This is Fertility

The Fertility 101 Series, because there's no shortage of daunting terms to keep your mind running, is a quick and dirty breakdown on a specific topic with insights from a fertility expert.

In this episode, you'll learn about endometriosis, a condition in which a woman's endometrial tissue grows inside of her abdomen. Each woman is different, but it's common that endometriosis generates pelvic pain around a woman's menstrual cycle or during sex, and it can cause infertility. Although it sounds intimidating for someone trying to conceive, many women facing endometriosis have found success through IVF and other treatments. And, ironically enough, pregnancy has been found to be an effective relief from symptoms.

Dr. Ravi Gada, Fertility Specialist at Dallas Fort Worth Fertility Associates, part of the Progyny Provider Network, joins us to cover everything you need to know about endometriosis including what it is, how to diagnosis, treatment, why it can cause infertility, and where to start if you think you may have it.

Expert: Dr. Ravi Gada, Dallas-Fort Worth Fertility Associates

Host: Dan Bulger

In the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area? Schedule an appointment with Dr. Ravi Gada at Dallas Fort Worth Fertility Associates through their website.

Also check out our podcast series: Endometriosis and Fertility:

• Episode 30: Endometriosis & Fertility: Jessica Smith-Payne
• Episode 31: Endometriosis and Fertility: Trying IVF Before Being Diagnosed
• Episode 31: Endometriosis and Fertility: Trying IVF After Being Diagnosed
• Episode 32: Endometriosis and Fertility: Promoting Awareness through Endo What?
• Episode 33: Endometriosis and Fertility: Finding Support Through a Facebook Group: Nancy's Nook

• Episode 64: Endometriosis and Fertility: The Purpose of the Endometriosis Foundation of America
• Episode 65: Endometriosis and Fertility: The Intersection Between Endometriosis and Sex

For more information, visit Progyny's Podcast page and Progyny's Education page for more resources.

Be sure to follow us on Instagram, @ThisisInfertilityPodcast and use the #ThisisInfertility.

Have a question, comment, or want to share your story? Email us at [email protected].

As most people with infertility know through experience, treatments can be very expensive. One round of IVF alone can cost thousands of dollars, and it's usually the last step after trying multiple other pathways like IUI or timed intercourse beforehand, which can drain your resources. Fortunately, there are some options for funding. More employers are adding fertility coverage to their employee benefits, and there is an abundance of organizations that help by providing grants.

In this episode, Dr. Camille Hammond joins us to spotlight her pride and joy, the Tinina Q. Cade Foundation, a nonprofit that supports families struggling with infertility. Dr. Hammond was diagnosed with endometriosis before trying to get pregnant, so she knew from the onset that conception wouldn't come easily. Additionally, infertility as a Black woman can be especially intimidating, but she found helpful resources and community through the Broken Brown Egg (whose founder we featured on the and Fertility for Colored Girls. During her journey, Dr. Hammond went through six rounds of IVF and used a gestational carrier (who ended up being her mother, Triana Q. Cade) to reach her goals. But not without receiving financial assistance from her family and going through a period of low cash flow as an already busy medical student. Knowing first-hand how expensive the process can be Dr. Hammond wanted to give back in any way she could.

Now, 16 years later, the Cade Foundation has helped bring 92 babies into the world by providing grants of up to $10,000 for fertility treatment or domestic adoption. Join us to hear how you can get involved with their work.

Guests: Dr. Camille Hammond, Tinina Q. Cade Foundation

Host: Dan Bulger

Interested in a fertility grant or want to connect with the Cade Foundation? Check out their website and follow them on Facebook and Twitter!

For more information, visit Progyny's Podcast page and Progyny's Education page for more resources.

Be sure to follow us on Instagram, @ThisisInfertilityPodcast and use the #ThisisInfertility.

Have a question, comment, or want to share your story? Email us at [email protected].

Today's bonus episode comes from a recent Progny webinar, "Building a Family in 2021." It's the start of the new year, which might mean access to new benefits and new opportunities to start or continue building the family of their dreams.

Moderated by Progyny's Selena Campbell and experts Dr. Susanna Park, a reproductive endocrinologist at San Diego Fertility Center, Kayleigh Hajny – a Progyny success story, and Joni Vick, Clinical Educator Supervisor at Progyny, they discuss how the Progyny benefit works, an overview of fertility treatments, and answers to frequently asked questions during the journey. Plus, you will hear directly from Kayleigh about her experience conceiving her daughter, Liv, with help from Progyny.

Don't have time to listen? Don't worry, we broke down the webinar into a summary here.

Guests: Kayleigh Hajny, Progyny member, Joni Vick, Progyny

Expert: Dr. Susanna Park, San Diego Fertility Center

Host: Selena Campbell, Dan Bulger (Intro)

For more information, visit Progyny's Podcast page and Progyny's Education page for more resources.

Be sure to follow us on Instagram, @ThisisInfertilityPodcast and use the #ThisisInfertility.

Have a question, comment, or want to share your story? Email us at [email protected].

It's Black History Month, and while we should always be thinking about the current climate of racial inequality, February reminds us of how far we have come and how very far we still need to go.

One especially urgent matter that you'll hear about today is implicit bias towards Black women in healthcare. Right now, a Black woman with cancer is 40% more likely to die than a White woman, and similar statistics apply to other areas in health like heart disease and pregnancy. As a result, seeking care from a physician or professional can be a terrifying experience for a Person of Color. How can we change our system to reflect a more diverse and caring society?

This episode features Dr. Kanika Harris of the Black Women's Health Imperative (BWHI), an organization that addresses the pressing health policy issues facing Black women and girls nationwide through youth education, advocacy movements, and signature programs. Dr. Harris will talk about anecdotes from her own pregnancy, offer advice on how to advocate for yourself, and explain special BWHI programs like their collecampus initiative, My Sister's Keeper.

Progyny is also hosting a Fertility Education Webinar on Infertility in the Black Community: Understanding Your Health Conditions and Finding the Right Doctor. The free webinar will take place on Feb 17 at 2:00pm ET and will be available on-demand afterward.

Tune in to see how you can get involved with BWHI and create a brighter future of equality.

Guests: Dr. Kanika Harris, Black Women's Health Imperative

Host: Dan Bulger

Be sure to connect with the Black Women's Health Imperative (BWHI) on their website, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. You can also support Dr. Harris's documentary, Listen to Me, through the project's website.

For more information, visit Progyny's Podcast page and Progyny's Education page for more resources.

Be sure to follow us on Instagram, @ThisisInfertilityPodcast and use the #ThisisInfertility.

Have a question, comment, or want to share your story? Email us at [email protected].

We're launching a new series called, Fertility 101, because there's no shortage of daunting terms to keep your mind running. In this series, we'll do a quick and dirty breakdown on a specific topic with insights from a fertility expert.

The first episode covers

Uterine Fibroids, a condition that is way more common than you might think. In fact, about 70% of women will be diagnosed with fibroids in their lifetime — for Black women, It's about 80%. Depending on their size and location, fibroids can cause infertility, or bring on uncomfortable symptoms like irregular bleeding or pelvic pain. While it's common, many people will never know they have them or will never require medical intervention.

Dr. Desiree McCarthy-Keith, a fertility expert and Medical Director at Shady Grover Fertility of Atlanta, gives us a clear overview of uterine fibroids, the treatments, how it affects black women differently, and how it can cause infertility.

Guest: Dr. Desiree McCarthy-Keith, Shady Grove Fertility in Atlanta

Host: Dan Bulger

Learn more about Dr. Desiree McCarthy-Keith here or see if there's a Shady Grove Fertility location near you.

For more information, visit Progyny's Podcast page and Progyny's Education page for more resources.

Be sure to follow us on Instagram, @ThisisInfertilityPodcast and use the #ThisisInfertility.

Have a question, comment, or want to share your story? Email us at [email protected].

"You don't need a child to live."

That is a direct quote from an insurance representative when asked why fertility treatments weren't included in the caller's healthcare coverage. Infertility isn't a choice; it's a disease. Yet, when couples and individuals seek help, they're told by their insurers to deal with it on their own. As it stands, there is no national mandate for fertility coverage, which leads us to today's guests, Kara Edwards and Mollie Walker. They're working to bring a mandate to Tennessee and formed the Tennessee Fertility Advocates.

Both Kara and Mollie experienced their fair share of family building hurdles. Kara had a difficult start with endometriosis on her side and male factor infertility on her husband's side. Four IUIs, multiple rounds of IVF, and over $110,000 later, she had twins. For Mollie, she took the medication Clomid, an estrogen modulator, to assist in conceiving her first child. Then, after two miscarriages, doctors diagnosed her with a blood clotting disorder called Antiphospholipid Syndrome (APS). Proper treatment led Mollie to her second child.

Although we can celebrate their fertility success, these stories highlight the backwards logic of our healthcare system. Without coverage, couples and individuals end up making decisions based on their finances and not based on what will actually help them reach their goal of parenthood.

Throughout this episode, we hear from Kara and Mollie about Tennessee Fertility Advocates, which seeks to change legislation in their state on coverage for fertility treatments. If successful, it will require eligible employers to provide fertility benefits for their employees. Join us to learn how you can do the same for your state.

Guests: Kara Edwards and Mollie Walker, Tennessee Fertility Advocates

Host: Dan Bulger

We talk a lot about the statistic that 1 in 8 struggle with infertility, but the thing is, that number represents the general public and not specific demographics within it. Take physicians, for instance. The people on the front lines, helping others with infertility, COVID, and any other medical issue. Their infertility stat? 1 in 4.

As elucidated in Physician Fertility: A Call to Action and One in Four — The Importance of Comprehensive Fertility Benefits for the Medical Workforce, doctors struggle with infertility at higher rates because their family planning takes a backseat during their extensive schooling and residency programs. Even those who work directly in the fertility space often need ART for family building.

In today's episode, three doctors in the Progyny Provider Network share their stories with infertility, ART, and parenthood. Their experiences straddle both sides of the examination table, calling on a need for both fertility coverage and education.

Guests: Dr. Dorette Noorhasan, Medical Director and Co-Founder of CCRM Dallas – Fort Worth, Dr. Ravi Gada, Reproductive Endocrinologist at Dallas-Fort Worth Fertility Associates

Host: Dan Bulger

For more information, visit Progyny's Podcast page and Progyny's Education page for more resources.

Be sure to follow us on Instagram, @ThisisInfertilityPodcast and use the #ThisisInfertility.

Have a question, comment, or want to share your story? Email us at [email protected].

As we close season 3 of This is Infertility, we are reflecting on a turbulent year marked by extreme loss with the COVID-19 pandemic, a recession, a controversial election, wildfires, and so much more that has tested our resiliency. Whether you're trying to start a family or not, we've all fought through some type of challenge during 2020. So, we've chosen to highlight a few stories of those struggling with infertility that we believe capture this true spirit of resiliency found in humanity this year.

Here's a quick recap of what we achieved during season 3 of This Is Infertility:

Over the course of the unique and informative episodes that Progyny produced, we received over 50,000 downloads, featured 61 guests, and added 6 bonus episodes covering Fertility Preservation for Cancer Patients, Fertility and Maternal Health in the Black Community, Fertility Clinics adapting to COVID-19, Fertility Treatment pre and post COVID-19, Telehealth, and Fertility and Well-being during COVID.

During this final episode of the season, we will touch on our top 4 episodes and a COVID spotlight that we think truly embody the character of this past year.

We want to thank all our listeners and guests out there! Our podcast is nothing without the collective knowledge and experience from the fertility patients and professionals that we've featured.

Season 4 will be back on January 11!

Here are our top 4 episodes, plus a COVID spotlight:

1. Episode 61: Overcoming Failed Fertility Treatments: A Male's Perspective
2. Episode 67: IVF, Bariatric Surgery, and Finding the Strength to Move Forward
3. Episode 82: PCOS and Fertility: An early diagnosis, IUIs, IVF, and Baby Liv
4. Episode 86: The Broken Brown Egg
5. And our special bonus content about COVID and fertility

Hosts: Dan Bulger, Selena Yang, and Shannon Zuber - This is Infertility Producers and Editors

Have a question, comment, or want to share your story? Email us at [email protected].

Dealing with infertility comes with an abundance of raw and painful emotions. It's ok to cry after an especially difficult appointment and it's not uncommon to feel discouraged. While infertility itself isn't funny, one way that we take control of stress and sadness is through humor.

Karen Jeffries is the founder of Hilariously Infertile. This includes very honest, witty, and perfectly inappropriate accounts of her own infertility through her book and blog, and meme pages surrounding the subject.

At 29, Karen was diagnosed with PCOS after 6 months of inability to conceive naturally. Although the news inevitably sparked sadness, this is when she started to pick up on funny little details during her appointments. The way her doctor called her husband's sperm sample a "donation" and explained how the lab "cleans and buffs" the sperm like it was at a spa, Karen couldn't help but laugh.

She eventually conceived two beautiful girls through IUI and IVF. While on maternity leave with her second child, her husband suggested she write a book. Luckily, for all of us, Karen decided to share her story and she continues to unite and help women by spotlighting the comedy of a shared situation.

Join us to hear how Karen overcame her struggles and created a loyal following with her unfiltered humor.

Guests: Karen Jeffries, author of the Hilariously Infertile book and affiliated brand

Host: Dan Bulger

Need a good laugh? Follow Hilariously Infertile on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook, and click here to check out Karen's website and blog.

For more information, visit Progyny's Podcast page and Progyny's Education page for more resources.

Be sure to follow us on Instagram, @ThisisInfertilityPodcast and use the #ThisisInfertility.

Have a question, comment, or want to share your story? Email us at [email protected].

Episode 87: Cofertility: Infertility Uncomplicated

No one ever expects conception to be difficult, so when your pregnancy tests are frequently negative, you're left with several questions. And what do you do when you have questions? You Google them. However, the internet is not always your best friend when it comes to medical advice. How is anyone supposed to find reliable information on a topic not discussed widely enough, like infertility?

Arielle Spiegel found herself lost among unsuccessful doctor's appointments and bogged down by research that didn't provide clear solutions. So, she decided to change that.

Over the course of three chemical pregnancies, a Uterine Septum removal, three Intrauterine Insemination cycles, two In Vitro Fertilization cycles, and a crushing miscarriage before Mother's Day (among many other challenges), Arielle felt there must be some way in which she could use her knowledge and Type-A organization skills to help others who are looking for answers too. Thus, began Cofertility, which started as a resource for anyone to learn about treatment scenarios, cost breakdown, and funding opportunities for fertility treatment.

Tune in to hear Arielle's story as she walks us through every up and down that led her to help others while also finding some success for herself.

Today, Cofertility has evolved into a human-centered fertility ecosystem, enabling women to freeze their eggs for free when they donate half of the eggs to a family that otherwise can't conceive and providing support and education for everyone involved along the way.

Guests: Arielle Spiegel, co-founder and CMO of Cofertility

Host: Dan Bulger

Got fertility questions? Click here to browse Cofertility for more resources and education.

For more information, visit Progyny's Podcast page and Progyny's Education page for more resources.

Be sure to follow us on Instagram, @ThisisInfertilityPodcast and use the #ThisisInfertility.

Have a question, comment, or want to share your story? Email us at [email protected].