Infertility And Me: Stories of Infertility Survivors, IVF, & TTC

Are you a bonus-mom suffering from female factor infertility and often wonder when it will be your turn to give the gift of parenthood to your spouse? Today's episode is with Asia Cash, a wife and mother. After suffering from tubal infertility, the Cash family pursued IVF(invitro fertilization) and birthed their miracle child, Maliya January 2020. But their journey was not without moments of uncertainty and doubt. Like most of us, Asia spent many days feeling lonely and wondering if she would be able to give her husband the gift of parenthood again. Asia and Monique discuss the tricky emotions that comes with infertility, what it is like being a Christian going through infertility, and how to navigate being a bonus-mom when you are struggling with fertility. 

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Wouldn't it be nice to step away from social media and receive support and mentorship during your fertility journey? Our guest in today's BONUS episode 12 created a platform to fulfill that need. Her name is Elyse Ash, and she is the Founder of Fruitful Fertility, a mentorship app for individuals suffering from infertility and loss. All mentors are volunteers who are eager to be that shoulder you need to lean on.

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Have you often felt as if someone else was writing the story to your fertility/infertility journey, leaving you feeling like you have no control? In today's episode, Marilyn Gomez reminds us through her journey to motherhood that we are the authors and possess the pen and paper to write our narrative. We discuss how infertility helped both of us tap into a level of our feminine divine energy that we had never experienced. Marilyn shares in detail what it's like to go through multiple IUI and IVF treatment cycles. You get to choose; we get to decide how our journey begins, proceeds, and ends.

You have all of the power necessary and required to move forward, empowered, and in control, friend. Though we may not be able to heal our infertility diagnosis', we can choose how we navigate the beginning, middle, and end. Marilyn did just that, by turning the pain into a business (Infertile Tees) and podcast (mama vida podcast) that allowed her creativity to flourish, and continue to heal.

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Have you been stuck on where to start with your nutritional lifestyle changes? Are you overwhelmed by the amount of information on the internet and social media? If so, you're in the right place. Today's episode features September Burton. September is a survivor of recurrent miscarriage.

She started her career as a U.S. Navy personal chef to 4-star Admirals, stationed in Sicily, Italy. She has since shared her expertise and passion for nutrition as a recurring guest on KCMJ 93.9 radio show, 'Happy News Now,' and developed a 6-week "Eating for Fertility" nutrition plan for prospective parents. She is the Founder and CEO of "4-months-to-Fertile", working with couples and mothers struggling with primary or secondary infertility, and is the organizer of the first-ever Colorado Fertility Conference.

September is passionate about living a life of purpose, helping others build and complete their families, and sharing her knowledge on the healing power of food.

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Have you been searching for ways to connect with fellow (in)fertility friends and get more involved in the community? The Cade Foundation offers a wide range of virtual events to support and help you feel connected during your journey.

Today's BONUS episode 11, we feature Dr. Camille Hammond, the founder of the Tinina Q. Cade Foundation. A strong resource and support system for (in)fertility sufferers and their families. Dr. Camille Hammond is the current CEO of the Cade Foundation. Before Camille and her husband, Dr. Jason Hammond, co-founded in 2005 the Cade Foundation,

Camille practiced as a General Practitioner for several years. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Richmond, medical school at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and residency and fellowship at Johns Hopkins and the National Cancer Institute (respectively). Camille's passion and desire to open the Cade Foundation came when she and her husband, Dr. Jason Hammond, had their own unfortunate experience with infertility.

Following five years of infertility, Dr.Tinina Cade, Camille's mother, thankfully carried and delivered their triplets. Camille and her family were so overjoyed, they knew they not only had to share their story, but they had to help others. The Cade Foundation was then founded to provide support to families with infertility. Located in Owings Mills, MD, Camille and her family continue to support families overcome infertility across the nation. In addition, Dr. Hammond is actively engaged in social, civic, community, and philanthropic efforts throughout the nation.

The Cade Foundation

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If you Friend have an auto-immune disease or maybe someone you, this episode is for you! Imagine being a survivor of two autoimmune diseases-fibromyalgia and lupus. Surprisingly, Ashley's autoimmune diseases are not the culprits for her infertile diagnosis; PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) is to blame, as well as male-factor.

Ashley's TTC journey to motherhood began at a time when she had her life perfectly planned and executed. Finished grad school, married to the love of her life, and a place to call home. But that quickly changed after stopping birth control to try and conceive naturally. Within a matter of months, Ashley was diagnosed with PCOS. She had been on birth control for over 15 years; which she believes helped to mask the symptoms of the condition.

After more tests, Ashley's doctor concluded that her body did not ovulate on its own and she would need reproductive assistance to become pregnant. After four medicated cycles with a fertility medication called Letrozole, Ashley and her husband finally had their BFP (big fat positive). But sadly the results of the second beta test concluded that Ashley was going to miscarry. After her miscarriage, a cyst was found on Ashley's ovary which forced her and hubby to take a month off from fertility treatment.

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"You're watching everything from the sidelines and you want to do so much, but there's only so much that you can do." Josephine is an expert in meditation and in overcoming adversity to find joy. She is also the creator and host of the podcast, "Responding to Life: Living Reflectively Through a Journey of Health, Fertility, and Parenthood." On the show, Josephine highlights learnings from her thirteen-year journey of love, loss, resilience, and hope to create her modern-day family including five children through non-traditional methods of IVF, adoption, and surrogacy as well as inspirations from guests who have also navigated life’s curve-balls to find joy.

Josephine’s passion is to help her meditation clients and podcast listeners channel the power of perseverance, positivity, calm, and courage to overcome obstacles, live joyfully, and mindfully.

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Maiclaire became pregnant naturally really quickly, but miscarried at nearly 12 weeks. She and her husband then started fertility treatments with IUI. She got pregnant with the second Intrauterine insemination, but sadly miscarried at 9 weeks. Maiclaire completed 5 rounds of IVF. Her first 3 cycles did not produce any blastocysts, so she has never been able to do an embryo transfer. Recently, 3 of her blastocysts were sent for PGS testing. PGS testing: Pre-implantation genetic screening, also known as comprehensive chromosome screening or CCS, is a genetic test designed to examine embryos for chromosomal abnormalities. Embryos are biopsied at the blastocyst stage and all the chromosomes are examined. We also discuss egg donorship and epigenetics.

“After the 2 miscarriages and the 2nd IVF cycle with no embryos, I was in a really low place and I was frustrated that no one talks about infertility and recurrent loss so I wrote my book "prequel to parenthood: an infertility story". The book aims to raise awareness about infertility and miscarriage. I wrote it to help others going through this crazy infertility world, but also for those supporting them. One of the most important chapters I wrote is about things people say when they mean well, but it's not well. Several people supporting me during this journey told me that chapter was very powerful because it helped them understand what they should and shouldn't say."

Our guest Eli Weinstein and his wife knew from the very beginning that their path to parenthood may be a bit of a struggle, due to her diagnosis of PCOS before they were married.

After three years they began to try naturally for a baby, but after some time they began to wonder if there may be a bigger issue brewing with her PCOS. Much to Eli's surprise, it was both he and his wife that contributed to their infertility. A shocking truth that forever changed the way this therapist would view fertility.

Within this episode, Eli offers some great insight for men on how to be a supportive spouse during fertility issues, as well as how to hold yourself accountable emotionally.

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Imagine being told during your second cycle of IVF treatment that you have OHSS (ovarian hyper stimulation syndrome) and it is because your patient records were accidentally switched with another patients. That happened to today's guest Monica Bivas.

Monica and her husband were eager to conceive their first child together, but she was diagnosed through the HSG (Hysterosalpingography ) with blocked fallopian tubes. Monica's third IVF cycle would be the charm and she was pregnant with a babygirl. Sadly though, Monica and her husband suffered great loss at 39w gestation, due to a blood clot in the umbilical cord.

After successfully becoming pregnant again, Monica realized she wanted to help others emotionally heal from fertility trauma. Monica is a fertility Coach and mentor. She helps women and couples (no matter the sexual preferences ) all over the world going through IVF and teaches them how to squeeze the sweetness of this journey.

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