggests. What do you do? Do you go with the story the client and the medical fraternity are telling you, or do you fly with the astrology? Fortunately for me, I had seen a lot of charts by the time I saw Raylene, and I was able to draw on my experience in my practice.

I judged the charts as being the most heartbreaking narratives I had heard thus far, but also that although Jacques’s chart was technically and astrologically more challenging, Raylene’s chart was not saying quite the same thing.

In analysing Raylene’s chart, the Almuten of Pregnancy, the Sun, leaps out at me. It is in Taurus, in the 2nd house, succedent, and seemingly without besiegement. The Sun also indicates a stubborn physicality through the sign of Taurus, so her menstrual cycles are most probably regular, but ovulation can still be variable, and being a Taurean, more than the normal dose of medication might be required to stimulate hormones. Equally, Taureans often suffer from thyroid issues, so this is something to ask about first.

Her fallopian tubes are indicated by Mercury in Aries, conjunct Mars and Venus, all opposite Pluto in Libra the 7th house. A fire-sign Mercury can indicate ectopic pregnancies, the conjunction to Mars can indicate surgery to the tubes, and the opposition to Pluto is a strong signature for an invasive surgery to tubes, and the destruction of one or both tubes due to inflammation or infection. The only mitigating factor is the conjunction of Mercury with Venus and the fact that Mercury joys in the 1st house. If it were not for those placements, I might conclude that her fallopian tubes are not in the best shape. Her uterus – indicated by the 1st house and its ruler Mars, which is opposite Pluto – is also not looking good. Endometriosis could play a role here, or there could be something wrong with her endometrial lining, and as we know, the blood wall of the uterus is important for implantation. Heavy bleeding during menstruation is also probable. But Mars is in rulership, so we wait to diagnose and look for further information.

Her Moon in Gemini indicates eggs that mature a little out of sync compared to the norm, usually late maturation, as Gemini is also one of the barren signs. On investigation, her eggs might not have a follicle in them, and this might prove tricky on egg retrieval in the process of IVF. The Moon is also opposite Neptune, so sometimes the egg is not physically visible on ultrasound scans. Or the egg can present as perfect and then be found to be subnormal after retrieval. Or there might be some chromosomal damage to the egg, in which case implantation might occur but at some stage there might be arrested development of cell division, and the embryo might not mature into a blastocyst. Frequent miscarriages without any identifiable reason are often attributed to chromosomal defects in the embryo or problems with the lining of the uterus and implantation.

The Moon opposition to Neptune also speaks of hormonal imbalance. This may manifest independently and indicate issues during puberty or menopause and have nothing to do with fertility, or it may have a direct bearing on someone’s fertility. It may allude to thyroid issues or even be a manifestation of using hormone therapy during aggressive fertility treatment. Sometimes astrologers think of Neptune as a planet of disillusion or illusion, so it is worth noting that the condition of the egg is not what it seems and that sometimes test results can ‘lie’ and that sometimes perfect looking eggs fail to deliver. As a fertility astrologer you cannot always tell which way it will go, except to say that if other factors point to illusion, then you might need to downplay a positive outcome. Whichever way you view the Moon/Neptune opposition, it offers little relief to Raylene’s chart.

The Triplicity Phase Rulers

The triplicity phase rulers of her Ascendant, which is in Aries, a fire sign, are: 1) Jupiter, 2) Sun, 3) Saturn. Remember, the order of the first two rulers is switched to reflect her night chart. We are really interested in the second phase of her life, beginning on average around age thirty, so we examine the second ruler. The Sun is her Almuten of Pregnancy! So we can say that this is the phase during which she will most likely conceive, which is generic considering most women conceive in this phase, i.e., twenty-five to forty-five years of age. But it is important to understand that now the Almuten of Pregnancy has emphasis. Pay attention to that.

Let’s look at the triplicity rulers of her Almuten of Pregnancy. The Sun is in Taurus, an earth sign, and she has a night chart, so the rulers are: 1) Moon, 2) Venus, 3) Mars. Again, we are interested in the second phase only, so we examine Venus. Looking at her natal chart, we see that Venus is angular, but in detriment, opposite Pluto, and sextile her Sun (Almuten of Pregnancy). So our initial conclusion could be that yes, it is most likely that she will be pregnant (Venus sextile Sun) but that there will be trauma (Pluto) and opposition and Mars- like surgery.

Then, calculate the triplicity rulers of her main luminary, which in a night chart is the Moon. Her Moon is in Gemini, an air sign, giving us: 1) Mercury, 2) Saturn, 3) Jupiter. Looking to Saturn, then, which is the second phase ruler of her overall life circumstance and sense of vitality, we see that Saturn is cadent, in Virgo so no particular strength or dignity, and conjunct the nodal axis, indicating a difficult time in her life. Health issues are going to impact her quality of life. In a modern interpretation, there seems to be a certain compulsion or karmic quality to the conjunction with the nodes. In a medieval interpretation, it looks like this phase of her life is blighted by the conjunction to the nodes.

A summary of the triplicity rulerships could be that the second part of her life is going to be taken up with trying to conceive, experiencing difficulties, surgery and/or disappointment, damage to her fallopian tubes, but eventually some success? I use the question mark because by the time we see her husband’s chart it looks very unlikely this couple can have children.

Returning to Raylene’s chart

Raylene consulted with me in 2009, and in that December she underwent another cycle of donor egg share with IVF which didn’t work for either party. My prediction was that April 2010 was auspicious as there was a MC sextile her Venus/Jupiter midpoint by solar arc on 20 April. Solar arcs are quite powerful and they have a long ‘hangover’ period during which they are still effective. I usually consider the effect of the solar arc to be for three weeks after the exact date, and sometimes for three months in a more diluted fashion.

Raylene and her husband also decided to change clinics after the December 2009 cycle didn’t work out. This can be very useful, as a new clinic often retests everything, and the specialist looks with ‘new eyes’. In this case, the specialist did pick up that Raylene’s FSH indicator was actually within the range of normal and that she didn’t have any cysts present due to her previous diagnosis of PCOS. These medical reassurances encouraged them to do the treatment with their own eggs and sperm. The transfer date for the eggs was the 3 May 2010, the start date of the treatment would have been 19 April 2010, exactly on the first solar arc of 20 April. The transfer date was as close as possible to the 27 April solar arc. Raylene had this response to my prediction,

When Nicky advised us to use our own gametes in April 2010 I was skeptical but with six failed IVFs behind us, two of them being donor egg cycles, I was desperate enough to try anything, even returning to what I thought were my poor quality eggs. It was with a mixture of fear and relief that we decided to go ahead with my eggs – fear that we might just be pouring more money into the bottomless pit and relief that maybe, just maybe we could conceive with my eggs.

When I asked her afterward if she believed the astrology, she said,

Put it this way I didn’t believe it would work because of all the past failures, but I had no reason to doubt what you were saying, and I had nothing to lose by using your advice and waiting to try in that specific time. I was hopeful it would work, and I wanted so badly to believe you, but its hard to actually believe it would work. I think you would be a fool to blindly believe.’ I had to protect myself somehow.

One of the things I look for in chart prediction is that the Almuten of Pregnancy is emphasised by solar arc, transit or profection. Jupiter by transit was applying to her Asc by 7 degrees, trining her natal Jupiter on the 5th house Leo (ruled by Almuten of Pregnancy) cusp. In the profected chart, Venus rules the 5th house through the sign of Taurus. Her natal Sun (Almuten of Pregnancy) is in Taurus.

By profection from the Ascendant, Raylene was thirty, which means she was going to be engaged in activities related to the natal 7th house ruled by Venus. Venus natally is in the 1st, conjunct Mars opposite Pluto. This thirtieth year of life was going to be difficult – lots of blood, sweat, and tears literally, and effectively in the house of relationship – not an easy time. As Venus is in the 1st house natally, it suggests also a year of health issues, and changes to her living environment.78

In conclusion, this is a fertility phase ruled by Venus, and her Almuten of Pregnancy is the Sun, so these two planets need to configure closely in order to make a prediction of pregnancy likely or possible. We also need the blessings of Jupiter, by transit, solar arc, or profection.

IVF results

On 19 May 2010, after the implantation of three embryos using their own eggs and sperm, Raylene tested for a positive beta result – it was a decisive positive. But the relevant fertile solar arc (MC sextile Asc) didn’t happen until 29 May. Sometimes, due to long hormonal cycles or to the time constraints of the clinic or the doctor, it isn’t possible to do the treatments at the exact time of the astrological signatures. For this reason I use solar arcs and transits from slow-moving Jupiter, so that the ‘effect’ is long lasting, and there is a bigger window of time to work with than using the transit of, say, the Moon. Also, given that there are only two or three really fertile moments in a chart each year, then if you are a couple of weeks out in the start time of your treatment, this is not as much of a problem as you might think. We are also having to match two charts which can be tricky. In this case, Jacques’ chart had a potent solar arc on 27 April 2010. This solar arc (Venus conjunct Sun) happened as Raylene started her cycle of injections to prepare for the IVF, and since it has a long influence, being a solar arc, it covered the period to the end of June. Three embryos were implanted, all three took. Raylene decided to keep all of them and didn’t go for the recommended ‘reduction’. Reduction is when the doctor safely removes one or more of the embryos so as to ensure a safer pregnancy and a live birth. It was very risky to keep all three, but after seven rounds of fertility treatment, she didn’t want to take any chances.

On 10 December 2010 Raylene delivered triplets at thirty-three weeks, all healthy, and all have turned into very beautiful little girls. Naturally, the doctors who had thought all along that her egg quality was inadequate had to rethink their judgements. Her astrology at the forty-week mark of her pregnancy was equally relevant. Her due date would have been 2 February 2011, the day Jupiter conjoined her Asc, exactly. When looking for potentially fertile times it is useful to look forty weeks ahead and see what is happening astrologically that can support the narrative of a happy ending with a live birth. When one sees that a forty-week period is ‘bookended’ with two fertility signatures, then one can start being bolder with the prediction. In astrology, fertility signatures can be either a conception or a birth, so one can use the ‘end time’ as a start time. So if Raylene had still not fallen pregnant by 2 February 2011, she could have used that potentially fertile time to start a treatment.

In hindsight, one of the reasons I think this cycle was successful is that I supported Raylene’s own thinking and belief that her eggs were fine. She had resisted the diagnosis of faulty eggs all along, and I had the astrological means to support this. It was as if I had seen through all the medical misdiagnosis and finally ‘seen’ her and her good eggs. This resonance is reminiscent of Rita Charon and her thinking in Narrative Medicine. This pivotal moment of exchange needs to happen in order for the patient to fully open up to the next phase of the healing, that is, the taking charge of one’s situation and making a move towards a future goal.

I would like to add here that it is not usual for me to want to contradict the medical practitioner at any point without very good reason. I appreciate the trust relationships that patients have with their care-givers and do not seek to disturb that sacred space just so I can score points. However, if I am to be truly professional and have confidence in the astrology that I practise, every now and again I have to point out something I see in the chart that might contradict the current medical opinion. When such a contradiction occurs, I tend to defer to the medical test result. But if there is no conclusive medical result, and no successful pregnancy then I am obliged to voice my professional concerns, and with consideration for the awkward situation it places my client in. I have found that most clients don’t tell their partners that they are seeking advice from an astrologer on something as serious as this; many will feel shy admitting it to a medical practitioner, and most definitely feel awkward about contradicting medical advice on the advice of an astrologer, so it behoves the astrologer to proceed with extreme caution in order to avoid upsetting the supportive team who are all trying to achieve the same goal.

Reading Male Charts for Fertility

Let’s turn now to how to delineate a male chart in fertility. Gender differences in delineation are to be expected, as men respond differently to the prospect of becoming a parent. So in looking at male charts, I find it useful to comment on or ask about the relationships at home when the man was growing up and to what extent he fears repeating the patterning of the past in the future. Moon/Saturn aspects will be manifested in concerns related to cost of fertility treatments, ability to afford a child, and to educate them according to their aspirant social value systems, whether they have the time to devoted to the task of raising a child. Sometimes, men have a problem imagining that they will have enough love or nurturing energy required to be a father. I know a lot of clients who are desperately in love with their wives, but worry that a child will upset their relationship and that they don’t have the capacity to take on another emotional relationship. Of course once the baby is there that glorious unending unconditional love completely overwhelms them, and they can’t understand where that idea came from, but the child as a concept and not a physical reality tends to be a totally different thing.

Men with Venus/Pluto aspects tend to worry about losing the sexual intimacy that they have with their partner. They invest a lot in the sexual relationship and are nurtured by this intimacy, so ‘competing’ with a breastfeeding baby is something to fear. Uranus/Moon aspects need the freedom to carry on a bachelor lifestyle, keeping independence and hobbies intact, even though their partner is at home with a newborn. Moon/Neptune men idealise the process of child-raising, comparing their partners to their ‘perfect’ mothers. Sometimes they even keep the child-raising in the realm of fantasy by always talking about it in future terms, but never actually having a child.

Men with Moon/Mars have the hardest time, since this is one signature that often produces physical as well as psychological manifestations. This signature may attract ‘angry women’ into the life of the man in question. Angry, competitive women, women who emasculate, women who challenge – these women figures can start off as being mothers who, by accident, find their boy masturbating and who by just a twitch of an eyebrow can leave the boy to understand that what he did was disgusting and shameful or something that ‘we don’t talk about’. As this boy grows up he might have successful relationships with girlfriends and all is fine until he marries, and his wife would like a child, a male child perhaps. The repressed feelings from childhood emerge. He imagines his partner will ‘become’ his mother, and he suddenly feels shameful all over again while masturbating in a cup in a doctor’s room while trying to conceive through IVF.

The physical manifestation is often in the morphology of the sperm. Sperm has three important criteria – shape or morphology, count, and motility. Morphology is important as the head of the sperm has to release a hormone that weakens the lining of the egg to faciliate the fertilisation of the egg – think of this as a ‘May I come in?’, a doffing of the hat to the egg.

Men who have been surrounded by angry women often do not feel that polite respect for them. They are angry back, their chivalry has been suppressed, and they don’t want to engage with proper respect or gentility. I would say most men with this signature are simply unaware of their feeling. They are not all misogynists (a small percentage might be), they are often just slightly damaged by the impact of such a mother figure.

Since sperm is reproduced every seventy-two days, a psychological shift or change in the way a man feels about these issues may indeed change the nature of the next batch of fresh sperm. Similarly, men with fears about not being a ‘good enough’ parent can be reassured just by talking to someone sympathetic, and this person could be an astrologer, or it might be a psychologist. It is sometimes hard to engage with conventional therapy at the same time as undergoing IVF treatment. Therapy takes a long time, and IVF can bring out the very worst in people; they can be very vulnerable and might need to concentrate on one thing at a time.

Having medical intervention to achieve conception is tricky for a couple, as there are bound to be issues around blame Whose fault is it that they’re not pregnant? Could it be hers since she had that STI that blocked her tubes, or could it be his since his sperm health has been compromised due to lifestyle choices? For most men, just having their sperm tested is a humiliation, and to be called ‘average’ is a cruel blow to their manhood. The thought of egg donation is hard enough, but for the average man the concept of using another man’s sperm is, well, inconceivable.

The process of having IVF is tough on both parties, but men play a more passive role. He stands by and watches while she has to inject herself every day, wincing as the bruises form. Then he must watch while another person scans her vaginally to see if she is ovulating. Finally he is expected to hold his partner’s hand while an embryologist and an IVF specialist insert precious embryos into her uterus without sedation. When a cycle of IVF fails, it is usually the male partner who wants to give up first, not because he wants a child any less, but because he can’t handle watching someone he loves going through so much medical trauma. I often counsel women to leave the men in the waiting room, to close the bathroom door when injecting, because for the most part, women can handle much more pain and discomfort than men, and it doesn’t serve them if their counterpart and teammate gets squeamish and then chickens out of the next cycle. It is better to keep it together, keep strong and go another round.

In a male chart, we are concerned with the quality of the sperm, the presence or absence of any psychological issues around parenting, and checking the timing of his transits, profections, and solar arcs compared to her chart. Timing in a male chart is not always the key factor. More can, and will go ‘wrong’ in a female chart, and considering that all we need is sperm from the male, his timing is not going to contradict hers too much. However, occasionally, the male chart is really strong and can outweigh the timing of her chart. This is rare, and usually requires a solid solar arc. I always pay careful attention to the timing of a male chart if he was the one who made the appointment in the first place. It signifies that he takes the lead, and that this question ‘when will we get pregnant?’ is his and not just hers. In the case of Raylene and Jacques, she made the contact, so her chart is primary, but his had the loudest solar arc, so we pay attention to that. The signatures are different, but men also have an Almuten of Pregnancy, and they have physical or health issues that have an impact on them.

The first thing to note as a general signature in Jacques’ chart is the Sun/Moon/Uranus T-square, with Uranus being the in the 6th house (although in the 7th using whole sign houses). The Moon in a man’s chart is his physical sperm, his genetic material, the role model for mother and his emotional centre. So one would delineate along the following lines: his Moon is cadent (weak by accidental dignity) in Leo (so no triplicity rulership by essential dignity either). So far this is not promising, but we shouldn’t ignore the trine to Venus and the applying conjunction to the Part of Fortune. Jacques does not have the usual signatures for poor sperm health. His Moon is not conjunct Saturn, there is no hard aspect to Mars, and the square to Uranus just means that the fertilisation will take place outside the physical body – either through IVF or that he has a surgical procedure related to his sperm. His Mars is in rulership, which is a good sign, and conjunct Venus and Mercury and all in the 11th house of Good Fortune, which is also the 5th house of his 7th house partner, Raylene. So all looks fairly average with a few problems that are not insurmountable.

It was this interpretation that prompted me to be bold with my prediction, even though their client history was unsuccessful and seemingly without hope. The doctor’s medical opinion was damning (recommendations for both sperm and egg donation), and the astrology didn’t add up to the story that Raylene and Jacques had put before me.

On a psychological level, Jacques’ Venus/Pluto speaks of his intimate relationship with Raylene and possible possessive or jealous tendencies, given his highly charged and passionate conjunction of Venus/Mars opposite Pluto in the 5th House. So in consultation with both of them we discussed the need for  Raylene to be aware of these feelings and make a concerted effort to create intimacy for them as a couple away from the children, thereby protecting her relationship and the long term happiness of the family. Jacques would feel reassured just knowing that his feelings have been considered. Sometimes this is all it takes for a man to relax about conception.

As it happens, doctors did raise the issue of sperm donation with them, insisting that it was their only chance, and although Jacques really wanted children, he struggled with the idea of another man’s contribution, something that harks back to his Venus/Pluto. In 2009 Raylene put pressure on him to consent, and their relationship took a huge amount of strain as a result. When I asked Raylene about this particular issue, she said, ‘He has never said anything about feeling left out due to the children, but his parents got divorced over this very issue. Jacques’ father felt that the boys’ mother spent too much time with them, and he was intensely jealous of Jacques’ older brother (this is what my mother-in-law has told me). So I know he has “issues” with this stuff so I put a lot of effort into having “us” time’. To make matters interesting, Jacques also has a Uranus/Sun opposition and a Moon/Uranus square, which means he will need to feel that he still has freedom from the very real and also imagined restrictions that having children brings.

Jacques’ Almuten of Pregnancy is co-incidentally also the Sun. His Sun is in Taurus in the 12th house. His Triplicity phase rulerships for his major life phases (indicated by Sun in Taurus, an earth sign) are ruled by Venus, Moon, Mars, respectively. He is in his second phase of his life so we look at the Moon. His health, as indicated by his earth Asc, also in Taurus, is also ruled by Venus, Moon, Mars, respectively. So the Moon becomes doubly important here.

The Moon in Jacques’ chart is in Leo, cadent, square the Sun and Uranus. The Moon also enjoys a trine to his Venus/Mercury/Mars conjunction in the 11th house (derived 5th house of his partner) and a trine to Neptune in his 7th house. Using whole sign house systems, the Moon is also in a wide conjunction with Jupiter by sign, although separating, but applying to a conjunction with the Part of Fortune. So we could say that the second part of his life is going to contain issues to do with his partner’s children (Venus/Mercury/Mars in 11th) and with some medical/surgical issues with the square to Uranus in the 6th for his partner also – since Uranus by whole sign is in the 7th. The challenge to the Almuten of Pregnancy is also noted in the square to the Sun, although the aspect is technically separating. It is the separation of the hard aspects and the applying of the conjunction of the Moon to the Part of Fortune that hints at the successful outcome. But before the conjunction to the Part of Fortune, the Moon will first square Uranus, then Mercury, then trine Neptune, to finally square Mars at 20° 57’ Aries. It could be anticipated that he might have laparoscopic surgery perhaps (Uranus in 6th) followed by some strife on the homefront (Mercury conjunct Mars) and some sudden unexpected events related to his 7th house partner regarding children.

Also note that a Taurus Ascendant is very physical, given that it is an earth sign, and Taurus is also a very physical sign. So we can expect that Jacques might have physical issues, given his Venus conjunct Mars. The further entanglement with Mercury indicates possible surgery to his vas deferens – the tubes that carry the sperm from the testicle to the seminal sac for ejaculation, functioning in a typical Mercury type fashion similar to that of the fallopian tubes in women.

As it happens, in addition to the stresses of the IVF treatments and their home renovations, Jacques underwent surgery to remove three large varicoceles from his testicles. The surgery was an initial success, but Jacques had to have it drained again a year later. This swelling or collection of fluid so quickly after the surgery points to the trine to Neptune, as Neptune rules oedemas and lymph drainage functions. Yet, it was also the time of his life when Raylene would fall pregnant.

At the time of the appointment, I noticed that he would be living a profected thirtieth year, and changing to a thirty-first year in the first week of May 2010. His thirtieth year is ruled by Mars, and is  a 7th house year, like Raylene’s, and thus he is experiencing a year of   Venus/Mars/Mercury in opposition to his 5th house Pluto. His Mars is natally in his 11th, so it is a year of his partner’s children, and a year of good fortune perhaps. His thirty-first year is an 8th house profection year, ruled by Jupiter, and thus a year of irrevocable change (that is, death and ultimate transformation) and his partner’s money. His natal Jupiter is in the 2nd house and sextiles both his Asc and his Pluto in the 5th house. So there is a remarkable change in tone from one year to the next, bearing in mind that the changeover happens in the first week of May. By solar arc, on 20 April 2010 he has MC sextile his natal Venus/Jupiter midpoint shortly followed by Venus conjunct his Sun on 27 April 2010 – two very strong signatures, one of which is my personal favourite. Being solar arcs they will be in effect for at least a month, if not two, after that date.

I then looked forty weeks ahead to see if there are signatures that could represent a birth. Flipping ahead to February 2011, I saw that on the 20th Jacques would have his solar arc Sun (his Almuten of Pregnancy) sextile his Moon. By transit Saturn will conjoin his natal 5th house Pluto (a perfect signature for a caesarean birth), and he will also have Uranus conjunct his Asc. Both transits speak of the physical risk and trauma of a birth. Uranus is the surgical signature aspecting not only the Ascendant, but also his 7th house partner, and Saturn plays midwife to a planet in the 5th. Saturn is often referred to by Liz Greene as a midwife, the physical reality that manifests.79 In male charts I often see the presence of Saturn, either configured on the angles or conjoining the Sun. It seems as though the material burden of raising a child and making them materially secure and safe is placed on males in this way. Also remember that Saturn rules legal documents, including birth certificates and the trust funds and wills that need to be sorted once a child comes into the life of a couple.

Surprise, Surprise!

These charts turned out to be an absolute delight, Not only do they contradict conventional medical diagnosis of fertility by resulting in a live birth, they delivered three live births, and were followed by a second natural pregnancy that took us all by surprise.

Raylene contacted me soon after the triplets were born, asking for future dates for conception. I thought she was still on the honeymoon high that follows childbirth, when the babies are constantly sleeping and life seems back to normal (i.e., before they are crawling and getting into trouble). But Raylene was eager to complete her family and wanted to try again. At the same time, Jacques enquired about moving to another city and his career, so we picked out more dates, and this time I felt ‘performance anxiety’ – repeated success with couples whose history is as fraught as theirs makes one very nervous about predicting, and especially since they had an expectation of astrology, based on three beautiful little girls.

In January 2012, Raylene sought the advice of a hormone specialist in order to lose the baby weight and to help her relieve the symptoms of PCOS that can prevent pregnancy. The result of one of the tests she took revealed a lack of vitamin D, an essential for fertility. This is becoming more common in sunny climates such as South Africa and Australia, where people are concerned about skin cancer, and so they use sunscreen every day and prevent the natural production of vitamin D. Raylene started taking vitamin D supplements and had a prescription for a new contraceptive pill to regulate her cycle again, but as she waited for her cycle to begin she noted with dismay that her natural cycle was 120 days – again harking back to her Moon/Neptune opposition and hormonal imbalances. Raylene finally started taking the contraceptive pill on 18 June 2012, and felt very ill as she attended a work conference. In fact, she felt so ill, she returned home early. A throwaway comment from a friend prompted her to take a pregnancy test. It was a decisive positive! Her son was born on 6 February 2013 at 6:17 am in Johannesburg, South Africa. A fourth child for a couple who were told that they would never be able to conceive with their own eggs and sperm, and without aggressive medical treatment. Let’s take a look at the astrology behind this miracle.

First, we go back to see that starting on 20 January 2011 Jacques enjoyed a powerful solar arc North Node conjoining his natal 5th house Pluto. This Pluto can be interpreted as a physical child, the North Node is interpreted by some astrologers as karma (of the positive kind). In May 2012, Jacques had the MC conjunct the 11th house by secondary progression – which I take to indicate a change to the social status of the person in question, and that change contains the content of the 11th house – his partner’s house of children. Followed by a long extended window of transits of Jupiter to multiple fertility points in his chart:

Starting 13 May 2012
Moon trine the Sun/Jupiter midpoint by secondary progression
tJupiter sextile the Venus/Jupiter midpoint
tUranus trine Moon/Jupiter midpoint tJupiter conjunct the ASC
TJupiter trine Venus/Uranus midpoint
tJupiter trine natal Jupiter
tJupiter trine Moon/Uranus midpoint

In May 2012 Jacques would have been thirty-three years old, so his profected ruler for that 10th house year is Jupiter, which is ruled by the Sun (his Almuten of Pregnancy) and sextiles the Ascendant while enjoying a wide conjunction with the Moon. This year was going to be a change of social status (10th house) for him, and it also implies a change of fortune as Jupiter is natally in the 2nd house. As it happens, Raylene confirmed that in that year he received a pay increase as well as a tax rebate of a significant amount. Sometimes it happens that the client receives a pay increase but not a baby, or a baby and not a pay increase. Lucky for Jacques he received both. Their son’s due date was 18 February, but he was born on 6 February 2013 at thirty-eight weeks and was a caesarean birth. On 24 February 2013, transiting Jupiter conjoined Jacques’ Venus/Jupiter midpoint, and on 26 February 2013 transiting Jupiter sextiled his Moon/Jupiter midpoint.

At first glance, Raylene’s transits for the conception of her son were not that strong – no massive solar arcs, no extended line up of transits from Jupiter as in Jacques’ chart – but the finish is really strong. Birth and conception both look the same in a chart, and sometimes you get a really strong start and a weak finish, and sometimes it is the other way around. I always advise finding all the strongest times and project forward or backward forty weeks to see if there are correlating signatures. If so, then consider it a fertile bookend. In Raylene’s chart, I would have found the strong finish and advised her to try forty weeks before that time, and if no success to use the strong finish as a start date.

Raylene’s conception date was around 26 May 2012. Her transits show the following:

27 April – tJupiter opposes natal Uranus
30 April – tJupiter squares Venus/Mc midpoint
20 May – Moon trine Asc by secondary progression
22 May – tPluto trine the Sun (Pluto is a planet in the 5th house natally)

But in June, when she discovers she is pregnant:

6 June – tJupiter trine the Venus/Uranus midpoint
15 June – tJupiter trine natal Jupiter
18 June – tJupiter conjunct Jupiter/Asc midpoint
20 June – tUranus conjunct Venus
20 June – tJupiter trine the Asc

The strong finish for the birth of Raylene’s fourth child on 23 February 2013 is shown by her MC making a trine to her Venus/Jupiter midpoint by solar arc.

For the first pregnancy, Jacques’ chart had the strongest voice. This is sometimes the case, which is why we always look at both charts. In all types of couples, one chart is often stronger at times, so use these times. The couple are a unit and so what happens in one chart happens to both. In the case of surrogacy clients, I look at all three, but place more focus on the couple raising the child, after all they are the ones who will ‘receive’ the child. Raylene also had Venus conjunct the Sun by solar arc, but this happened in between the two pregnancies on 13 April 2011. I would have advised her to use this time had she not become pregnant before. I was confident that she would indeed become a mother when she first consulted me, as they both had this signature and not too far apart. The Venus conjunct the Sun by solar arc is my favourite signature. It is very fertile, and it contains the message that all things dear to the heart – such as love, marriage, babies, and the fulfilment of all things feminine – are being manifested in the solar expression of the person.

Fixed Stars and Fertility for Raylene and Jacques

Before we take leave of Raylene and Jacques, I want to review and interpret the most salient and important fixed star indications for this couple to add to what we already know about them in the field of fertility. Raylene has Mirach as her heliacal rising star, which is going to infuse her life with the energy of that star, as the star ‘walked the earth’ as the Sun rose on the day of her birth. Brady provides the following interpretation of Mirach:

‘The themes of this star are receptivity and fertility. If present in your chart it implies that you are open to ideas, willing to be receptive. Some people may mistake this as naivete or innocence, but Mirach is not naive, for she can make use of that which she receives. She is fertile. Her skills are the ability to listen and think and to use this input in a most creative way’.80

Compounding this, Raylene’s Almuten of Pregnancy is the Sun.

Jacques has Hamal as his heliacal rising star. Hamal is not bright enough to be seen rising before the Sun, so it doesn’t herald the dawn and thus has a quieter reputation, known as a cosmic star. When Hamal is one’s heliacal rising star, Brady interprets it as being able to give one strength of character, independent thought, and motivation.81 It is interesting that in the first successful pregnancy, it was the solar arc (Venus conjunct his Sun, his Almuten of Pregnancy) in Jacques’s chart that manifested – a quiet, strong, supportive, male statement.

On the day she conceived the triplets, the mundane parans indicated Hamal as the heliacal rising star (‘Assertiveness, the accident, the unexpected event’) and Spica as the heliacal setting star (‘An opportunity, a new concept’). Hamal is Jacques’s heliacal rising star, and Spica is one of the fertile stars. The stars connected to the Sun, her Almuten of Pregnancy, on this day are the fertile star Acubens (‘Issues of the protection or sacredness of life’) and, once again, Hamal. Interestingly, the star in paran to the Moon for that period was Ankaa, which indicates ‘concern with the wellbeing of families’.82

The tonal quality of the stars in parans with a planet shade that planet’s transits as well as the quality of the parans in the natal chart. As we saw before with Nancy and Lisa, we will want to take a look at the parans to Jupiter. Jacques has Jupiter in parans with both Spica and Sirius in his natal chart. We would expect that his luck goes beyond the normal limits or expectations, and that he can rely on transits of Jupiter to really push those boundaries. Raylene’s natal mundane parans to Jupiter involve Procyon (finding unexpected solutions) and Ankaa (success to those who can adapt quickly to new situations). One could say that Raylene adapted to her situation by trying new solutions to her infertility that other women would consider irrelevant, silly, or naive. Raylene’s mundane parans to Jupiter for that period during which she conceived the triplets include contact with Bellatrix (‘the unlikely hero’), Alnilam (‘crossing over boundaries, bridging the gap between groups’), and Capulus (‘success to the aggressive or the cruel’). The parans to Capulus, a very difficult star, is worth noting. After successfully conceiving triplets, Raylene was advised by the very doctors that had said she would not conceive without donor eggs, that she should terminate at least one, preferably two of the embryos to safeguard the pregnancy. This was a cruel and cutting blow for the couple, risking losing all three embryos, for the alleged safety of one of them making it to term. Raylene remained firm, supported by Jacques and his quiet Hamal, and insisted on keeping all three. The quality of the Jupiter that was transiting both their charts during that time carried those themes listed above, and the nature of being both lucky and having to deal with a cruel or difficult decision.

We can compare this to the parans that were linked to Jupiter when Nancy and Lisa were having IVF on the same day. If you remember, Jupiter was the Almuten of Pregnancy for Nancy, and there were no parans for Jupiter on that day using the normal orbs. This is significant, as there was a vacant or muted quality to the Jupiter during that transit. However, Mars, Lisa’s Almuten of Pregnancy, was in parans with many fertile stars, and Mars was triggering the whole pregnancy by profection and by transit – Jupiter in Lisa’s chart, merely supported it.

The Sun is the Almuten of Pregnancy in both Jacques and Raylene’s charts, and so the heliacal rising and setting stars are very important, the mundane parans are equally important, and as transiting Jupiter is always relied on for luck, mercy, and blessings, we would hope that Jupiter has some lovely, fertile parans. Fortunately, for Jacques, his natal Jupiter dictates how transits of Jupiter are going to be received.

When Raylene got pregnant with her fourth child, it was entirely natural, no intervention was needed, and as such no fixed time is recorded for conception. At best, we can use an approximation for the latitude of Johannesburg around the time that Raylene is convinced she conceived. She told me that she is fairly sure of the date 26 May 2012 as this was following the rare occasion of sexual activity, in between caring for her triplets. Most notable in the mundane heliacal risings and settings during that time period is the attendance of both Algol and Spica. Algol is a notoriously difficult star, symbolised as the head of the Medusa, slayed by Perseus as an act of bravery as part of the foreplay of the seduction of Andromeda,

…so hideous were her features, with enormous tusk-like teeth, brazen claws and hissing serpents for hair, that anyone who looked upon them turned to stone. The Gods, who favoured Perseus, provided him with the necessary equipment: Hades gave him a helmet of invisibility, Athena a shield, Hermes winged sandals and a magic wallet in which to carry the head once it have severed from her body… Perseus found the sisters asleep, and not daring to gaze at Medusa, lest she should awaken and petrify him with her glance, he looked at her image reflected in the polished shield, then with a backward stroke of his magic sword he cut off the head and with it started for home.83

Algol is also symbolised as the feminine rage of Lilith, first wife of Adam, as Brady reveals,

In Talmudic law she is the first wife of Adam, Lilith, who left him because she refused to be submissive to his needs. Lilith then fled to paradise and became a demon of the wind. She was considered a curse since she gave sexual pleasure and was the cause of all male wet dreams. This eventually led, in the Jewish, Moslem, and Christian cultures, to the suppression of the sexual woman. Algol thus embodied everything that men feared in the feminine. She is not the mother-face of the goddess but rather the passionate lover of the whore. She is female kundalini energy… Algol in other words, is the wild, raw frightening face of the outraged feminine which has been labelled as demonic or simply evil.84

If this star is active in one’s natal chart, the brutal nature of life and death are likely ever-present as a background narrative to the life and chart. Yet in Johannesburg, when Raylene was conceiving, the stars that were in parans for that day merely give the opportunity for participation in those energies in the context of the rulerships of her and Jacques’s natal fixed star narratives. Neither of them have Algol prominent in their charts, and so the manifestation is lighter in effect and is more likely to be an outer event, in their environment and not necessarily in their personal lives. It would seem that the presence of Spica as the heliacal setting and that the Sun had Dubhe and Rigel in parans is suggestive that this Algol represented the mating ritual of Perseus, rather than the actual brutality and destruction that comes with this star. Algol is a binary system, which suggests that one could either be represented as the bravery of Perseus and the protection of the Gods or as the head of the Medusa slain as her sisters slept.

As an aside, a perusal of the newspapers for that time period did not deliver any particularly destructive event; however, on the topic of feminine rage, a very public debate emerged surrounding a painting of the South African President Jacob Zuma, by Brett Murray, called The Spear. It depicts a Lenin-like posture of Zuma, with his genitals exposed, the satire calling to book his many wives, many girlfriends, and his recent rape trial. The story was headline news from the 17 May onwards during the time period when her fourth child was conceived and throughout Algol’s position as heliacal rising star for the latitude of Johannesburg.

This table shows what the mundane parans looked like in Starlight for 26 May 2012 for the heliacal rising and setting stars, the Sun, the Moon, Mercury (representing both the doctor and the astrologer), Venus, and Jupiter (our planet of luck):

Heliacal Rising Star

Algol – Rising 02 mins 58 secs before Sunrise –
Emotional and destructive times

Heliacal Setting Star

Spica – Setting 184 mins 27 secs before Sunrise –
An opportunity, a new concept

Sun – The stars in paran with the Sun on this day

Setting when Alphard is Culminating orb 00 mins 32 secs –
Violence, anger, a time of apparent ruthlessness
Rising when Fomalhaut is Culminating orb 00 mins 37 secs –
People and ideals being exalted, or dreams coming undone
Setting when Dubhe is Rising orb 00 mins 43 secs –
The concept of Mother or Father
Rising when Rigel is Rising orb 01 mins 09 secs –
The strength of the government is used to alter, or seek to reform, a situation

Moon – The Emotions of the People

Rising when Arcturus is On Nadir orb 00 mins 29 secs –
Concern for those in need
Culminating when Diadem is Rising orb 00 mins 47 secs –
To care for victims
Culminating when Pollux is Culminating orb 00 mins 56 secs –
Help which is needed fails to arrive
Setting when Sirius is Setting orb 01 mins 33 secs –
A martyr, a person mourned by the common folk

Mercury - Business and the Media

Setting when Alderamin is On Nadir orb 00 mins 25 secs –
Issues of honour and dignity
Rising when Algol is Rising orb 00 mins 34 secs –
Scandal and emotions running high
On Nadir when Sadalmelek is Rising orb 01 mins 40 secs –
Over-confidence due to a plan considered to be invincible

Venus - The Social Conventions

Setting when Aculeus is Rising orb 00 mins 40 secs –
Greater social awareness through noticing those in need
Culminating when Bellatrix is Culminating orb 01 mins 06 secs –
Dealing with a rogue
On Nadir when Bellatrix is On Nadir orb 01 mins 57 secs –

Jupiter – The Type of Action which is Favoured by this Period of Time

Culminating when Alphecca is On Nadir orb 00 mins 09 secs –
Persistence with policies or attitude
Setting when Alcyone is Setting orb 00 mins 27 secs –
Seek the big solution, seek the big picture
On Nadir when Alphecca is Culminating orb 00 mins 38 secs –
Persistence with policies or attitude
Setting when Zuben Eschamali is Rising orb 01 mins 15 secs –
The professional politician is successful
Setting when Acubens is Culminating orb 01 mins 28 secs –
The most creative plan succeeds

One gets the feeling that the fertile stars that attend the Sun, Mercury, Moon, and Jupiter outweigh any negative influence of Algol on that day – nearly all the fertile stars are in attendance to the angles – Alpheccca, Acubens, Sadalmelek, Sirius, and Spica. I have included a lot of star detail in this last delineation, and I hope that you are becoming more familiar with this kind of detail and are thus able to assimilate it more easily. It would be a shame to leave out the political back-story that comes through the interpretations of the parans.

Conclusion

The addition of the partner’s chart can have a significant impact on the ability to predict pregnancy. This exploration of Raylene and Jacques’ situation provides one example of how to synthesize the fertile signatures of two individuals seeking to create a family. The next chapter will explore various other cases I’ve encountered in my practice. The examples will go only so far as to highlight important astrological conditions that may arise as you practise fertility astrology that have not been covered in the longer case studies we have covered so far.

Notes:
78. Personal email correspondence with Raylene.
79. Ibid.
80. In a follow-up interview with Raylene, I asked her if anything had changed
to her home/environment in that year – she said they had substantially renovated their home, and in the process the builders had defaulted and run off with their money and left them with the problem of completing with 98 Fertility Astrology new builders. Given that this couple were desperately trying to save all their resources for their ongoing fertility treatment, this seemed like the most unfair blow. At the same time they did a shared donor egg IVF cycle – this did not work out for either party. It is worth noting that the donor would be a 7th house partner (legal partner), and this is reflected in the astrology. All in all, Raylene maintains that the first part of this year was the worst time of her life.
81. Greene, Liz. Saturn: A New Look at an Old Devil.
82. Fixed Stars, p.54.
83. Ibid p.228.
84. All interpretations in quotes in this paragraph are from Starlight software.
85. Outer Space, p.227.
86. Fixed Stars, p.185

Image sources:
All images: CC0 Creative Commons, via pixabay.com

First published in: ivcconference.com/constellation-news/, 2018.

Author:
Nicola Smuts Allsop is a consulting astrologer living in the United Kingdom (UK). Author of the soon to be published FERTILITY ASTROLOGY, A Modern Medieval Textbook (The Wessex Astrologer, 2018), Nicola has specialised in this field and has undergone fertility treatment herself. She is a mother of two adult children and can empathise and understand the pain and the desperation of trying to conceive. Nicola lectures internationally on her fertility work and her research and methods in this field are pioneering and unique.

© 2018 - Nicola Smuts Allsop - Constellation News

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