The Fertility Podcast

So this is a goodbye from me - Natalie, but it's going to be a Hello from Kate... and in this slightly indulgent final episode, you'll hear a little bit from me as to my decision to stop publising this podcast with me at the helm and my plans to hand over the mic to my trusty co-host Kate Davies who is soon going to be sharing more about her plans as I leave this feed in her capable hands for 2023.

If you've just found this podcast, please do explore our back catalogue which can be found in all your favourite podcast apps, under the following:

Getting Pregnancy Ready

Male Fertility

Pregnancy Loss

Infertility Support

Donor Conception and Surrogacy

Meanwhile if you'd be so kind to leave a review on the podcast if it's helped you in anyway, please do so here

You can also keep in touch with me on my insta

Welcome to part three of this bumper podcast episode which is sharing our Diversity and Inclusion in Fertility Round Table conversation which was held on Zoom on 8th November 2022 with the aim to help you understand how many different people are impacted by fertility challenges in a number of different ways and also to give you a better understanding of the how these communities who are impacted. If you’ve not listened to Parts 1 & 2 yet, that's fine although we do suggest you give them a listen to give you a better context of the conversation. 

In this final section, we are starting to address some of the areas of intersectionality as Fertility is not one-dimensional but intersects with many of the other challenges that workplaces face when it comes to the Diversity and Inclusion agenda. One of the important nuances to consider is in relation to the impact cultural aspects have on people who are facing fertility challenges and in this final part of our conversation we spoke with  Dr Christine Ekechi, Co-Chair of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ Race Equality Taskforce and Noni Martins, a fertility patient and founder of Unfertility, supporting black women to break the silence, stigma & shame around unconventional fertility journeys.  

Watch our FMAW 30 minute demo on our services to find out exactly how we'd support your organisation with our training and membership  

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Welcome to Part Two of this bumper podcast episode which is sharing our Diversity and Inclusion in Fertility Round Table conversation which was held on Zoom on 8th November 2022 with the aim to help you understand how many different people are impacted by fertility challenges in a number of different ways and also to give you a better understanding of the how these communities who are impacted. 

We know that this affects 1 in 6 couples, 1 in 7 individuals and that the World Health Org defines infertility as a “disease of the reproductive system”. As you will hear, fertility treatment is also needed for social reasons, and as such is a necessary medical treatment to enable people to have a child, not a simple lifestyle choice as it is sometimes portrayed. Sometimes this is the only way for people to have a chance of a child, it’s also important to be aware that it isn’t a guarantee.

Here we discuss what employers need to know about being inclusive of other less commonly known paths to parenthood, such as solo parenthood, donor conception, adoption and then moving on to Surrogacy. The assumption when we think about fertility treatment is IVF – and normally with two people involved.  

You will hear conversations with Mel Johnson, HR Professional and Founder of The Stork and the UK’s first and only Solo Parenthood Coach and  Nicole Narracott, Adoptive Parent and Senior Business Change Manager. We also discuss how organisations can usualise, be inclusive of and supportive of LGBTQ+ family building with discussions with Wes Johnson Ellis, Co-founder of TwoDads UK, My Surrogacy Journey and the Modern Family Show and Laura-Rose Thorogood, founder of LGBT Mummies  

Watch our FMAW 30 minute demo on our services to find out exactly how we'd support your organisation with our training and membership  

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Welcome to this bumper podcast episode which is sharing our Diversity and Inclusion in Fertility Round Table conversation which was held on Zoom on 8th November 2022 with the aim to help you understand how many different people are impacted by fertility challenges in a number of different ways and also to give you a better understanding of the how these communities who are impacted. 

By inclusion we want you to start thinking about how you can ensure that any support you put in place for fertility is inclusive in both language and action. It’s about understanding your people and communities and how to create sustainable positive change that will represent and benefit those communities going forwards.  

In the first part of this conversation we’ll hear from  Emma Persand, Director of Lemur Health, qualified nurse and workplace health and wellbeing professional and Lina Chan, CEO and founder of Parla, a digital health company supporting people on their reproductive life journeys from periods to fertility and menopause with expert-led programmes and workshops discussing Reproductive Health and Wellbeing regarding Cis women and anyone with a uterus as it is this group that are predominantly the ones who have physical treatment and need to be present at all appointments, they’re affected by medication side effects and quite often can be all-consumed by the process.

We also spoke with Tom Webb, Director of The Easy Bit documentary Shaun Greenaway founder of Knackered Knackers, Male Support platform to discuss the importance of including and empowering men within the fertility conversation, with a focus on the cis-male experience of pressures from societal narratives leading to toxic masculinity and stigma. 

Watch our FMAW 30 minute demo on our services to find out exactly how we'd support your organisation with our training and membership  

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Welcome to another episode of The F Word at Work in this episode we're talking about how a change can come about in support of fertility struggles, from employees driving the change. You'll hear two amazing examples. The first is Natalie Sutherland from Burgess Mee, who is the UK's first 'Fertility Officer' and has led the way for her firm to become the UK's first organisation to become 'fertility friendly' with our accreditation. Then you'll hear from Kelly-Anne Morris, an employee at Cadent Gas who we've just launched our services with.

What we discussed:   

• Kelly needed to have her fallopian tubes removed, so knew she was going to need treatment when she was ready to build her family.  
• Once she met her partner and was ready, she looked to see what policies what was available - she had a supportive manage yet nothing was written, so the approach wasn’t consistent 
• Women In Cadent - had leads on improvements within the workforce which is where Kelly got involved which was how she got involved in meetings.  
• Started speaking about IVF  - doing a survey to find out about other people’s experiences 
• First person she spoke to was in HR - at the time there was a lot of change happening in the company 
• Now at a point where all family provisions policies are being reviewed.  
• It takes time to find the right people 
• As Kelly was trying to put content together - she realised how much support she needed, such as regarding the LGBTQ communuty  
• How she came to FMAW for facts and figures  
• How it can be challenging at times, questioning whether she’s doing it right and has time to give it her full attention - when she doubts herself and then gets an email to thank her for what she’s been doing.  
• News articles from people sharing their stories have been mixed genders ( including Men in leadership )  
• Fertility Focus policy also cover partners - eg. if the Man works at Cadent and his partner doesn’t they hope to support the person wanting to accompany their partner.  

Watch our FMAW 30 minute demo on our services to find out exactly how we'd support your organisation with our training and membership 

Find out more about Natalie and Burgess Mee here

Listen to Infertility in the City here

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Welcome to episode 3 of The F Word at Work from Fertility Matters at Work ( FMAW) which we are sharing with you one week after the three of us, Natalie, Becky and Claire went to Parliament to join our guest Nickie Aiken as she launched the Fertility Workplace Pledge. Nickie is the Conservative MP for the Cities of London and Westminster and along with the pledge, is bringing forward a private members bill for people undergoing fertility treatment.

The episode was recorded in the summer following the first reading of Fertility Treatment (Employment rights ) bill and was a conversation between Nickie, Natalie ( FMAW) and Kate Davies who is our medical advisor at FMAW. Thanks once again to our series sponsor Apricity.

 What was discussed:

• How Nickie learnt of this issue from one of her constituents who was forced out of a job and had to agree on a NDA which left a nasty taste in her mouth and she came to Nickie as she didn’t want anyone else going through it.  
• How it’s the last taboo when it comes to maternal services 
• The misconception is that IVF is needed solely by career women in their 40s who have had their careers and now want a career, but it also affects women in their 20s and 30s.  
• How she hopes to ensure colleagues can support others who might be going through it
• How Nickie was surprised to be talking to a big company who she spoke to about the Bill and they were surprised they didn’t have a policy  
• Whilst there isn’t an employment bill that this can slot into and whilst ideally we shouldn’t need a law, Nickie highlights why we need a law in order for people to be better supported.  
• Following the first reading of the Bill has happened Nicky did a speech in Parliament which you can read here
• Within the Women’s Health Strategy launched earlier in the summer, Nickie made sure IVF and fertility treatment was included and she believes this means the argument about women’s health is a priority has been won.  
• Baroness Anne Jenkins made a speech listing every medical situation a girl goes through.  
• Launch of the Fertility Workplace Pledge  
• What Nickie thinks the impact of the Write to your MP campaign  will be

Write to your MP - here's how

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Welcome to episode 2 of the F Word at Work podcast, where all three co-founders, Natalie, Becky and Claire are here once again to discuss male infertility and how traditional gender roles play a huge part in why men are less likely to discuss or seek help for their mental health and what the workplace can do to address this issue. We'll be talking with our guest Shaun Greenaway, a male fertility advocate who was diagnosed with azoospermia due to having Mumps in his 20s. After having to go through invasive procedures whilst working for the Met Police, Shaun had to go down the donor conception route to have his family. His experience has had a profound effect on him and he is now a proud Dad of twins and the founder of Knackered Knackers where he is continuing to build an amazing support platform for men dealing with infertility.

Huge thanks to our series sponsors Apricity

 What was discussed: 

• Shaun talks about the difficulties to open up in a male-dominated work environment and how he felt if he did he would be ‘cannon fodder’
• He hid the appointments with multiple dentist appointments - but how many can you realistically have 
• How infertility is always seen as a female issue, especially in the workplace
• Shaun’s experience was a positive one once he finally disclosed to his male counterparts 
• He still didn’t feel confident sharing with all of his colleagues due to how society behaves around Men showing vulnerability
• He decided to set up Knackered Knackered his own support group which has grown from strength to strength 
• How more needs to be done around the stigma of men talking about these issues 

Find out more about Knackered Knackers

You can also find support via this Male only facebook group

Visit Calm or the Samaritans

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Welcome to the first episode of The F Word at Work, a conversation for busy HR, D&I and well-being leads with the aim to open your minds to the vast topic of fertility at work and why it really matters for employees and businesses too.

Today you'll hear from all three co-founders Natalie Silverman, (your host) Becky Kearns and Claire Ingle sharing their thoughts on this new podcast series and what it is setting our to achieve and you'll hear our first conversation with a thought leader within the workplace wellbeing space, Zoe Sinclair, founder of Employees Matter.

Huge thank you to our series sponsors Apricity

What was discussed:

• The origins of Employees Matter
• How This Can Happen came about - the workplace mental health conference
• How these well-being and mental health conversations evolve
• How workplaces overcome fears of using certain language, such as 'stress'.
• The response to putting our workplace webinar on suicide from the huge number of organisations that signed up to be on the call and how many people shared their experiences.
• What is happening in terms of new conversations - how organisations are viewing the family-building conversation
• What companies need to think about to manage it all.

Find out more about Zoe and Employees Matter here

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Brought to you by Fertility Matters at Work CIC this conversation hopes to offer you an insight into the many challenges people face when trying to manage the day to do of working life, whilst trying to start or complete their family.

With 1 in 6 couples and 1 in 7 people dealing with fertility issues, the impact of fertility challenges is vast and the people who might be struggling are diverse.

At Fertility Matters at Work we strive to guide the workplace into better supporting people going through this, by ensuring all managers, HR and well-being leads understand the complexity of this issue.

We want to make sure people feel confident having these sensitive conversations with those going through this and that the people affected feel safe enough to disclose what is happening to them. Equally, by raising awareness internally with our range of live discussions and training we aim to achieve a cultural shift where fertility issues are recognised. We help colleagues feel able to support one another and collectively make the workplace a great place to be.

Do you have a question you'd like us to answer in our next episode? If so email us at [email protected]. Please put 'F Word at Work' in the subject header.

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Welcome to the latest episode of The Fertility Podcast Bitesize. We are in conversation again with Dr Theodorou, a Consultant Gynaecologist and Specialist in Reproductive Medicine at the Centre for Reproductive and Genetic Health explaining what patients can expect during their first consultation with a fertility consultant 

What we discussed: 

• Reasons why people come to the clinic
• People want to be confident before they start trying, others might have tried with no success for some time. This varies from a few months or years. 
• People who have had failed cycles elsewhere and want another approach
• Couples who need a donor - heterosexual, same-sex or solo 
• Fertility Preservation - male or female, for medical reasons eg. treatment that could impact fertility or social reasons eg. when people want to preserve for the future. Another reason is to avoid a known genetic disease. 
• Surrogacy  - due to medical reasons or same-sex males 
• Initial investigative tests - male would be semen analysis and for a female ultrasound to check the uterus, ovary and fallopian tube and blood tests to check AMH, FSH and ovulation 
• Depending on circumstances they may go got specialist tests eg. recurrent miscarriage or a medical issue which could affect fertility 
• The stress of fertility treatment and the importance of counselling and support along the way 
• Explanation of implications of counselling and when it's needed. 

You can find out more about CRGH here

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