Fertility Life Raft

What a TOTAL honour to bring you this episode on publication day for Jessica Hepburn's third book, "Save Me from the Waves."

Jessica's journey from heartbreak- after unsuccessful IVF and the breakdown of her marriage - to triumph is the central theme of our conversation. We delve into her transformation from a self-proclaimed "unlikely athlete" to the first and only woman to complete the Sea Street Summit Challenge, which includes swimming the English Channel, running the London Marathon, and climbing Mount Everest.

Yes. You read that correctly.

This is just the coolest book - weaving together Jessica's love/obsession (!) with the BBC Radio 4 show Desert Island Discs with her Everest training and eventual summit - it really is such a wonderful read.

Back in November, I met Jessica in a cosy basement office for tea, sounds of London in the background, which is entirely appropriate (you'll understand this when you read the book)!

As we discuss her book (Buy it here now, do not hesitate!), Jessica opens up about her fertility struggles, the trauma of unsuccessful IVF treatments, and the emotional toll it took on her. She reflects on the psychological and physical injuries she endured during her Everest summit, highlighting the parallels between her fertility journey and her mountain expedition.

Jessica emphasises the importance of acknowledging and honouring emotions, from anger to sadness, and the power of turning pain into purpose. She shares insights on the complexities of grief, the significance of finding joy in small moments, and the transformative nature of storytelling.

Jessica's motto, to live "big and brave" echoes through all of our conversation - by embracing vulnerability, telling her truth, and inspiring others to embark on their own adventures of resilience and self-discovery. "Save Me from the Waves" serves as a beacon of hope and empowerment for those navigating their own journeys of healing and transformation.

Jessica's substack is here and her Instagram is here.

Come over to the Life Raft website where you'll find so much support waiting.

Rate and review this episode so more people can listen to this amazing woman!!

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In this episode of the Fertility Life Raft podcast I speak with Annabel and Amber from Am I Ovary Acting about navigating friendships and what happens when you’re both trying to conceive, then one of you gets pregnant and has a baby while the other one is still trying.

We speak about the announcements, baby showers and everything in between.

We also cover what happens when other big life stuff happens, like family bereavements, while you’re navigating infertility and how friendships can actually be one of the foundations that truly see us through rather than another thing that falls apart.

I really hope you find this episode and inspiring and encouraging. I think they have really shown an example of how a friendship can not just survive different fertility experiences, but in fact can get stronger and deeper.

Amber Izzo Instagram

Annabel Gurnett Instagram

Am I Ovary Acting Instagram

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Kate Moyle is my guest today. She is the Therapist on the BBC Three series Sex On The Couch., host of The Sexual Wellness Sessions Podcast and Director at The Thought House Partnership,

Accredited by the College of Sexual and Relationship Therapists, a Registered Psychosexual and Relationship Therapist and a Certified Psycho-Sexologist, I think it’s safe to say she knows what she’s talking about.

In this episode we cover:

Sex becoming...well, functional when you’re trying to conceive

How to make sex fun and pleasurable again 

The feelings of detachment from your body when it feels like it’s been so medicalised through treatment

Resentment becoming a THING and impacting how sex feels 

Rebuilding intimacy connections

This week is extra special as I had so many questions from you all that Kate has given me some extra time answering them all which I’ll be sending out in an email this week. You can grab a free 5 minute meditation to start receiving my emails at fertilityliferaft.com/reset

You can find Kate's book, The Science of Sex here and her website here

Take care everyone and remember - it feels good to rate, review and subscribe ;) THANK YOU. x

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Coni and Mike have been trying to conceive and this is such an open, frank, honest (at times slightly hysterical) chat about what it's like and how it's impacting them as a couple.

We talk all things from:

getting men thoroughly tested before going down an IVF route

how Coni's work in Women's Health and the reproductive wellness space has supported their experience

how they felt in 2023 when their dreams of conceiving by Christmas didn't happen

their mindset shift for 2024

how they're keeping their relationship and sex life feeling positive through the challenges

some swears and very open conversations about w***king into cups vs what it's like for women!

You can follow Coni over on instagram as she shares her story with her brilliant and relatable content here and Mike over here .

Head over to Fertility Life Raft now for a comprehensive, accessible, totally brilliant support and resources which can radically transform how you feel as you navigate this experience. Click here now to join us. You're so warmly welcome.

Oh and PLEASE do go and review this podcast, it's how more people find us and have a listen - we're super proud to have lots and lots of wonderful reviews and I (Alice, hi, nice to meet you) am SO grateful for every single one!! THANK YOU SO MUCH for listening and reviewing, it means the world. Take care, Alice x

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You are going to LOVE this episode.

Jenny Wordsworth is a lawyer, endurance athlete for the North Face and founder of start up company, OVUM.

When she started trying to conceive herself she took one look at the fertility industry and realised how much simply felt WRONG.

The way we are marketed to; the big brand products which actually do not contain the best ingredients when you examine the science which is now available - Jenny 'absolutely hated' how the trying to conceive community was preyed upon because and she's totally right: 'you and I both know we would do anything to conceive'.

YES. Which is why the fertility industry has a responsibility to wake up, put things right and listen to the people who are actually in it .

Jenny founded her company OVUM on the back of this realisation and I'm really proud to work with them too, which you'll hear a bit more about in the episode (plus a super exciting bit of news which I hadn't heard before we recorded it!).

I hope you hear it and feel comforted and supported in the knowledge that there are people out there doing radical work to rewrite the story and put things right.

If you have landed here you can find expert led, properly accessible support available now and on demand. The Life Raft started because we too saw the problems in the industry and knew a change was needed. We have welcomed over 1000 members globally since we began, come and join us here.

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What a thrill to bring this episode to you

Dr Larisa Corda is a well-known Fertility doctor. You might have seen her on this morning, and she is also the author of a new book called The Conception Plan, which is smashing records all over the place since it was launched just a couple of weeks ago.

I was fortunate enough to meet Larisa several years ago when we lived near to each other in London and we were both working with a brands on consulting - her from a doctors perspective and me from a patient perspective, and we had a connection.

We’ve had many conversations over the years and I am thrilled to be cheerleading this woman as she brings her brave and trailblazing book out to the world.

This is the second time Larisa has been on this podcast, so I’m really grateful to her for finding the time to speak to me and to bring this to you. I think you’re going to absolutely love it, it’s empowering, it’s about taking ownership, it doesn’t hold back!

We cover everything from the important medical steps you need to consider and looking at alternative therapies as well as that gap between science and spirit and even sex and masturbation. Yep!

It’s all the things Dr. Larisa is passionate about bringing into the mainstream. I think that what she is doing is supporting many patients in not only the important medical steps you need to take but also explaining the science and relevance of many alternative therapies, which, as she says, are often come to as a ‘last resort’, but that she explains, really should be used ‘in tandem’ with the medical treatment on offer and I really couldn’t agree more.

This feels like quite a moment in the Fertility landscape. The Conception Plan is a fantastic book. It’s available now, there is a 12 step Programme in it, and so much information that you can absorb, I really hope you love this episode!

So please go and have a listen.

Subscribe, rate and review - all of the things please!!

If you want to be in a community, if you want live support, if you want on demand resources please head to The Life Raft, which is ready and waiting for you, take care,

Alice

PS oh and come and join us on Instagram here.

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Hello Life Raft pod peeps. Please meet Gemma. Gemma is a Life Raft member, a personal coaching client of mine and very much still in the middle of her own fertility voyage on board the Raft.

She's also a certified yoga teacher, fertility yoga trained and is running a gorgeous 4 week yoga course for the Life Raft which you can join right here:

https://fertilityliferaft.com/yogacourse

Gemma's yoga IG is here and her website is here.

In this chat we share Gemma and Ed's story and all of the ways she navigates through it.

Things we cover:

male factor infertility (azoospermia and microtese)

donor conception

how she manages triggers

what she feels before and after a yoga class

how her yoga classes support a 'rekindling' of her relationship with her body which can get so damaged through this fertility times

how living in alignment and learning more about the moon phases has impacted her life

We'd love to hear from you. Contact [email protected] if you've got questions or want to share anything you took from this episode and come and chat to me (Alice) on the Life Raft instagram account here.

We would be so VERY very thankful if you could rate, review or subscribe - or all three! Help more people know not just about this pod, but about the work we do at Fertility Life Raft.

Right now, the membership is OPEN (members receive a great discount on the yoga course as well as so many other benefits). More on the membership is here -  https://www.fertilityliferaft.com/membership

And if you just want instant support, head to our page here with lots of free resources, short meditations and downloads.

Take care,

Alice

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Ok my friends, I know Christmas can be one of the hardest times - even if you don't celebrate, the Festive Season can feel triggering as F**k.

So, here's a wee solo episode from me to give you some hope that you can actually use tools and techniques to:

honour where you're at

not ignore your sadness but give it the space it needs

understand how to manage friends and family

tap into a feeling of warmth and connection

To take this further I am running a live workshop on Sunday 10th December for members which I'm opening up for anyone to join. I hope you will. It's recorded, (so don't worry if you can't make the time) and if you find this episode after the 10th...I'll make it available to download too. Here's the link to sign up

You'll also hear from some of the people who came to the recent live London event on this episode that I hosted with my friends from Parla and the wonderful Helen Davenport Peace. I love meeting people in real life - so thank you if you came to that event and for letting me record what it was like to come too.

Come and have a look on https://www.fertilityliferaft.com/ for more support.

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This is a very special episode with an amazing woman: Susannah Tresilian, who I know personally through a family connection. 

Susannah is a theatre director with extensive experience in the UK and international theatre world, as well as a leadership coach with experience coaching and training around the world and a successful audio career in podcasts, and BBC arts and factual programming. She produced documentaries, dramas and BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour for many years; The Arts Hour on the BBC World Service, and made the Books podcast for the Guardian.

She has directed and toured theatre productions around Europe; co-produced international festivals in UK, Italy and France; and has delivered workshops in corporate, arts, academic and educational settings.

She has founded ARIADNE, working with women who make social and political theatre to inspire change around the world. www.projectariadne.org 

Susannah found time to speak to me about how she navigated what she calls the Trauma Years.

We talk about the impact of recurrent pregnancy loss on her personal life, career and identity.

She shares a profoundly personal moment, when she decided to consciously move out of that era and step into the new version of herself at her Dad, Nicholas Tresilian’s memorial service. There’s a powerful piece of audio included here from Nicholas’s last ever broadcast on Classic FM which had to be part of this episode when I heard Susannah talking about this moment in her life.

This was one of my favourite conversations- I do think, whatever your own story, it’s a must listen. Full of wisdom, kindness, compassion and of course we talk about what kept Susannah afloat on her own life raft, through her journey to finally bringing two daughters into the world.

If you found this show moving, helpful or you just want to let Susannah know what listening to her story meant to you, please leave a review and share the episode.

These conversations reach much further when listeners can spend a minute or so to do this and they really do find those who need them this way: thank you for being part of this with me.

You can find more on Susannah’s coaching company here:

The Leadership Collective.

If you're in the middle of a Fertility voyage yourself, please head to https://www.fertilityliferaft.com/ for immediate support, 1:1 transformative coaching; the membership, downloads and free resources too. 

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I LOVED this great episode with Kayleigh from an incredible new platform called Fertility Mapper. It's a verified peer review site for fertility clinics...I know right?! So brilliant and needed.

They've also just launched an incredible new service which is an NHS funding eligibility calculator.

Please have a listen to find out why this platform is going to save millions of people SO much time, energy, stress and overwhelm and completely change the game for people looking for both NHS and private fertility clinics in the UK.

Fertility Mapper is a free online platform and you can support it by leaving your own review and use it here: https://fertilitymapper.com/

It's founded by Kayleigh who I chatted to on this episode...here's more about why she's the perfect person for the (very big!) job:

Kayleigh Hartigan is the founder and CEO of Fertility Mapper: an independent platform that harnesses the power of community reviews and data to make an assisted path to parenthood more personalised and transparent. The platform was created in response to a lack of data, resources and reliable information around fertility, and the need to set a new standard of treatment.

A healthcare expert with over 17+ years’ experience, Kayleigh has a BSc in the Biology of Fertility and Embryo Development (UCL) and an MSc in Health Policy, Planning and Financing (LSE). 

She has worked across both the public and private sector. This includes senior roles at the Department of Health and the NHS in the UK and helped to establish an informal digital advisory board that helped inform the UK’s landmark Women’s Health Strategy. 

Kayleigh has held significant executive roles in health-tech including COS of HealthHero and COO of Zava, two of Europe’s largest and fastest growing healthtech companies and a Managing Director of a European private equity advisory firm.

Kayleigh set up Fertility Mapper in 2022 to tackle the big issues of fertility by improving access to services and increasing their quality.

Do you need emotional support right now?

SO many instant resources are available on our website fertilityliferaft.com to support you through this experience. You can also follow us on Instagram.

We love hearing from you so please do rate, review and subscribe - the more people who find us, the more we can support and you can play a part in supporting anyone going through fertility stuff by supporting this podcast, thank you so much. You can always email [email protected]. too and let us know your thoughts.

What do you want to hear on this podcast next?

Come and visit fertilityliferaft.com which exists to make your fertility experience so much better.

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