Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday

Send us Fan Mail

Why do IUIs fail, even when everything seems to be done right? In this updated episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday, Dr. Mark Amols breaks down what a failed IUI actually means. He explains the three biggest reasons IUIs fail: sometimes it is just bad luck, sometimes IUI is the wrong treatment for the biology, and sometimes there is a hidden problem that routine fertility testing cannot detect. This episode also covers newer data on IUI success rates, the role of male factor infertility, how age and time trying should affect treatment decisions, when it makes sense to keep trying IUI, and when it may be smarter to move on to IVF. If you have ever wondered whether a failed IUI means something is wrong or whether IVF is the next step, this episode will help you think about it more clearly. 

Thanks for listening to another episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday with Dr. Mark Amols.

If you found this episode helpful, please share it with someone who might benefit—and don't forget to follow the show and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.

Want to explore more fertility topics? Visit TacoBoutFertility.com, where you can search our entire episode library, find episodes about the questions that matter to you, try our interactive fertility tools, and submit questions or topic requests for future episodes.

Join us next Tuesday for another episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday, where we make fertility medicine easier to understand—one topic at a time.

Send us Fan Mail

In this replay episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday, Dr. Mark Amols breaks down one of the most frustrating questions in fertility treatment: why IUIs sometimes fail even when everything seems like it should work. He explains the real success rates of IUI, why unexplained infertility is not the same as no problem, how sperm and tubes can look normal on paper but still not function normally, and why a failed IUI does not mean IVF will fail too. This is a helpful episode for anyone trying to understand realistic expectations for IUI and when it may be time to move on to IVF. Originally released in 2021. 

Thanks for listening to another episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday with Dr. Mark Amols.

If you found this episode helpful, please share it with someone who might benefit—and don't forget to follow the show and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.

Want to explore more fertility topics? Visit TacoBoutFertility.com, where you can search our entire episode library, find episodes about the questions that matter to you, try our interactive fertility tools, and submit questions or topic requests for future episodes.

Join us next Tuesday for another episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday, where we make fertility medicine easier to understand—one topic at a time.

Send us Fan Mail

Have you ever thought your top-tier insurance fully covered IVF, only to be hit with a $20,000 out-of-pocket bill? On this episode of Taco 'Bout Fertility Tuesday, Dr. Mark Amols pulls back the curtain on the confusing and frustrating world of reproductive medicine insurance.

We break down the two biggest financial illusions in fertility care:

• The ERISA Loophole: Discover the difference between fully insured and self-funded corporate plans, and learn why state IVF mandates might not legally apply to your employer.
• The Out-of-Network Lab Trap: Find out why your doctor might be in-network, but the embryology lab is not—and why the "No Surprises Act" won't protect you from these massive bills.

Finally, we discuss the newly reintroduced HOPE Act—a federal bill designed to close the corporate insurance gap—and equip you with the three essential questions you must ask your financial coordinator before starting treatment so you don't get burned.

Thanks for listening to another episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday with Dr. Mark Amols.

If you found this episode helpful, please share it with someone who might benefit—and don't forget to follow the show and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.

Want to explore more fertility topics? Visit TacoBoutFertility.com, where you can search our entire episode library, find episodes about the questions that matter to you, try our interactive fertility tools, and submit questions or topic requests for future episodes.

Join us next Tuesday for another episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday, where we make fertility medicine easier to understand—one topic at a time.

Send us Fan Mail

If you’re going through IVF, you’ve probably heard it: “Just relax.” It sounds comforting, but for many patients it feels like blame.

In this episode of Taco ’Bout Fertility Tuesday, Dr. Mark Amols breaks down what stress actually does during fertility treatment, what it does not do, and why the science does not support the simplistic idea that anxiety is what makes IVF fail. He also explains where stress does matter—your mental health, your relationships, your ability to keep going, and why untreated fertility stress can become a very real burden.

This episode covers the difference between emotional distress and IVF outcomes, why cortisol is not the smoking gun people make it out to be, how failed cycles can increase distress, and what actually helps: counseling, CBT, support systems, and real emotional care. Because IVF is a medical process, not a relaxation contest.

Thanks for listening to another episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday with Dr. Mark Amols.

If you found this episode helpful, please share it with someone who might benefit—and don't forget to follow the show and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.

Want to explore more fertility topics? Visit TacoBoutFertility.com, where you can search our entire episode library, find episodes about the questions that matter to you, try our interactive fertility tools, and submit questions or topic requests for future episodes.

Join us next Tuesday for another episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday, where we make fertility medicine easier to understand—one topic at a time.

Send us Fan Mail

What does a messed-up Chipotle order have to do with a disappointing IVF cycle? More than you might think. In this episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday, Dr. Mark Amols uses the burrito analogy to explain an important concept in fertility treatment: one bad outcome does not automatically mean the entire plan was wrong. Sometimes the issue is not the whole recipe, but one part of the process — like trigger timing, fertilization method, sperm quality that day, lab variables, or another unexpected outlier.

Dr. Amols breaks down why patients often feel the urge to change everything after a poor cycle, and why that is not always the smartest move. Instead of overhauling a protocol just because the outcome was disappointing, it is often more important to carefully review each step of the cycle and identify what actually failed. Was it poor maturation? Poor fertilization? A sperm issue? A timing issue? Or just a bad batch and bad luck?

This episode walks through how IVF protocols are built, what stimulation medications actually do, what they do not do, and why small targeted changes can sometimes matter more than a complete overhaul. If you have ever had a disappointing IVF cycle and wondered whether you should change everything next time, this episode will help you think about it more clearly and have a better conversation with your doctor.

Thanks for listening to another episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday with Dr. Mark Amols.

If you found this episode helpful, please share it with someone who might benefit—and don't forget to follow the show and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.

Want to explore more fertility topics? Visit TacoBoutFertility.com, where you can search our entire episode library, find episodes about the questions that matter to you, try our interactive fertility tools, and submit questions or topic requests for future episodes.

Join us next Tuesday for another episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday, where we make fertility medicine easier to understand—one topic at a time.

Send us Fan Mail

For thousands of years, humans have tried to influence whether they have a boy or a girl. From ancient myths about moon phases and food choices to modern scientific techniques, the desire to choose a baby’s sex has never gone away.

In this episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday, Dr. Mark Amols breaks down the real science behind sex selection and separates fact from fiction.

You’ll learn:

• Why sex positions, foods, and timing methods like the Shettles Method don’t actually work
 • The fascinating biology behind X and Y sperm
 • Just how tiny the difference between male and female sperm really is
 • Why sperm sorting techniques have struggled to work reliably
 • The only method currently proven to determine a baby’s sex before pregnancy
 • The ethical debate surrounding gender selection
 • Why sex selection laws differ around the world
 • What future technologies may make possible

Dr. Amols also discusses the concept of family balancing, the controversial question of whether choosing a baby’s sex is “playing God,” and how advances in reproductive technology continue to push the boundaries of medicine.

If you’ve ever wondered whether it’s truly possible to choose a boy or a girl—or why so many myths about sex selection still exist—this episode explains the science in a way that’s easy to understand.

Thanks for listening to another episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday with Dr. Mark Amols.

If you found this episode helpful, please share it with someone who might benefit—and don't forget to follow the show and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.

Want to explore more fertility topics? Visit TacoBoutFertility.com, where you can search our entire episode library, find episodes about the questions that matter to you, try our interactive fertility tools, and submit questions or topic requests for future episodes.

Join us next Tuesday for another episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday, where we make fertility medicine easier to understand—one topic at a time.

Send us Fan Mail

If you’re 38, you’ve been trying for 12 months, and every test comes back “normal,” this episode is your step-by-step game plan for what to do next. “Unexplained infertility” isn’t a diagnosis—it’s a sign we haven’t found the real bottleneck yet, and at 38, time is a real variable.

We walk through the highest-yield checklist to confirm what’s truly been evaluated (ovulation, uterine cavity, tubes, and the male factor), then cover the common “hidden” causes that don’t show up on basic workups—like egg quality/aneuploidy, subtle sperm issues (including DNA fragmentation), endometriosis, and timing problems.

Finally, I lay out a clear decision tree for your next move—minimal intervention vs a time-limited IUI trial vs moving to IVF sooner—plus my hard-stop rules, what I would NOT waste time or money on, and the exact questions to bring to your next appointment so you leave with a timeline instead of limbo.

Thanks for listening to another episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday with Dr. Mark Amols.

If you found this episode helpful, please share it with someone who might benefit—and don't forget to follow the show and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.

Want to explore more fertility topics? Visit TacoBoutFertility.com, where you can search our entire episode library, find episodes about the questions that matter to you, try our interactive fertility tools, and submit questions or topic requests for future episodes.

Join us next Tuesday for another episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday, where we make fertility medicine easier to understand—one topic at a time.

Send us Fan Mail

When you see a fertility doctor, you’re usually offered two paths: IUI or IVF. But what if there’s a middle ground?

In this episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday, Dr. Mark Amols breaks down IntraVaginal Culture (IVC) — a treatment where your body becomes the incubator. At our clinic, we call the device the “Baby Pod,” and it offers a meaningful step up from IUI without the full cost and complexity of IVF.

Dr. Amols explains how IVC works, why it is not the same as IVF, and why marketing it as an IVF replacement is misleading. He walks through real-world success rates, who makes a good candidate, who should avoid it, the limitations of embryo monitoring, and why fewer embryos matter. He also clarifies how IVC differs from mini-IVF and where each fits in modern fertility care.

If you’ve failed IUIs, are concerned about IVF cost, or want a clear, honest breakdown of your options — this episode separates hype from hope and myth from medicine.

Thanks for listening to another episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday with Dr. Mark Amols.

If you found this episode helpful, please share it with someone who might benefit—and don't forget to follow the show and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.

Want to explore more fertility topics? Visit TacoBoutFertility.com, where you can search our entire episode library, find episodes about the questions that matter to you, try our interactive fertility tools, and submit questions or topic requests for future episodes.

Join us next Tuesday for another episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday, where we make fertility medicine easier to understand—one topic at a time.

Send us Fan Mail

Every IVF patient has wondered it at least once:
   Is my embryo really mine?

Every so often, a story makes headlines about an IVF mix-up. While these cases are heartbreaking, they are extraordinarily rare — occurring approximately 1–2 times per million IVF births.

In this episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday, Dr. Mark Amols breaks down:

• How IVF labs prevent embryo mix-ups
• The role of double witnessing and lab verification
• Electronic witnessing systems (RFID, barcodes, and AI)
• Whether new technology truly reduces errors
• How DNA testing can confirm embryo identity
• Why human vigilance still matters more than automation

You’ll also hear how the risk of an IVF mix-up compares to lightning strikes, car accidents, and even plane crashes.

The goal of this episode is simple: reassurance through transparency.

While no medical process is ever zero risk, IVF is one of the most carefully audited and safeguarded systems in modern medicine — and understanding how it works can help replace fear with facts.

If you or someone you love is going through IVF, this is an episode you don’t want to miss.

Thanks for listening to another episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday with Dr. Mark Amols.

If you found this episode helpful, please share it with someone who might benefit—and don't forget to follow the show and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.

Want to explore more fertility topics? Visit TacoBoutFertility.com, where you can search our entire episode library, find episodes about the questions that matter to you, try our interactive fertility tools, and submit questions or topic requests for future episodes.

Join us next Tuesday for another episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday, where we make fertility medicine easier to understand—one topic at a time.

Send us Fan Mail

You were told your embryo was “perfect.”
 It was euploid. Genetically normal. The best one.

So why didn’t it work?

In this episode, Dr. Mark Amols breaks down the truth behind PGT testing and explains why even genetically normal embryos can fail to implant or result in miscarriage.

You’ll learn:

• What PGT-A actually tests (and what it doesn’t)
• The difference between chromosomal abnormalities and single gene disorders
• Why microdeletions and tiny DNA changes can go undetected
• How embryo biopsy sampling works (and its limitations)
• Why implantation depends on more than just DNA
• The real theoretical ceiling of IVF success—even with “perfect” genetics

PGT is powerful. It reduces miscarriage. It improves efficiency. But it is a filter—not a crystal ball.

If you’ve experienced a failed euploid transfer, this episode will help you understand why that doesn’t mean your embryos are bad, your clinic failed, or IVF won’t work.

There is no such thing as a perfect embryo. There are only probabilities.

Thanks for listening to another episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday with Dr. Mark Amols.

If you found this episode helpful, please share it with someone who might benefit—and don't forget to follow the show and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.

Want to explore more fertility topics? Visit TacoBoutFertility.com, where you can search our entire episode library, find episodes about the questions that matter to you, try our interactive fertility tools, and submit questions or topic requests for future episodes.

Join us next Tuesday for another episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday, where we make fertility medicine easier to understand—one topic at a time.