A Merced, California nurse who was told she couldn’t get pregnant is expecting her third child in two years, after crediting Ozempic with reversing what doctors diagnosed as infertility.
Areli Ruiz, 35, and her husband Jose Ruiz, 34, married in 2017 and spent five years trying to conceive without success. In 2022 they went to Stanford University Hospital for testing. Areli underwent an FSH test to check her reproductive hormones, then went through two failed cycles of infertility treatment. In October 2022 she was diagnosed with secondary infertility, the inability to get pregnant again after already having given birth once. Areli has a 17-year-old daughter from before her marriage to Jose.
Rather than stop there, Areli, who works as a nurse, decided to address what she believed was the underlying problem: inflammation.
“As a nurse, I know that a lot of infertility has to do with inflammation in a woman’s body,” she said. “And a little bit of weight loss wouldn’t hurt either. If I wasn’t going to be able to get pregnant, then at least I would be getting healthier for myself.”
She ordered Ozempic from an online pharmacy and began taking it in early 2023.
“My body started to feel so much better; the inflammation went down. I no longer felt hungry or stressed, I really liked how I felt on it,” she said.
The Cleveland Clinic notes that GLP-1 medications can support fertility by reducing inflammation, regulating testosterone, and encouraging ovulation.
By September 2023, Areli noticed a missed period and took a pregnancy test.
“I was so excited but also scared that I would miscarry,” she said.
She stopped the medication during pregnancy, as GLP-1 drugs are not considered safe to take while carrying a baby, and gave birth to a daughter, now two, in April 2024.
Shortly after delivery, she resumed the injections to try again. Six months later she was pregnant a second time, giving birth to a son in December 2025.
“It’s been really fun raising kids so close in age,” she said. “I didn’t go back to work after my first pregnancy, and it’s been so nice being at home with them.”
At her six-week postpartum checkup, Areli asked her doctor whether she could resume the injections to try for a third child.
“I wanted to start right away because I’m already in my late thirties,” she said.
A month later she got another positive test, having conceived just eight weeks postpartum.
“I got pregnant at eight weeks postpartum; I did not think it would happen that fast,” she said.
The baby, which she calls her third “GLP baby,” is due in October 2026.
“I feel so blessed to have been able to have three successful pregnancies after being told I was infertile,” she said. “People on the internet are always bashing me for having kids so close together, but I truly love it.”
Areli has already ordered more Ozempic in preparation for after the birth, and says she plans to keep growing her family if she is able to.
“I would definitely advise women to think about using GLPs to help with infertility,” she said.
