Inside Reproductive Health Podcast

Genetic testing in IVF is only getting more complex and more common. REIs, you’re not supposed to do this alone, help is already here.

We speak with four genetic counselors, Amber Kaplun, Rachel Donnell, Andria Besser, and Lauri Black, about how this works in practice.

We dive into:

• How to embed genetic counselors into your workflow
• How to free up REI time while improving patient experience
• Why access to genetic counselors isn’t as limited as it seems
• How third-party services like GeneScreen fit into clinical operations
• Their perspective on PGT-P vs. PGT-G (and where the field is heading)

What is CCRM building toward, and how are they preparing for what comes next? As part of Unified Women’s Healthcare, CCRM is positioning for a future where “hub and spoke” becomes more than just a buzzword. Tracy Belsan, President of CCRM Fertility, joins the episode to share how they’re thinking about growth, operations, and the patient journey.

We dive into:

• The KPIs CCRM focuses on

• The operational barrier they removed (Moving patients into care faster)

• How technology is being implemented across the patient journey

• CCRM’s approach to patient finance and access to care

• The role of APPs and evolving clinical models

• What it takes to consolidate an entire network onto a single EMR by 2027

A tale of two PGTs.

One is making bold promises and headlines, the other is quietly gaining traction and relevance.

Between PGT-P & PGT-G…what’s actually moving the needle?

Dr. Mili Thakur of Genome Ally and Dr. Sasha Hakman of HRC Fertility break down what they’re seeing in real patients, especially when everything else has already failed.

We dive into:

• The real difference between PGT-P and PGT-G

• Why some genetic claims are under scrutiny

• Where whole genome sequencing is actually helping

• How PGT-G may reduce repeated failed IVF cycles

• Whether this can truly shorten time to pregnancy

The results are in: 5 healthy babies born, 64.3% fertilization rate, zero eggs damaged across hundreds of oocytes.

Lab automation in IVF is no longer theoretical, it’s been proven.

Chief Scientific Officers Jason Barritt of Kindbody and Jacques Cohen of Conceivable Life Sciences join the episode to discuss a recent study published in Human Reproduction examining AURA, the robotic lab system developed by Conceivable Life Sciences.

We dive into:

• What “proof of concept” actually means in IVF lab automation

• Why this study matters (And where it falls short of current standards)

• The role of automation as a testing ground for new lab technologies

• What a fully automated IVF lab could unlock

• Whether “hub and spoke” models in fertility have been misunderstood (and what they could actually become)

If automation continues to progress, the scale of what’s possible in fertility care may look very different than it does today.

Do fertility doctors deserve happiness?

It sounds like a strange question, but for many REIs it’s not abstract.

We step back from operations, technology, and finance to ask a more fundamental question with Inception’s National Medical Director, Dr. Jason Yeh:

What does a good life actually look like for a fertility specialist?

In this conversation, we explore:

• Moral injury vs. burnout

• The X–Y axis of time and money in a physician’s career

• Happiness vs. meaning

• Why fertility doctors often benchmark happiness against the status and performance of peers

• Living in the moment as an REI

• The different kinds of regret fertility doctors describe at the end of their careers

Conversations like this are rare. If you find value in it, please tell us. Because if the field wants more conversations like this, we need to prove they’re worth having.

What are the drug makers up to?

And who’s about to win or lose in fertility pharmacy?

This final category overview takes a hard look at the shifting pharmaceutical landscape of legacy manufacturers, rising challengers, supplement disruptors, and the latest in professional services.

We also dive into:

• Why the pharmacy “middle” may be hollowed out
• Which models are positioned to scale (and which aren’t)
• Who operators are calling when they need expert guidance
• The consultants and firms quietly shaping growth behind the scenes

Patients want clearer pricing, clinics want operational sustainability, managed care wants predictable cost control…

…and everyone wants more transparency.

This epiosde centers on the groundbreaking Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics (JARG) paper on Activity-Based Costing in IVF and what it actually costs.

We’re joined by Pinnacle CFO Shruti Sood, The Fertility Partners CEO Heather Stark, and Chartis Partner Bret Anderson to discuss:

• Why IVF costs have not been accurately accounted for

• How activity-based costing could reshape pricing models

• The real impact of payer consolidation

• Where clinics confuse capacity problems with volume problems

• Whether different prognosis patients should be priced differently

• How managed care pressure will change IVF economics

Clinics are feeling the pressure. 

And one year after the PGT class action lawsuits, the ripple effects are still unfolding.

We’re back with another Fertility Field Overview, and this one looks at what’s happening across patient finance, IVF benefits and third-party reproduction, genetics and diagnostics, and the evolving self-pay landscape.

We discuss:

• Whether IVF benefits managers are helping clinics (or squeezing them)
• Which lending institutions and loan programs are positioned to rise to the top
• Why some say the third-party IVF experience is getting worse
• What’s changed in genetics and diagnostics since the PGT lawsuit
• How clinics are reducing workload through at-home testing solutions
• How fertility compares to the broader self-pay healthcare market

Dive deeper into any of these topics through our Inside Reproductive Health Digest Articles:

Patient Finance, Third Party IVF, Genetics, Diagnostics

Patients, providers, and staff are doing far too much manual work, and with today’s tech it’s time to operationalize.

This Fertility Field Overview breaks down the current state of AI-enabled operations, patient journey software, device innovation, cryo safety…

…and where the field is falling behind.

This episode covers:

• My bold prediction regarding IVI RMA’s approach to tech adoption (Hint: Think late 2000s Google)

• Why manual workflows are burning out staff and frustrating patients

• The operational tech stack clinics should already be building toward

• Where large vendors are stalling (and where fertility-first companies are stepping up)

• How AI, automation, and safer cryo systems could redefine clinic operations

• What recent conversations with operators, physicians, and scientists suggest about what’s coming next

For more than a decade, the debate around PGT has felt like the same arguments, the same uncertainty, and little change in day-to-day clinical decision-making.

So what’s different now?

Joining the conversation are two REIs, Dr. Deirdre Conway of Utah Fertility Center and Dr. Meera Shah of Nova IVF. Together they examine how recent events, emerging data, and evolving lab practices are reshaping how physicians think about PGT.

They discuss:

• What has changed since the late-2024 class action lawsuit against PGT labs

• How practices and networks are evaluating PGT lab partnerships today

• Why IVY Fertility has not yet selected a single PGT lab

• What additional evidence clinicians want to see around PGT-A and PGT-G

• Which PGT lab stood out to Dr. Conway (And the story behind her first case)

This is a grounded, clinician-led conversation about evidence, accountability, and what it would actually take for the PGT debate to move forward.