Soulful IVF

What if one of the most overlooked parts of your IVF journey is the financial side?

When we talk about IVF, we often talk about medications, injections, retrievals, transfers, embryos and appointments. But what about the money?

The financial side of fertility treatment can feel just as overwhelming as the medical side—and yet, it’s often something we don't talk about until we're already in the thick of treatment.

In this episode of Soulful IVF, I'm joined by Barbara Schreihans, founder and CEO of Your Tax Coach and host of the Life-Changing Money Podcast, for a conversation about IVF, taxes, money mindset and financial empowerment.

Barbara brings 16 tax seasons of experience to the conversation and shares practical ways women can become more informed about the financial side of fertility treatment.

And while this episode is filled with practical tax and money conversations, there’s a deeper message underneath it all:

Knowledge can turn the unknown into something you can actually navigate.

In this episode, we talk about:

✨ The often-overlooked financial side of IVF

✨ What women should know about potential tax considerations related to fertility treatment

✨ Why tracking your medical expenses and keeping your receipts can matter

✨ How timing and planning your medical expenses may impact your taxes

✨ What fertility patients should know about HSA and FSA accounts

✨ Questions business owners may want to explore before beginning fertility treatment

✨ Why documenting travel and other out-of-pocket expenses can be important

✨ Fertility preservation, egg freezing, surrogacy and some of the additional expenses women may encounter

✨ Why it can be valuable to talk with a tax professional before you begin treatment rather than after the fact

✨ How understanding your finances can reduce some of the fear surrounding IVF

✨ The connection between money, mindset and your overall experience of fertility treatment

✨ Barbara's mantra: “The better it gets, the better it gets.”

✨ The power of shifting from scarcity and fear toward possibility and abundance

✨ Why Barbara believes we can actually learn to “play the tax game”

From fear of the unknown to financial empowerment

One of my favorite moments in this conversation is when Barbara talks about the power of education to change our relationship with uncertainty.

There are already so many unknowns in fertility treatment and we may not be able to control the outcome of IVF—but we can become more informed about the pieces we can understand and prepare for.

And sometimes, having the right person on your team can make all the difference.

Just as you might have an RE, nurse, acupuncturist, therapist or IVF coach supporting different parts of your journey, a tax professional who understands the financial side of fertility treatment can be another valuable member of your team.

This conversation also went a bit more soulful, because on this podcast we cover topics around spirituality -- we couldn't have a conversation about money without talking about energy, mindset, manifestation and possibility.

Barbara shares her own practices around self-care, her Human Design as a Projector, her love of crystals and her connection with the hummingbird as a personal symbol.

We also talk about manifestation, abundance and the idea that money doesn't have to be something we fear or avoid talking about.

In fact, perhaps we can learn to approach it with a little more curiosity, play and possibility.

Because IVF doesn't have to be just about getting through the process.

It's about finding ways to support yourself—emotionally, energetically, practically and financially—while you're living through it.

Barbara's Bio: 

Barbara Schreihans is the founder and CEO of Your Tax Coach and the voice behind the Life-Changing Money Podcast. With 16 tax seasons of experience, Barbara helps entrepreneurs better understand their taxes and use tax strategy as a tool for building wealth. She brings a refreshing perspective to money—one that encourages people to become more educated, empowered and intentional rather than intimidated by their finances. Follow Barbara on Instagram: @yourtaxcoach

*A note about taxes -- This conversation is for educational purposes only and is not individualized tax, financial or legal advice. Tax rules and individual circumstances vary, and you should consult your own qualified tax professional regarding your specific situation.

CONNECT with Lisa & get IVF COACHING SUPPORT

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Music Credit (Closing Song) by Sam Costigan. Follow her on Spotify and IG 

What if there is no "right" way to do IVF—only the way that is right for you?

IVF can be an incredibly information-heavy experience. 

There are protocols to understand, decisions to make, statistics to consider, doctors to listen to, opinions to navigate, and endless possibilities to research.

But somewhere in all that information, many women lose touch with the most important voice in the room: Their own.

In this episode I’m joined by my friend Elena Lipson, an intuition and self-trust coach, for a deeply meaningful conversation about what it means to trust yourself during IVF.

We explore the question so many women quietly ask:

"How do I know what's right for me?"

Elena offers a beautiful reframe: rather than searching for the universally "right" or "wrong" decision, we can learn to develop our own inner authority—the ability to take in information, listen to ourselves, and make choices that feel aligned with our individual path. 

And this is especially powerful during IVF, when the stakes can feel enormous.

In This Episode, We Talk About:

·      Why IVF can make it so difficult to trust yourself

·      The difference between "What is right?" and "What is right for me?"

·      How to recognize your intuition

·      Why stress can disconnect you from your intuition

·      The pressure to "get IVF right"

·      The power of slowing down

·      Why self-trust doesn't mean doing it alone

One of my favorite parts of this conversation is our reminder that trusting yourself doesn't mean becoming an island. We need support, loving people, and a team that can help us carry what feels heavy. 

Elena’s Bio: Elena Lipson is an intuition and self-trust coach who helps women reconnect with their inner knowing and make decisions from a place of greater alignment and self-trust.

She hosts The Intuitive Life Podcast and offers tools, coaching, and resources designed to help women strengthen their relationship with intuition. Here is the conversation we had on her podcast! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/an-intuitive-life-coaching-intuition-midlife-inner/id1253141647?i=1000770752215

You can find Elena on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/elena_lipson/ and explore her work through her podcast and website https://elenalipson.com/

CONNECT with Lisa & get IVF COACHING SUPPORT

JOIN the next 7 week group! https://ivfmanifestingamiracle.com/group-program

BOOK a complimentary CALL

BOOK: ‘HOLD ON, BABY! A Soulful Guide to Navigating the Ups & Downs of Infertility & IVF.’

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LISTEN to the PODCAST on Apple and Spotify:

**Please Rate the show & Subscribe! THANK YOU so much for your Reviews of the podcast!

Music Credit (Closing Song) by Sam Costigan. Follow her on Spotify and IG 

What if one of the most powerful things you could do during IVF had nothing to do with another supplement, another protocol, or another appointment?

In this heartfelt conversation, I sit down with psychic medium, energy alchemist, and entrepreneur Brittney Carmichael to explore the role of self-love, joy, nervous system safety, and energetic healing while navigating life's biggest uncertainties—including fertility. She shares her perspective on preparing the body and soul for life's biggest dreams, cultivating safety and joy in the midst of uncertainty, and why healing ourselves is one of the greatest gifts we can offer—whether we're building a business, creating a meaningful life, or walking the deeply personal path of fertility.

Although Brittney hasn't personally experienced IVF, her decades of guiding women through healing journeys offer a fresh perspective on what it means to prepare your body, heart, and spirit to receive what you're calling in.

Together, we discuss how manifestation can be empowering without becoming another source of pressure, why healing isn't about perfection, and how reconnecting with yourself may be one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself throughout your fertility journey.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why self-love is foundational during IVF—not something that waits until motherhood

• How nervous system safety influences your emotional well-being throughout fertility treatment

• The difference between trying to control your IVF journey versus co-creating with it

• Why joy, play, and pleasure deserve a place in your fertility journey

• The role of energetic healing, intuition, and releasing old beliefs

• How manifestation can support your fertility journey without creating guilt or blame

• Brittney's SHIFT framework for navigating uncertainty and personal transformation

• Why preparing your vessel emotionally is just as important as preparing physically

• Practical ways to reconnect with yourself when IVF feels like it's consuming your life

BIO: Brittney Carmichael is a psychic medium, energy alchemist, transformational speaker, and self-love advocate dedicated to helping women reconnect with their intuition, heal from within, and create lives they truly love. A serial entrepreneur with over two decades of experience building multiple six- and seven-figure businesses, Brittney uniquely blends spiritual wisdom with practical tools to help women move through fear, embrace their authentic selves, and step into their highest potential.

As the creator of Shine School®, the Shine From the Inside Oracle Deck, and co-host of The Elevated Life® Podcast, Brittney has inspired thousands of women around the world through coaching, retreats, speaking engagements, and transformational experiences centered on self-love, intuition, manifestation, and personal growth.

Learn more about Brittney and her work at brittneycarmichael.com.

CONNECT with Lisa & get IVF COACHING SUPPORT

JOIN the next 7 week group! https://ivfmanifestingamiracle.com/group-program

BOOK a complimentary CALL

BOOK: ‘HOLD ON, BABY! A Soulful Guide to Navigating the Ups & Downs of Infertility & IVF.’

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LISTEN to the PODCAST on Apple and Spotify:

**Please Rate the show & Subscribe! THANK YOU so much for your Reviews of the podcast!

Music Credit (Closing Song) by Sam Costigan. Follow her on Spotify and IG 

What if your fertility journey isn’t your whole story?

In this episode, I’m joined by Speaker, Storytelling Coach, and author Alex Street for a conversation that completely reframes how we think about struggle, healing, identity, and transformation.

Alex believes that your story is your superpower—and together we explore what it means to move beyond defining ourselves by one painful chapter and instead begin seeing our lives through the lens of growth, meaning, and possibility.

This conversation felt especially powerful because while Alex doesn’t come from the fertility world, his work helping people uncover and own their story connects deeply to what so many women navigating IVF and infertility experience.

We talk about how our hardest moments do not become our identity.

Instead, they become part of something bigger.

If you’ve ever felt consumed by waiting, grief, uncertainty, or the pressure of fertility treatments, this episode offers a different perspective: your story is not the struggle itself—it’s the transformation happening through it.

Inside this episode, we explore:
✨ Why your story is more than your fertility journey
✨ How to move from confusion toward clarity
✨ Why transformation matters more than timelines
✨ The difference between honoring pain vs. becoming consumed by it
✨ How storytelling can support healing and identity shifts
✨ Journaling prompts to reconnect with yourself
✨ Finding peace and possibility even in difficult seasons
✨ Why your story is first for YOU before anyone else

One of my favorite reminders from Alex:
“Your story isn’t the moment. Your story is the transformation.”

If you’re walking through IVF, infertility, grief, waiting, or simply becoming someone new through life’s unexpected turns—I hope this conversation reminds you that this chapter is not your whole book.

CONNECT WITH ALEX STREET
Website: AlexStreet.ca
Instagram: @alexstreetca
Book: StoryArc

CONNECT with Lisa & get IVF COACHING SUPPORT

JOIN the next 7 week group! https://ivfmanifestingamiracle.com/group-program

BOOK a complimentary CALL

BOOK: ‘HOLD ON, BABY! A Soulful Guide to Navigating the Ups & Downs of Infertility & IVF.’

INSTAGRAM

WATCH on YOUTUBE

LISTEN to the PODCAST on Apple and Spotify:

**Please Rate the show & Subscribe! THANK YOU so much for your Reviews of the podcast!

Music Credit (Closing Song) by Sam Costigan. Follow her on Spotify and IG 

What if your path to motherhood didn’t look anything like you expected… but led you exactly where you were meant to be?

In this deeply moving and expansive conversation, I sit down with Alexandra Dominguez—an adoptee, adoptive mother, IVF mom, and now a guide for alternative family building—to explore the many paths to becoming a parent.

We met by chance at the gym (proof that synchronistic connections are all around), and from the moment Alexandra began sharing her story, I knew it needed to be heard.

Her journey spans IUI, unexplained infertility, adoption, a devastating disrupted adoption, IVF success, and now embryo donation—a full-circle story that highlights the complexity, grief, trust, and beauty of building a family in non-traditional ways.

This episode is for anyone navigating fertility challenges and wondering: Which path is right for me?

In This Episode, We Talk About:

• Alexandra’s experience with unexplained infertility and PCOS
• Why she chose to step away from fertility treatments and pursue adoption
• The emotional reality of a failed/disrupted adoption (and how she moved through it)
• The powerful moment that led her to her son just one month later
• How her body shifted after becoming a mom—and led her back to IVF
• Her IVF journey, including retrieval, OHSS, and a successful first transfer
• The importance of listening to your body and intuition on your fertility path
• The financial and emotional realities of adoption vs. IVF
• What it means to donate embryos—and her decision to give her remaining embryos to a close friend
• The concept of compassionate embryo transfer
• Why community and support are everything during fertility and adoption journeys
• Her new work helping others navigate IVF, adoption, surrogacy, and alternative family building

Connect with Alexandra:

Alexandra is now supporting individuals and couples as they navigate their own paths to parenthood through her work in alternative family building.

You can connect with her on Instagram:
@SonrisaFamilyBuilding

CONNECT with Lisa & get IVF COACHING SUPPORT

JOIN the next 7 week group! https://ivfmanifestingamiracle.com/group-program

BOOK a complimentary CALL

BOOK: ‘HOLD ON, BABY! A Soulful Guide to Navigating the Ups & Downs of Infertility & IVF.’

INSTAGRAM

WATCH on YOUTUBE

LISTEN to the PODCAST on Apple and Spotify:

**Please Rate the show & Subscribe! THANK YOU so much for your Reviews of the podcast!

Music Credit (Closing Song) by Sam Costigan. Follow her on Spotify and IG 

In this episode of Soulful IVF, I welcome Kate Ryan for an honest and healing conversation about IVF, infertility, egg donor conception, pregnancy after loss, and nervous system healing.

Kate shares her powerful 6-year fertility journey, including 3 IUIs, 5 IVF cycles, diminished ovarian reserve, endometriosis, pregnancy loss, and the emotional rollercoaster of infertility treatment.

After years of setbacks, grief, and emotional burnout, Kate and her husband were led to consider egg donation, a path that ultimately brought them their son through one embryo and one successful transfer.

This conversation beautifully explores what happens emotionally during infertility — the fear, isolation, resentment, loss of self, and the constant waiting for “the other shoe to drop.”

Kate also vulnerably opens up about her experience with pregnancy anxiety after infertility and postpartum depression after finally becoming a mother, something so many women silently struggle with after fertility treatment.

Together, Kate and I dive into the healing practices that helped her reconnect with herself:

• meditation
• breathwork
• nervous system regulation
• movement and somatic healing
• music and sound healing
• creative writing
• Reiki and spiritual tools

Kate shares how these practices helped her move from survival mode into healing and inspired her beautiful book, The Story of Us, a children’s book that celebrates all paths to family building, including assisted reproduction and donor conception.

This episode also includes a beautiful guided meditation and calming mantra practice to support women navigating IVF, infertility, pregnancy after loss, or motherhood after a long fertility journey.

If you are looking for fertility mindset support, emotional healing during IVF, or hope after infertility, this episode is for you.

What We Cover in This Episode

• IVF support and infertility healing
• 3 IUIs and 5 IVF cycles
• diminished ovarian reserve and endometriosis
• pregnancy loss and fear after infertility
• egg donor conception journey
• one embryo, one transfer success story
• pregnancy after infertility anxiety
• postpartum depression after IVF
• nervous system regulation during fertility treatment
• meditation and breathwork for IVF stress
• fertility mindset and trust
• healing through creativity and sound
• all paths to motherhood and family building

Resources + Connect with Kate:  Explore Kate’s book, free breathwork, meditations, and her Intentionality in Infertility course at:
storyofus.love

CONNECT with Lisa & get IVF COACHING SUPPORT

JOIN the next 7 week group! https://ivfmanifestingamiracle.com/group-program

BOOK a complimentary CALL

BOOK: ‘HOLD ON, BABY! A Soulful Guide to Navigating the Ups & Downs of Infertility & IVF.’

INSTAGRAM

WATCH on YOUTUBE

LISTEN to the PODCAST on Apple and Spotify:

**Please Rate the show & Subscribe! THANK YOU so much for your Reviews of the podcast!

Music Credit (Closing Song) by Sam Costigan. Follow her on Spotify and IG 

In this heartfelt and healing conversation, I’m joined by Jennifer Edmonds, founder of Element Pilates and Yoga, based in Sydney, Australia.

Jennifer shares her powerful personal fertility journey — from being told she had gone through early menopause, to navigating IVF, loss, secondary infertility, and ultimately discovering the profound impact of fertility yoga, breathwork, meditation, and nervous system regulation.

This episode is for the woman who feels like she has been doing everything right… the appointments, the supplements, the protocols, the pushing… and still feels disconnected from her body and herself.

Together, we explore what happens when we shift from doing to being, from forcing to trusting, and from control to possibility.

This is a conversation about healing, rest, body trust, and remembering that your life does not need to be placed on hold while you walk this path.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Jennifer’s deeply personal fertility story, including IVF, miscarriage, and natural conception
• Being diagnosed with early menopause and the emotional impact of that news
• How fertility yoga became the missing piece in her journey
• The connection between stress, cortisol, sleep, and hormone health
• Why high-achieving women often struggle on the fertility path
• The nervous system’s role in conception and healing
• The power of slowing down and asking your body what she truly needs
• Rebuilding trust after feeling like your body has “failed”
• Why rest is productive and essential
• The mindset shift from doing more to allowing more
• Holding onto joy and not postponing your life during IVF
• Trusting in possibility, timing, and your baby’s path to you
• Mantras and practices that helped Jennifer stay grounded

BIO: 

Jennifer is a Yoga, Pilates, Meditation & Breathwork teacher who specializes in fertility & women’s health. During a long & difficult fertility journey of her own, Jennifer eventually found the practice of Fertility Yoga. This practice was able to ease her anxiety while TTC, relieve chronic insomnia, re-balance a thyroid condition…and eventually it helped her to fall pregnant naturally. She now runs an online business, Element Pilates & Yoga, helping women all over the world to overcome fertility challenges & find their way to motherhood.

Connect with Jennifer https://www.elementpilatesyoga.com/

Get her free fertility yoga guide: https://jennifer-edmonds.mykajabi.com/fertilityyogaguide

CONNECT with Lisa & get IVF COACHING SUPPORT

JOIN the next 7 week group! https://ivfmanifestingamiracle.com/group-program

BOOK a complimentary CALL

BOOK: ‘HOLD ON, BABY! A Soulful Guide to Navigating the Ups & Downs of Infertility & IVF.’

INSTAGRAM

WATCH on YOUTUBE

LISTEN to the PODCAST on Apple and Spotify:

**Please Rate the show & Subscribe! THANK YOU so much for your Reviews of the podcast!

Music Credit (Closing Song) by Sam Costigan. Follow her on Spotify and IG 

Honored to have this conversation about grief, healing after loss, holding onto faith and pursuing one's dreams with my friend Miranda. May it support you as you navigate through your fertility path and other life challenges.

Miranda's Bio:

Miranda Cuellar is a proud New Yorker who moved her life to Colombia three years ago to intentionally create her dream life. As a Virtual Assistant, she supports business owners by saving them time, bringing structure to their ideas, and helping their visions come to life with ease and organization.

With over seven years in the demanding entertainment industry — from Broadway to TV/film and live events — Miranda brings calm, precision, and a strong behind-the-scenes skill set into every business she supports.

Alongside her professional success, Miranda has walked through profound seasons of grief, including the end of her marriage due to his drug addiction, the loss of her husband to overdose, rehoming her beloved dog, and her father’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis. These experiences reshaped her perspective on life and have deepened her faith in God.

Connect with her on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/your.assistant.mirandac/

CONNECT with Lisa & get IVF COACHING SUPPORT

JOIN the next 7 week group! https://ivfmanifestingamiracle.com/group-program

BOOK a complimentary CALL

BOOK: ‘HOLD ON, BABY! A Soulful Guide to Navigating the Ups & Downs of Infertility & IVF.’

INSTAGRAM

WATCH on YOUTUBE

LISTEN to the PODCAST on Apple and Spotify:

**Please Rate the show & Subscribe! THANK YOU so much for your Reviews of the podcast!

Music Credit (Closing Song) by Sam Costigan. Follow her on Spotify and IG 

In this personal episode Lisa sits down with her longtime friend Dana to talk about her fertility journey and the profound shifts she experienced along the way.

Dana shares how, as a driven and successful woman in her late 30s, she made the proactive decision to freeze her eggs while still searching for her life partner. Soon after she met her partner and continued her IVF journey —facing fertility challenges and loss along the way.

Like many high-achieving women, Dana initially approached fertility the same way she approached everything else in life: with determination, strategy, and effort. But over time, she realized this journey required a different approach.

Through working with Lisa as her IVF "mindset and energetics coach," participating in a monthly Moon Magic and Manifestation circle in 2024, and connecting with other women walking a similar path, Dana began to shift into a more grounded, supported, and intentional experience.

She also gained insights through personal chakra readings and newfound  awareness to her throat chakra, which helped her use her voice and become a more powerful advocate for herself throughout her fertility treatment.

Dana also shares how building a holistic fertility team—including supportive practitioners and professionals—allowed her to feel more empowered and aligned on her path.

Today, Dana is the mother of a beautiful daughter and reflects on how this journey ultimately transformed not just her path to motherhood, but her relationship with presence, trust, and surrender.

Connect with Dana on Instagram @seedbyvisionandco and @day_bydayna.

CONNECT with Lisa & get IVF COACHING SUPPORT

JOIN the next 7 week group! https://ivfmanifestingamiracle.com/group-program

BOOK a complimentary CALL

BOOK: ‘HOLD ON, BABY! A Soulful Guide to Navigating the Ups & Downs of Infertility & IVF.’

INSTAGRAM

WATCH on YOUTUBE

LISTEN to the PODCAST on Apple and Spotify:

**Please Rate the show & Subscribe! THANK YOU so much for your Reviews of the podcast!

Music Credit (Closing Song) by Sam Costigan. Follow her on Spotify and IG 

What if one of the the missing pieces in your fertility journey isn’t another item "to-do" but a deeper understanding of your own body?

If you’re doing all the things—tracking, testing, supplementing, pushing through IVF cycles—yet still feeling disconnected, inflamed, anxious, or exhausted… you might be overlooking the foundation: how your body digests, absorbs, and feels safe enough to create life.

Because fertility isn’t just numbers and lab results. It’s vitality.

In this powerful conversation with Ayurvedic practitioner Madison, we demystify Ayurveda—the 5,000-year-old “science of life”—and explore how reconnecting to your body’s natural rhythms can transform not just your fertility, but your entire relationship with yourself.

Ayurveda teaches that we are made of the same elements as nature—earth, water, fire, air, and space—and that true balance comes from honoring your unique self.  When digestion is strong, your nervous system feels safe, and your body is nourished at a cellular level, reproductive health becomes supported naturally.

We dive into concepts like prana (life force), why reproductive tissue is the last tissue to be nourished, and why it’s not just what you eat—but how you digest—that matters most.

If you’ve been operating in survival mode, this episode will gently invite you back into alignment.

BY THE TIME YOU FINISH LISTENING, YOU’LL DISCOVER:

• What Ayurveda really is—and why it’s called the “knowledge of life”
• How your unique dosha (Vata, Pitta, or Kapha) impacts your hormones and fertility
• Why digestion is the foundation of egg, sperm, and uterine health
• How increasing prana (life force) can support conscious conception and preconception preparation

Fertility begins with vitality—and when you learn to nourish your body in alignment with its nature, you don’t just prepare for pregnancy… you come back to life yourself.

Madison's Bio: Madison is an Ayurvedic Doctor, Functional Hormone Specialist, and Fertility Educator, as well as a longtime teacher of yoga and meditation. She helps women and couples prepare for pregnancy by balancing hormones, optimizing digestion, and creating the physical, emotional, and energetic conditions for new life to thrive. https://www.shriwellness.com/

FREEBIE
Free Ayurvedic Fertility Type Test -- Take the Fertility Type Test to uncover why your energy, digestion, and cycle symptoms are early clues about your future fertility—and how to work with your body’s natural rhythms to attract a healthy pregnancy.
https://subscribepage.io/fertilitytypetest

CONNECT with Lisa & get IVF COACHING SUPPORT

JOIN the next 7 week group! https://ivfmanifestingamiracle.com/group-program

BOOK a complimentary CALL

BOOK: ‘HOLD ON, BABY! A Soulful Guide to Navigating the Ups & Downs of Infertility & IVF.’

INSTAGRAM

WATCH on YOUTUBE

LISTEN to the PODCAST on Apple and Spotify:

**Please Rate the show & Subscribe! THANK YOU so much for your Reviews of the podcast!

Music Credit (Closing Song) by Sam Costigan. Follow her on Spotify and IG