She came to the conclusion that she was probably going to get children or a marriage, but not both. So she chose children.

Dr. Meggie Smith is a reproductive endocrinologist at Nashville Fertility Center and a single mom by choice, currently pregnant with her second daughter, both conceived from eggs she froze at 31. In this episode, she sits down with Laura and Ashlee to pull back the curtain on what it actually looks like to make that choice, plan for it strategically, build a support system from scratch, and navigate the very fertility system she works in every single day.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Why Dr. Smith chose single parenthood over waiting for the "right" relationship
• Freezing eggs at 31 and using them at 37: what that planning process actually looked like
• Choosing a sperm donor and the 85% rule she shares with her own patients
• Genetic anonymity, donor-conceived children, and why that landscape has changed forever
• Building a support bench as a single parent working full time
• The broken healthcare system, straight from a physician living it
• Why your insurance coverage might actually cost you more than paying cash
• How the lack of reimbursement incentive makes it harder to be a thorough doctor

Dr. Smith brings something rare to this conversation: she has sat in the REI chair as both clinician and patient. Her perspective is unfiltered, deeply practical, and genuinely validating for anyone navigating fertility on their own terms.

This episode is for you if you've ever wondered whether single parenthood by choice is really possible, felt overwhelmed by insurance and financial decisions, or just needed to hear someone say out loud that the system is a racket and they're doing their best anyway.

Connect with Dr. Meggie Smith and Nashville Fertility Center:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mbsthinks/Website: https://www.nashvillefertility.com/about-us/fertility-specialists/meghan-smith-md/

Western medicine tells you what's broken. Eastern medicine asks why. And when the two actually work together? That's where fertility patients stop feeling like a number and start feeling supported.

Dr. Mary Sabo has spent 20 years building bridges between worlds that too often stay divided. As a doctor of acupuncture and Chinese medicine and founder of Lillian Horn in New York City, she's done the quiet, deliberate work of earning physician trust one patient letter at a time, and the results speak for themselves. She now practices on-site at CCRM New York on embryo transfer days, collaborates with REIs across Manhattan, and has co-authored published research on complementary medicine. She also navigated her own IVF journey, conceiving her son at 43 using eggs she froze at 38.

In this episode, we get into all of it:

• Why Eastern and Western medicine are better together, not in competition
• How acupuncture works as a signaling mechanism and what it actually does in the body
• The evidence behind acupuncture for IVF, including live birth rate data
• Why the Eastern/Western divide often comes down to ego and how to spot red flags on both sides
• How Mary built trust with physicians over 20 years by speaking their language
• Navigating acupuncture if you're needle-phobic or working with a tight budget
• Why fertility is as much an art form as a science
• Mary's video game analogy for getting through the hardest parts of the journey

The fertility space is noisy, and patients are vulnerable. The antidote isn't choosing a side. It's building a team that trusts each other enough to share the load.

If you've ever wondered whether acupuncture is worth it, felt caught between your doctor and a wellness practitioner, or just needed someone to remind you that you don't have to figure this out alone, this episode is for you.

Connect with Dr. Mary Sabo and Lillian Horn:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lilyandhorn/Website: https://www.lilyandhorn.com/

You've been told fertility is a birthright. It isn't. And the sooner you understand that, the more power you have to actually do something about it.

This week, we sat down with Dr. Jaime Knopman, double board certified OBGYN and reproductive endocrinologist at CCRM New York, national director of fertility preservation for the entire CCRM network, and author of the new book Own Your Fertility. Dr. Knopman is also the medical director of Chick Mission, a nonprofit providing grants to young adult cancer patients so they can preserve their fertility before treatment. Ashlee worked alongside her at CCRM, and this conversation feels exactly like that history, honest, funny, and unguarded.

We covered a lot of ground, including:

• Why Dr. Knopman shifted from calling herself an "infertility doctor" to a "fertility doctor," and why that distinction matters
• The truth about egg freezing attrition, and why comparing it to a Hail Mary versus a modern day high percentage play changes how you should think about your numbers
• Egg freezing versus embryo freezing, and the one scenario she says is worse than not knowing if your eggs are healthy
• Major misconceptions she debunks constantly, including birth control and infertility, IUDs, atresia, and whether egg freezing depletes your future fertility
• Why she calls ovarian rejuvenation and "trimester zero" narratives a setup for disappointment
• The reality of physician burnout, why she only personally calls patients with bad news, and what it means to grieve a cycle that didn't work
• Chick Mission's mission to close the access gap for cancer patients who need fertility preservation but don't have coverage

This episode is for anyone who has ever felt like a number in this process, anyone considering egg freezing and wondering if they're doing it at the right time, and anyone who just wants to hear a physician talk about this work with real honesty.

Resources mentioned in this episode:
Dr. Jaime Knopman at CCRM New York: https://www.ccrmivf.com/ccrm-fertility-doctors/jaime-knopman/
Chick Mission: https://www.thechickmission.org/
Dr. Knopman on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drjaimeknopman/
Dr. Knopman's website: https://drjaimeknopman.com/

Dr. Keri Bergin didn't start her career in medicine. She started at the front desk of a fertility clinic.

From a Craigslist job listing that landed her at the front desk of RMA New York at age 21, to completing her fellowship in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at that same institution, Keri's path to becoming an REI is unlike almost any other in the field. She's also a member of the LGBTQIA+ community who has personally navigated fertility treatment with her wife. That combination of lived experience, clinical expertise, and deep patient perspective is exactly why we had to have her on the show.

This week, in honor of Pride Month, Laura and Ashlee sit down with Dr. Keri Bergin of IVI RMA Southern California for a conversation that goes well beyond the basics of LGBTQIA+ family building.

We get into:

• Why LGBTQIA+ patients are often assumed to have an easier path, and why that assumption misses the full picture
• The real emotional and logistical layers involved in using donor sperm, donor eggs, and gestational carriers
• What reciprocal IVF looks like legally, and the state-by-state gaps that can leave one parent off their own child's birth certificate
• How Keri and her wife navigated choosing a known sperm donor, and what that relationship looks like now
• Insurance coverage for LGBTQIA+ fertility treatment, and why only a handful of states actually have inclusive mandates
• Fertility preservation for trans patients, and what the research says about undergoing egg freezing while on testosterone
• What the future of reproductive technology could mean for same-sex couples, including in vitro gametogenesis
• Why providers who have been through it themselves show up differently for their patients

This field is moving fast. The barriers are real. And the people working inside this system care more than patients sometimes get to see. This one is for all of you who are building your family on your own terms.

This episode is for you if you're an LGBTQIA+ individual or couple navigating fertility treatment, a healthcare provider working toward more inclusive care, or anyone who has ever felt like the system wasn't quite built with them in mind.

📍 Find Dr. Keri Bergin:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keriberginmd/

Website: https://rmanetwork.com/staff/keri-bergin-md/

Dr. Callum Potts knows what it feels like to want a family and wonder if it's ever going to happen. As the founder and medical director of CCRM Miami, he's one of the leading voices in reproductive medicine. He's also someone who has navigated infertility firsthand alongside his partner, gone through IVF, and is now a proud dad of twin boys. That combination of clinical expertise and lived experience is exactly what makes this conversation so worth having.

Male factor infertility affects 40 to 50% of couples dealing with fertility challenges, and yet it remains one of the most underrepresented conversations in the space. This episode changes that.

We cover:

• What an unexplained infertility diagnosis actually means and why it's more common than you think
• The male experience of fertility treatment and why even a fertility doctor felt like "just a passenger in the process"
• Why male partners often go missing from the clinic and what we can do about it
• Semen analysis 101 and what those numbers do and don't tell us
• DNA fragmentation, who it matters for, and what can actually be done about it
• The truth about supplements, lifestyle changes, heat exposure, and what the evidence actually supports
• Why testosterone therapy could be silently tanking fertility and what to do instead
• Paternal age and the risks that don't get talked about enough
• At-home semen analysis kits, are they worth it?
• The guilt, grief, and identity hit that comes with a male factor diagnosis
• Father's Day when you're still waiting and how to support the men in your life on that day

Infertility is never one person's journey. It belongs to both partners, and it's time the conversation reflected that. Whether you're in the thick of treatment, supporting someone who is, or just trying to understand what male fertility actually looks like, this episode is for you.

Find Dr. Potts on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cal.potts.md/
Learn more about CCRM Miami: https://www.ccrmivf.com/location/us/florida/miami/

If you've ever Googled "what should I eat to get pregnant," this episode is for you.

We're sitting down with Jillian Beck Rogers, a fertility nutrition and wellness coach who brings both lived experience and science-backed strategy to her work with women navigating the fertility journey. Jillian has her own story with unexplained infertility, and it's exactly what led her to niche into preconception nutrition and build her signature program, Fueling Your Fertility.

Here's what we get into:

• Why the nutrition guidance most women receive at their fertility clinic falls embarrassingly short
• The real reason so many women are under-eating and why that's working against their fertility
• What the Mediterranean and anti-inflammatory diets actually mean and how to apply them realistically
• Why fat is not the enemy (and why full fat dairy might actually be your friend)
• The truth about pineapple core, seed cycling, and other trends you've probably seen all over your feed
• How to balance blood sugar without giving up dessert
• What to actually look for in a prenatal vitamin and why price doesn't equal quality
• The connection between gut health, inflammation, and your emotional wellbeing during treatment

The internet is full of people trying to sell you something. Jillian cuts through the noise and gives you the kind of honest, practical guidance most women never get from a pamphlet in a waiting room.

If you're in the thick of your fertility journey and wondering what else you can do, this one's for you.

Follow Jillian on Instagram at @jillianbeckrogers_health and visit her at www.JillianHealthAndWellness.com to learn more about working with her.

You've probably been told to rest during your IVF cycle. Maybe even to stop exercising completely. But what if that advice is more outdated than helpful?

This week we're sitting down with Julia Neto, a pre and postnatal fitness specialist and founder of Her Move Wellness, who has spent years working alongside REIs, acupuncturists, and nutritionists to bridge the gap between fertility treatment and movement. Julia created the only free, REI-approved workout program designed specifically for the IVF stimulation phase, and in this episode she's breaking down everything you actually need to know about exercising during your cycle.

• Why the "just stop exercising" recommendation may be doing more harm than good
• How Julia structured her program around the different phases of stimulation and retrieval
• The real reason ovarian torsion is a concern and what movements are actually safe
• Exercise during the two week wait and after your frozen embryo transfer
• The guilt and control spiral that so many IVF patients experience and how to navigate it
• Julia's own egg freezing journey, including what surprised her most
• Why "just freeze your eggs" is not as simple as it sounds
• The case for routine fertility testing long before you're ready to try

Whether you're in the middle of a cycle, thinking about fertility preservation, or just trying to understand your options, this one is for you.

Website: ⁠www.hermovewellness.com

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @her_move_

Nobody talks about what it costs to be the person on the other side of the exam room.

Kate Ryan walked into the fertility world as a patient. She went through failed IUIs, pregnancy loss, and a long road that eventually led her to donor egg IVF and the son she has today. But what she found along the way was bigger than her own story. She saw patients losing themselves in the process, providers running on empty, and a massive gap between the clinical experience and the human one. So she built something to fill it.

In this episode, Kate shares her full fertility journey and the moment she realized the system was missing something for everyone inside it. We get honest about provider burnout in fertility care, what it actually looks like from inside the clinic, and why the people taking care of you deserve to be taken care of too. Kate also introduces The Provider Sanctuary, launching this June, and explains why a community built for providers is something patients should care about just as much.

In this episode we cover:

• Kate's personal IVF journey, including pregnancy loss and the path to donor egg IVF
• What it feels like to lose yourself in the control spiral of fertility treatment
• The emotional weight fertility nurses and providers carry that rarely gets acknowledged
• Why fertility nursing is one of the highest turnover nursing specialties in the country
• What The Provider Sanctuary is, who it is for, and why it exists
• How supporting providers ultimately creates a better experience for patients
• Why resources and community support should be offered from day one, not just at the end

Caring for the caregiver is not a luxury. It is how we make the whole system better, for patients, for providers, and for every family being built inside it.

If you are in the middle of fertility treatment and have ever felt like a number, if you are a nurse or provider running on fumes and wondering if anyone sees you, or if you have ever wanted to understand what is really happening on both sides of that exam room, this episode is for you.

Website: www.storyofus.love

Sanctuary info: https://sanctuary.storyofus.love/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thestoryofkateryan/   

Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@storyofus.love?lang=en 

Threads: https://www.threads.com/@thestoryofkateryan

What would you do if you found out the treatment you needed to build your family could cost $20,000, $40,000, or even $200,000 out of pocket? For most people, that number is the end of the road. For Elana Frank, it was the beginning of something bigger.

Elana is the founder and CEO of the Jewish Fertility Foundation, a nonprofit that has allocated over $3.25 million in fertility grants to more than 560 families, trained over a thousand community and healthcare leaders, and watched 377 babies come into the world as a result. But before any of that, she was a patient herself, navigating infertility in Israel, cycling through embryo after embryo, and fighting for a third child in a way that nearly cost her her marriage.

In this episode, Elana pulls back the curtain on all of it.

• What it was like to receive IVF for free in Israel and return to the U.S. to find almost no financial support
• The conversation in a JCC baby pool that sparked the founding of JFF
• A real breakdown of what fertility treatment costs, from IUI to IVF to donor eggs to surrogacy
• Why fertility treatment is a medical necessity, not a luxury, and what needs to change in the insurance landscape
• How JFF's grant program works, who it serves, and how to apply
• The emotional toll infertility takes on relationships, and what it looks like when partners are not on the same page
• What nurses and clinic staff can do right now to better connect patients with financial resources

Laura and Ashlee bring their nursing perspective to this one in a big way, reflecting on what they wish they had known about financial resources when they were working in the clinic, and why proactive education from care teams can change the trajectory of a patient's journey.

If you or someone you love is facing the financial and emotional weight of fertility treatment, this episode is for you.

Connect with the Jewish Fertility Foundation:

• Website: https://jewishfertilityfoundation.org/

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jewishfertilityfoundation/

You've heard your doctor's perspective. You've heard your nurse's perspective. But what about the person who is literally holding your embryos in their hands?

For most patients, the IVF lab is a black box. You hand over your eggs, your sperm, and your hope, and then you wait. What happens on the other side of that door is rarely explained, rarely demystified, and rarely talked about with the kind of honesty that actually helps people feel less alone in the process. That changes today.

This week, Laura and Ashlee sit down with Dr. Joe, embryologist, lab director, and member of the leadership team at CCRM Fertility, who has spent nearly 40 years in the IVF lab. From his early days in London doing egg retrievals by laparoscopy in the middle of the night, to the cutting edge of AI-assisted embryo selection, Dr. Joe takes us on a full journey through the past, present, and future of reproductive science. And he does it in a way that is equal parts educational, eye-opening, and genuinely fun to listen to.

In this episode, you'll learn about:

• What IVF looked like in 1988 and why it would shock you by today's standards
• The invention of ICSI and why it was one of the biggest revolutions in fertility history
• How embryos are graded, what the numbers and letters actually mean, and why a BB embryo is not a bad embryo
• Mosaic embryos, what they are, what they mean for your transfer, and why they exist in a gray area
• Why even a genetically normal euploid embryo does not always result in a pregnancy
• How AI is already being used in IVF labs and why it is being underutilized (the Betty Crocker cake mix analogy will make so much sense)
• Sperm selection and why Dr. Joe thinks this is one of the areas where AI can make the biggest impact
• The future of fertility science, including gametes from skin cells, non-invasive genetic testing, and where the ethical lines start to blur

Dr. Joe reminds us that the embryology lab is full of scientists who are rooting for you at every single step. When a transfer doesn't work, they feel it too. When an embryo doesn't fertilize the way it should, they want answers just as badly as you do. Opening that black box a little wider is exactly the kind of conversation this podcast was built for.

If you've ever stared at an embryo report and had no idea what you were looking at, if you've ever wondered what actually happens to your eggs after retrieval, or if you're just fascinated by where IVF is headed next, this one is for you.