Infertile AF: Infertility and Modern Family Building through ART

Today, Ali talks to her amazing friend Candace Wohl, who explains how 10 years of marriage, two brain surgeries and a 7 year battle with infertility have not been easy for her and her husband, Chris. Candace is a huge infertility advocate, creator of the blog Our Misconception, and star of MTV True Life documentary, “I’m Desperate to Have a Baby.” She gets into all of the highs and lows, including how her husband was diagnosed with a brain tumor shortly after they got married, how they learned early how to deal with a life crisis, why she had a "Goodbye, Uterus," party (complete with a uterus piñata and a tampon corsage) and how, after she had two babies via surrogate, she was able to induce lactation and breastfeed. 

EPISODE SPONSOR:

CIRCLE SURROGACY

Circle Surrogacy provides exceptional knowledge and experience, fixed costs and financing, and the highest success rate in the business. Learn more at circlesurrogacy.com, and follow them on social media @circlesurrogacy

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/infertile-af/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Today, on the Season Three Premiere, Ali talks to Caroline, who was diagnosed with cervical cancer at the age of 26. Caroline talks about how she was in a race against time to preserve her fertility before she started her cancer treatments, how she was wheeled from one hospital during cancer treatment to another hospital to do her egg retrieval and how the intense pain of her tumor affected her sex life. She also talks about why she started Femunity.org, a community and crowdsourcing platform where women can ask questions and share their medical experiences, and where she is now in her family building journey. 

Today’s episode is sponsored by FERTILITY RALLY—Community, Content and Curated Events at www.fertilityrally.com 

FERTILITY RALLY MEMBERSHIP IS OPEN NOVEMBER 1-7--SIGN UP NOW! www.fertilityrally.com/join-now

Today, Ali is talking to Kela Smith, creator of the Hormone Puzzle Society, a woman’s health hub for fertility, hormones, and coaching. Kela tells her own infertility story, how she finally had her two sons, and how she works with women who are struggling with infertility and hormone imbalance, coaching them to get pregnant naturally and eliminating their symptoms of hormone imbalance. For more, check out https://www.instagram.com/kela_healthcoach/?hl=en

Today's Sponsor is VIOS Fertility Institute. Vios is a different fertility clinic experience built on a foundation of patient-centered care, evidence-based medicine, and innovative technology. With clinic locations throughout Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Louis, the Vios Fertility Institute team understands the challenges of infertility. To learn more about Vios Fertility Institute and schedule your first appointment, visit ViosFertility.com.

Jaclyn Misch is a former Miss Michigan who competed on the CBS reality show "Survivor" with her now husband, Jon. Today, she talks to Ali about being born with a very rare condition called MRKH Syndrome, and how it has affected her life and her ability to have children. They discuss her two IVF retrievals, what happened when she started sharing publicly about MRKH, and what happened when they decided to use a surrogate. See more of her story at @jaclynmisch

EPISODE SPONSORS: 

PROOV

Today’s episode is sponsored by PROOV’S NEW PREDICT AND CONFIRM KIT, which helps you both predict your most fertile days and also confirms successful ovulation. Get yours at proovtest.com

CIRCLE SURROGACY

Circle Surrogacy provides exceptional knowledge and experience, fixed costs and financing, and the highest success rate in the business. Learn more at circlesurrogacy.com, and follow them on social media @circlesurrogacy

This is the first time Ali has interviewed best friends on her show--but she was so smitten by the friendship between Nora and Ani, she couldn't resist. Today, the founders of @modamobofficial and @noranibaby are talking about their rough and respective infertility journeys--including 8 IUIs, 9 IVF treatments, gestational diabetes, awful progesterone injections and bloating, a blood clotting disorder and a baby in the NICU. Nora and Ani get into all the details, including fresh vs. frozen transfers, Ani's ectopic pregnancy, infertility as trauma, and how they got through the roughest times—even when one of them would be laying in the fetal position on the floor—together.

Today’s episode is sponsored by FERTILITY RALLY—Community, Content and Curated Events at www.fertilityrally.com

FERTILITY RALLY MEMBERSHIP IS OPEN OCTOBER 1-8--SIGN UP NOW! www.fertilityrally.com/join-now

Tickets are now on sale for FERTILITY RALLY LIVE on October 24th at

https://www.accelevents.com/e/FertilityRally

Today, Ali talks to infertility advocate, all around bright light and her dear friend Monica (aka @my_so_called_Ivf) about IUIs, secondary infertility guilt, vaginas, marriage probs, dealing with stress and depression and what Jared Leto, Gwyneth Paltrow and Oprah have in common.

Today’s Sponsor: www.fertilityrally.com

Today, Ali talks to her friend Kim, who she met via Instagram in 2019, right after Kim had given birth to her third child, Meredith Samantha. On her IG page, mera_rula_of__the__sea, Kim chronicled Mera's very short, very sweet life after she was diagnosed in utero with a host of birth defects, including very little brain tissue. Kim tells the story of having her two kids before Meredith, bringing Mera home from the hospital, and how the entire family had to say goodbye to the sweet baby nine days later. Kim also explains how she has gracefully (and sometimes, not so gracefully) managed losing her baby daughter, and what is next for her family. For more on Mera's story and to find out about the nonprofit, Mera's Mission, which Kim launched to change the way parents experience grief after pregnancy and early childhood loss, follow @merasmission. 

Today’s episode is sponsored by FERTILITY RALLY—Community, Content and Curated Events at www.fertilityrally.com 

FERTILITY RALLY MEMBERSHIP IS OPEN OCTOBER 1-8--SIGN UP NOW! www.fertilityrally.com/join-now

Tickets are now on sale for FERTILITY RALLY LIVE on October 24th at https://www.accelevents.com/e/FertilityRally

Paige Dennis is a fashion designer, and an infertility warrior who describes herself as, "If Dolly Parton and Suzanne Sugarbaker had a baby." She's also the breakout star of "DeMarcus Family Rules," the Netflix reality show that chronicles the lives of Rascal Flatts bassist Jay DeMarcus and his beauty queen wife, Allison. Today, Paige tells Ali all about her infertility journey, including a pulmonary embolism that rocked her health, getting pregnant very easily but then suffering a miscarriage at nearly 12 weeks, and how and why she and her husband found a surrogate without going through a surrogacy agency. She also talks about the tragic loss of her first son due to an umbilical cord accident, and how now, as the mother of twins, she feels passionate about giving back to the infertility community. 

Today’s episode is sponsored by FERTILITY RALLY—Community, Content and Curated Events at www.fertilityrally.com 

Tickets are now on sale for FERTILITY RALLY LIVE on October 24th at https://www.accelevents.com/e/FertilityRally

Partners-in-biz-and-Claw Ali and Blair Nelson, who started the Fertility Rally membership site on June 1, talk about their latest creation: Fertility Rally Live, taking place virtually on Saturday, October 24th! The event will be a one-day, action-packed infertility celebration, with more than 30+ speakers, exhibitor booths, tons of giveaways and plenty of surprises. Ali and Blair talk about how they came up with the name for Fertility Rally, the importance of community, why it's going to be an incredible and valuable event for anyone no matter where they are on their fertility journeys, and some other amazing things that have been happening in their lives this week (hint: Blair is pregnant!).

To get your RALLY LIVE TICKETS, GO TO www.accelevents.com/e/FertilityRally

Early bird prices are available for a limited time!

Victoria Nino, aka @expectinganything, talks to Ali about her long path to mamahood, beginning with a diagnosis of Stage 3 endometriosis. After medicated IUIs that didn't work, they turned to IVF, but her low egg quality led her to research donor eggs. As she and her husband went down the donor egg path, she explains how they "grieved their genetics," why at one point they maxed out their credit cards to travel around the world, ("YOLO!"), the spiritual experience she had in Thailand, why going through the donor profiles was so intense, how she feels about epigenetics, and her baby daughter, Flo. She also talks about her new ebook, "Why I'm Glad My Eggs Didn't Work" -- and the second transfer that didn't work, bringing her to her knees with grief. 

Today’s ep is sponsored by FERTILITY RALLY—Community, Content and Curated Events at www.fertilityrally.com