Big Fat Negative: TTC, fertility, infertility and IVF

Last time we spoke to the author, adventurer and arts producer Jessica Hepburn was way back in 2019, when we talked about how she swam the English channel. Now she's back, to talk about her climb up Mount Everest - and why she listened to the entire back catalogue of Desert Island Discs while she did it.

Meanwhile, Professor Tim is talking sperm cups: do they work?

The link to the Guardian piece Emma read is here: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/nov/16/friendship-after-motherhood

Swears throughout.

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Bafta-nominated actor and director Maxine Peake and the actor and writer Hayley Standing discuss their new short, Incompatible, which tells the story of a pregnant woman who is told her baby is incompatible with life, and their experiences of infertility.

You can watch the film at https://vimeo.com/713200159, or see the trailer on its Instagram account: @incompatibleshortfilm.

Meanwhile, Professor Tim addresses natural killer (NK) cells: should you be tested?

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In the second of our duo of episodes on surrogacy, Ariel Taylor, the founder of fertility and surrogacy organisation Carried With Love, talks about being a gestational carrier five times - and how it felt when she lost one of those pregnancies.

Meanwhile, Prof T talks beta tests - why do some clinics do them and others don't?

Scroll to 53:21 to hear Gabby's absolute banger. And if you want to check out Emma's interview with Jessica Valenti, you can read it here: https://www.thepersistent.com/us-presidential-election-abortion-voter-issues-jessica-valenti-interview/.

Swears throughout.

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Ginanne Brownell is a journalist whose jourrrrney took her to surrogacy via failed rounds of IVF and a very snazzy tattoo. Her new book, ‘Elusive Mommyhood: An Investigative Reporter's Personal Journey Into IVF and Surrogacy’ explores the history and politics of surrogacy in detail.

And if you also want an Aku'aba tattoo, here it is.

Meanwhile, Prof Tim talks about sex (baby): how often should you be Doing It?

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The poet Harry Baker went viral this summer for his poem Trying, a heart-rending description of the anguish of infertility (/ode to German linguistic precision).

He joins us today to talk about his creative process and why putting into words what you are going through is so important.

Meanwhile Prof (or is it Dr?) Tim talks about antibiotics: can you have them during pregnancy?

Find Harry merch (and his books) at www.harrybaker.co.

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If you make it past the unusually rambly intro, this episode we talk to Marea Goodman, a midwife who specialises in helping queer couples to conceive. We discuss at-home IUIs and the dangers of buying sperm online.

Meanwhile, Professor Tim is talking about sex: should you do it after an embryo transfer?

Swears, probably.

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Poppy Child isn't our usual guest: she's a doula whose social media feeds are stuffed with advice on giving birth. But she has also experienced pregnancy loss, and that's what we're talking about today.

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode covers pregnancy loss and miscarriage in detail. Please don't listen if you can't.

Meanwhile, Professor Tim is talking about recurrent implantation failure: what tests should you do?

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This week we're joined by Leah Hazard, the author of Womb: The Inside Story of Where We All Began. We talk about the things we don't know about the womb - like sperm crypts! - and current research which gives those suffering infertility just the tiniest glimmer of hope.

Meanwhile, Professor Tim is talking about sugar - should we avoid it when we're TTC?

Swears throughout.

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We're joined today by the TV host Scarlette Douglas, who tells us about her experiences of freezing her eggs.

There's a bit of chat in here about possible side-effects of egg freezing: suffice it to say that if you experience numbness during your stim cycle, please go straight to A&E.

Meanwhile, Professor Tim is answering an interesting question: are babies born from the same egg retrieval likely to be the same sex?

Swears throughout.

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We're kicking off the seventh series by examining the problem of childless cat ladies: who, exactly, were JD Vance's comments aimed at? Not us, apparently - and yet we have taken great offence anyway. We're joined by Kat Brown, a self-confessed childless cat lady, to discuss what it all means.

Meanwhile, Professor Tim is looking at probiotics - can they help implantation?

Swears throughout.

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