Fertility Forward

Our guest today is Regina Townsend, an award-winning youth librarian, infertility advocate, and founder of The Broken Brown Egg, an internationally recognized reproductive health blog and non-profit organization. She’s passionate about bringing light to the nuance of infertility in the African-American community, and the unique needs of teens and adults, and believes in connecting people to resources they need to make informed decisions. She has most recently, authored a book called Make IF Make Sense, a part memoir part guided journal, with the goal of empowering readers to push through to the goals they have in mind for their family-building or reproductive health journey. As you tune into this episode, you’ll hear about the inspiration for her book, what her infertility journey was like, and her experience navigating through the wrong doctors to find the right one. We talk about the intertwined nature of infertility and mental health and why it’s okay to admit that things may suck! Her heart is to put forth a resource that brings ease to other people’s journeys through guidance and support. You don’t want to miss this insightful conversation, so start listening now! 

The health of your immune system can gravely affect your fertility and ability to become pregnant. Joining us today on Fertility Forward is specialist Dr. Daniel Stein, to talk about how immunology affects fertility care. In this episode, you will hear all about immunotolerance, how a functioning immune system is beneficial to pregnancy, when your immune system affects your ability to carry a pregnancy and how to know, as well as how to test for any immune system issues affecting your fertility. We also discuss why blood tests may not be helpful, how to spot treatments that aren’t going to do much good, and how to identify any issues you may have. Dr. Stein goes on to explain his passion for immunology research before delving into the importance of selecting the right healthcare professionals to help you through this journey. Lastly, as always, we share some things we are grateful for as we approach the holiday season. So, to hear all about how a functional immune system can support pregnancy and fertility care, tune in now!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Welcoming back today’s guest, Dr. Daniel Stein to discuss immunology.
• The importance of having a functional immune system during pregnancy. 
• Why women can develop immunotolerance. 
• How to know if you cannot carry a pregnancy because of your immune system. 
• The imperative bacteria in the uterus that is needed for a successful pregnancy. 
• Why blood tests may not indicate what is happening with natural killer cells in the uterus. 
• The potentially unhelpful immunology treatments to look out for. 
• The deep dive Dr. Stein is doing on immunology research. 
• The importance of using board-certified, reputable programs and how to access that data.
• How you can know if you have these immune issues when trying to conceive or before. 
• How acupuncture can reduce stress and why it may help with fertility treatment.
• Dr. Stein tells us why he is grateful for his ability to walk. 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Dr. Daniel Stein on LinkedIn

Dr. Daniel Stein on Twitter

Dr. Daniel Stein on Instagram

RMA of New York

RMA of New York on Twitter

RMA of New York on Instagram

RMA of New York on YouTube

Rena Gower LinkedIn

Rena Gower Instagram

Dara Godfrey LinkedIn

Dara Godfrey Instagram 

Fertility Forward on Instagram

The health of your immune system can gravely affect your fertility and ability to become pregnant. Joining us today on Fertility Forward is specialist Dr. Daniel Stein, to talk about how immunology affects fertility care. In this episode, you will hear all about immunotolerance, how a functioning immune system is beneficial to pregnancy, when your immune system affects your ability to carry a pregnancy and how to know, as well as how to test for any immune system issues affecting your fertility. We also discuss why blood tests may not be helpful, how to spot treatments that aren’t going to do much good, and how to identify any issues you may have. Dr. Stein goes on to explain his passion for immunology research before delving into the importance of selecting the right healthcare professionals to help you through this journey. Lastly, as always, we share some things we are grateful for as we approach the holiday season. So, to hear all about how a functional immune system can support pregnancy and fertility care, tune in now!

“The beauty of being a human is that you’re never done growing.” These are the words of one of our hosts, Rena. In this episode, we take a moment to pause and reflect before looking ahead.  

We discuss how we’re going to approach the new year as we strive to grow, change, and evolve into better versions of ourselves. Tuning in, you’ll hear what we hope to achieve in 2023, from overcoming negative self-talk and being kinder to ourselves to challenging the labels we often use to define ourselves. You’ll learn about the power of "I am” declarations, the value of setting healthy boundaries, and why it’s good to limit the amount of negative content we consume or people we spend time with. You’ll also discover some great book and podcast resources that we have gained so much from. To start 2023 on a great note, take a moment to pause and reflect with us today! 

The expense of infertility treatment is a costly one. It is even more costly when you are an underrepresented minority with minimal benefits and advocacy. Dr. Brent Monseur, an endocrinologist and LGBTQ+ community member, is here to discuss a fascinating and important topic by sharing some of their research, data, and findings. We hear the benefits of their research and how, despite being a small sample size, the information and data collected mirrors what Dr. Monseur believes is the nationwide situation. As an advocate for better coverage, insurance benefits, and health care, we understand why Dr. Monseur is pro-insurance reform, believes in highlighting health disparities, and provides education for everyone. Plus, we hear what their future holds with empowering and providing the LGBTQ+ community with access to safe, informative family planning.

PCOS is a problem faced by many women today. Joining us in conversation is Nicole Holness, a registered dietician nutritionist, and an international board-certified lactation consultant with a focus on PCOS, fertility, pregnancy and postpartum, which has led to her own brand, Holness Nutrition. Join us to hear the story of how Nicole came to focus on fertility and PCOS before we dive into the four categories of PCOS and their related treatments. We explore the role of diet in improving fertility and reducing PCOS symptoms and talk about stress management along with some practical tools that you can implement today. Customization is absolutely necessary for every PCOS patient, and Nicole explains why this is her approach, as well as gives us her perspective on Inositol and where you can find it naturally. Thanks for tuning in to today’s jam-packed episode with another inspiring guest. 

The expense of infertility treatment is a costly one. It is even more costly when you are an underrepresented minority with minimal benefits and advocacy. Dr. Brent Monseur, an endocrinologist and LGBTQ+ community member, is here to discuss a fascinating and important topic by sharing some of their research, data, and findings. We hear the benefits of their research and how, despite being a small sample size, the information and data collected mirrors what Dr. Monseur believes is the nationwide situation. As an advocate for better coverage, insurance benefits, and health care, we understand why Dr. Monseur is pro-insurance reform, believes in highlighting health disparities, and provides education for everyone. Plus, we hear what their future holds with empowering and providing the LGBTQ+ community with access to safe, informative family planning. 

Transgender patients are still a largely marginalized group, but thanks to people like Dr. Atoosa Ghofranian, more and more research is being done to improve their medical experience. Dr. Ghofranian is a fourth-year obstetrics and gynecology resident at the Icahn school in New York with an interest in improving IVF outcomes and expanding access to ART in underserved communities. She joins us today to talk about the study she’s presenting at ASRM, “Assisted Reproductive Technology Treatment Outcomes in Transgender Males with History of Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy.” Tune in to hear about the objectives and reassuring findings of this critical study!

Today we are joined by Dr. Chelsea Canon to discuss her latest abstract entitled “Reproductive Outcomes in Single Euploid Embryo Transfer Cycles is Independent of Whether the Embryo Originated from a Fresh or Cryopreserved Oocyte”. Dr. Canon will be presenting this research at the upcoming American Society for Reproductive Medicine Expo but feels it is important to share it with patients too. Our guest is a third-year fellow in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City and Reproductive Medicine Associates in New York. As more and more women are using eggs that were previously frozen, this has enabled the collection of data that we can use to help people make more informed decisions when deciding on how to preserve fertility. In this episode, Dr. Canon explains the difference between freezing eggs and freezing embryos and whether or not it matters if you use frozen or fresh eggs when creating embryos. If you have questions when it comes to fresh versus frozen, tune in today! 

Welcome to the 100th episode of Fertility Forward! Joining us today is the award-winning Dr. Samantha Estevez to discuss her research and mission to make fertility care more accessible for members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Dr. Estevez explains some gender terminology to us and talks about who falls within the gender diverse category before telling us why we need to be educated on how people express gender identity. Next, we discuss how transgender and gender-diverse patients are affected by fertility care, why fertility preservation is important, the lack of fertility resources available to patients who have transitioned and why, and how finances and insurance affect gender-affirming care. We also delve into why training healthcare professionals in LGBTQIA+ diversity and sensitivity is essential. The hosts even learn a new term today; TGD (transgender and gender diverse.) Finally, we all share what we are grateful for, and Dr. Estevez tells us how happy she is making the world a better place through her research. Thank you for tuning in!