Tiny Needles?

Ok, folks, so I want to poll the experts here: What's everyone's take on acupuncture?

The reason I'm asking is, I have two friends who are going through their own different and separate stories of fertility issues and both are going to the same acupuncturist who specializes in fertility. My first friend was referred to the acupuncturist via her RE, a big name doctor in Beverly Hills, as part of her treatment pre- and during IVF. My second friend hasn't actually started trying to get pregnant yet, but was recently diagnosed with pretty severe endometriosis and wants to get things figured out since they want to get pregnant soonish. Both have marvelous things to say about this woman and her treatments (regulating cycles, disappearing cysts, extremely warm and caring, etc, etc) and so I got interested.

Now I know I have no reason to think that I have any problems that are keeping me from getting pregnant other than mathematical probability, but I am having semi-irregular cycles coming off birth control and as far as I know, you don't need to have anything wrong to benefit from a little eastern medicine. Plus, I think it would be nice to have someone who could just look at my overall health and balance.

So my question is, is there a downfall? It's covered (mostly) by my insurance, the office is near my house, and so what do I have to lose besides an hour of my time?

I should say that I'm a little bit of a contradiction here in my views on acupuncture. In general, having been trained from a very science-focused, research-based perspective, I tend to be skeptical of non-mainstream medical treatments. But somehow acupuncture doesn't fall into that category for me? It has been researched more than other non-traditional arts (i.e., muscle testing?) and doctors tend to refer their clients as a component of treatment (or maybe they just do that here in LA?). Also, my mother had amazing success with an acupuncturist when she was in her mid-20s and diagnosed with thyroid issues. The doctor wanted her to have her thyroid removed or else take some pretty serious medications that she didn't want to take. With the help of acupuncture, the issue resolved itself and she's never had thyroid problems since. My aunt and both grandmothers all have had to be medicated for it, so I'd say my mom got the better end of the deal. (By the way, I've been tested twice and so far have had no irregular thyroid levels). Long story short, I guess I want to believe in acupuncture and that there are older medicinal approaches than just what Western medicine says is "research-based."

So anyhow, what do you think? I'm curious. And sitting here today at CD24 with still no confirmed ovulation (I did break down and buy my very first OPK and got a + yesterday, so at least something is happening), it might be worth it if she could get my schedules more regular just to avoid further freak outs about scheduling :)