Pregnantish

When people look at entrepreneur Samantha Busch and her husband, NASCAR driver Kyle Busch, they may see a picture-perfect life and family, and have no idea how much this couple struggled behind the scenes to become parents. Both faced an infertility diagnosis that led them on a path they never expected while in the public eye, and one that resulted in their Bundle of Joy Fund. They developed this non-profit in an effort to advocate for infertility awareness and remove financial barriers by granting monetary awards to couples who require fertility treatments.

On "First Comes Loves, Then Comes Marriage, Then Comes...Infertility?!", Relationship Expert Andrea Syrtash, and Samantha Busch, author of the new book, "Fighting Infertility: Finding My Inner Warrior Through Trying to Conceive, IVF and Miscarriage" get real about how their lives and marriages have been affected by failed IVF transfers and pregnancy losses, and explore what it means to keep intimacy alive and marriages connected during the immense challenges that infertility can bring into relationships.

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If you came across Gregory Sdeo on Twitter, you may think his account is a joke. After all, his handle is "Balls Don't Work" and his name is listed as "Got No Sperm" -- but there's no joke here. 

Greg is one in the estimated 40-50% of men with an infertility diagnosis that's impacted his ability to start a family with his wife. 

This episode explores why we often frame infertility as a woman's issue, how Greg and his wife have navigated this diagnosis and how to support more men facing this medical reality. 

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Actress and Entertainer Athena Reich, who has been called one of the best Lady Gaga impersonators, created a show called #ARTBIRTH just around the time that birth was on her mind. 

When Athena was in her mid-30s, she did what she says, 'Any clock-ticking lesbian would do' and she picked a sperm donor with the goal of getting pregnant via IUI or IVF. 

What Athena didn't know at this time was that she'd embark on a painful infertility journey that eventually led her to embrace the other side of third party reproduction, egg donation.

Today, as a proud single lesbian mom of two and a fertility advocate, Athena has a lot to share about all the unexpected twists and turns her path to parenthood took, what straight people can learn from the LGBT world when it comes to building a family 'with help' and why she's used her voice consistently to talk about her double-donor conceived children.

This episode is brought to you by First Response™ Pregnancy, voted 'most trusted pregnancy test brand" by American shoppers based on the 2020 BrandSpark® American Trust Study. First Response Early Result Pregnancy Test can tell you 6 days sooner than your missed period. In laboratory testing, the Early Result Pregnancy Test detected pregnancy hormone levels in 76% of pregnant women 5 days before their expected period.  

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Jennifer Grobrecht never expected to be expecting. 

Born with MRKH, a condition in which a woman is born without a uterus, Jennifer didn't imagine she could or would ever carry a pregnancy. But, through the generosity of a family she didn't know, and a scientific breakthrough that allowed a uterus transplant to happen, Jennifer delivered a healthy baby.

Jennifer is just the third woman in the world, and the second in the US to deliver a baby from a uterus that was donated to her from a deceased donor. And, she's the first one to speak about it publicly.  

Her successful uterus transplant surgery happened because of a donation made from a grieving family, who were mourning the loss of 'the best mother (they) ever knew', who tragically died at just 29 years old.

On this episode, hear how Jennifer and her husband navigated family building when she thought she couldn't easily conceive, how she heard about this cutting-edge option and why she's sharing her powerful story.

This episode is brought to you by First Response Pregnancy. When you're asking yourself, "Am I pregnant? Am I really, really, really pregnant?" - sometimes you want to triple check. The First Response Triple Check Pregnancy test gives you results 3 different ways for added reassurance. First Response Early Result & Digital Tests let you know 6 days sooner* and First Response Rapid Result gives you results in 60 seconds from the day of your missed period. All of these tests are over 99% accurate**.

*Than your missed period. In laboratory testing, Early Result Pregnancy Test detected pregnancy hormone levels in 76% of pregnant women 5 days before their expected period. In laboratory testing, Digital Pregnancy Test detected pregnancy hormone levels in 60% of pregnant women 5 days before their expected period. See package for details about testing early. Excludes Rapid Result Pregnancy Test. 

**Over 99% accurate. For Early Result and Digital Pregnancy Tests: >99% accurate at detecting typical pregnancy hormone levels from the day of your expected period. For Rapid Result Pregnancy Test: >99% accurate at detecting typical pregnancy hormone levels from the day of your missed period. Note that hormone levels vary. See insert. 

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If you looked at good friends Abbey and Wendy, who met 8 years ago at a beach house on Fire Island, you'd have no idea that they share so much more than meets the eye.

These friends, who were single after divorce and relationships that weren't going anywhere, had dreams of motherhood and decided to build their families, instead of waiting for the right men to come along. 

After a series of failed IVF and IUI treatments due to Diminished Ovarian Reserve and other issues, Wendy pursued adoption - but still had frozen embryos that she had created, with the help of third party reproduction, years before.  Wendy decided to donate these embryos to her friend Abbey, who now has a baby thanks to Wendy's donation. And, Abbey donated the remaining embryo to her best friend in California, who is now expecting Abbey's daughter's genetic sibling. 

This is a story about being a single mom by choice and how girlfriends and single women today can build the family of their dreams.

This episode is brought to you by First Response, voted "most trusted pregnancy test brand" by American shoppers based on the 2020 BrandSpark® American Trust Study. First Response Early Result Pregnancy Test can tell you 6 days sooner than your missed period. In laboratory testing, the Early Result Pregnancy Test detected pregnancy hormone levels in 76% of pregnant women 5 days before their expected period.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When we think of infertility and menopause, we don't generally picture someone who looks like Kelly McLay - who is a fit and youthful looking marathon runner. Kelly didn't think of herself this way, either, when she was diagnosed with menopause at 24 years old. 

Kelly became one of the one in the 1000 women who reach menopause before the age of 30. And yet, we don't hear these stories enough and many think infertility is almost always caused by a woman who just waited "too long" to start trying.

On this episode, Andrea sits down with Kelly to hear about this confusing diagnosis and the events that transpired after, including joining a group of 50-something year old women also navigating menopause, launching her passion for marathon running and embracing third-party reproduction.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

 Pregnancy Loss Awareness Month is in October, but we all know that this devastating experience affects countless people throughout the year. Some estimate that 1 in 4 experience miscarriage and no matter how common it may be, it is still misunderstood, taboo in some circles and incredibly painful.  

In 2014, after a 16 week pregnancy loss, Psychologist Dr. Jessica Zucker was compelled to change the conversation around miscarriage and created a campaign called "I had a miscarriage." She never expected the idea to take off so widely, and she now spends her time counseling and supporting people through loss through her private practice, her writing and her popular Instagram page.  

On this episode, Andrea sits down with Dr. Jessica to explore the topic of miscarriage and the grief that accompanies it for all involved -- not just the woman who was carrying the baby. 

They also explore how we can better support others, including ourselves, through this tough experience so that we are able to honor those who we've lost while being able to move forward.

We conclude the program with singer-songwriter Andrea England's song, 'I Won't Forget About You'.

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Infertility advocate Aprill Lane always knew that she wanted to have four children; but when she and her husband were diagnosed with Unexplained Infertility in their 20s, she turned to endless IVF cycles and adoption to build her family. A decade of treatments and trying later, Aprill and her partner welcomed their fifth child spontaneously. 

Today, Aprill's made history as one of the first women in the country (and the world) to donate her uterus to another woman, who she doesn't know, who has also faced infertility. 

On this episode, we hear about Aprill's wild path to parenthood, how she responded to unsolicited advice while trying to get and stay pregnant, and why she was compelled to undergo many months of preparation and a nine hour surgery to give another woman the opportunity to carry a child. 

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On this episode of the Pregnantish Podcast, Andrea explores a chapter of her own family building story: gestational surrogacy. Contrary to popular belief, this process is still somewhat rare, with approximately 750 gestational surrogacy births a year in the United States.

Unlike traditional surrogacy, which is less common today, gestational surrogacy occurs when the surrogate is not genetically related to the embryo she is carrying. The "Intended Parents" have undergone IVF, with their own genetic material (or potentially a donor egg or sperm), to produce an embryo that will be transferred into the gestational carrier's uterus.

On "When Your Mother Births Your Baby" Andrea sits down with Julie Loving and Breanna Lockwood, a mother and daughter who are expecting a baby in November. If that sounds unusual...it is! There are few cases where a mother is in the right shape to deliver a baby for her child.

Tune in to hear why Breanna, who was only 26 when she started trying to conceive, got to the point where she needed to find a surrogate, how her mother got involved, all the misconceptions they've faced as they've gone public (and viral!) with their family story, and how they're dealing with all of the unknowns around a pregnancy and delivery during a worldwide pandemic. 

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Third-party reproduction, egg and sperm donation, is becoming more popular as the number of singles, infertile couples and members of the LGBT community build their families with the help of fertility treatments.

The first known baby born via egg donor was in the early 1980s. Just a few decades old, there’s still a lot we don’t know about egg donation. However, what we do know is that more agencies and donors pop up every year as the demand increases and there’s a lot of interest in this category, from intended parents, potential donors and from people born via egg donation.

In this episode, Andrea sits down with Michelle, who donated her eggs at 22 and now at 33 faces infertility and wonders if she will need to find an egg donor. (Spoiler: Her eggs are no longer at the clinics she donated to. She called to find out!) 

Andrea also interviews former New York Times columnist and author of "The Trying Game", Amy Klein, who discusses the trend of egg donation, both as someone who benefited from it and as a journalist who has covered this growing trend. 

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