TOOWOOMBA couple Colin and Amanda Teese are firm believers in naturopathy which has given them two healthy sons – Rueben and Walter.

The couple had tried for more than four years for a child and had spent thousands of dollars going through the usual medical steps and treatments to have their first baby – to no avail.

“I could fall pregnant but I couldn’t stay pregnant,” Mrs Teese explained.

“Walter (youngest son) was my ninth pregnancy.

“We spent thousands on fertility treatments and I went through lots of surgeries to see what was going on.

“Then we lost a little girl at 21 weeks and then we had trouble falling pregnant.”

Believing they may not ever have children, a friend suggested Toowoomba naturopath David Howell.

“We went to see David and he was so thorough,” Mrs Teese said.

“He did blood tests and other tests… unlike the people we’d seen before in Brisbane who tended to just put you in an ‘infertility box’, give you some supplements and send you home saying ‘this will work’.

“With David it was more about finding out ‘why’ I couldn’t stay pregnant.

“He was the only one who really went to the problem.

“David understood because he’s been through it himself.

“After the tests David gave us specific supplements and I went home with three supplements.

“Three months later I was pregnant with Rueben.

“When you go through something like that, your whole family and friends go through it with you.

“It was such a wonderful feeling when we finally got Rueben.”

Mrs Teese was one of many people who accessed naturopathy treatment surprised that the federal government had removed the health rebate from constulations (see adjoining story).

Having gone through so much on their journey to have Rueben, Mr and Mrs Teese thought that Rueben would be their only child.

Mrs Teese stayed with the supplements and later fell pregnant with Walter.

Rueben is now three and a half years old and Walter 18 months.

“They were both premmie babies, Rueben four weeks (premature) and Walter six weeks,” Mrs Teese said.

“I still see David when kids are sick. Rueben has asthma so I see David for that.

“But apart from that they are healthy kids.

“They’re typical boys… they don’t stop.”