This is Fertility

Infertility and family building can be scary and isolating at times, especially when it seems like no one else around you are experiencing the same barriers to conception. Even as more people come forward to talk about their struggles, there is still a lack of race representation fueling these conversations.

Regina Townsend is the voice behind The Broken Brown Egg; a blog, resource, and community surrounding her experiences with infertility as a black woman.

Regina was frustrated with society's outdated health education scaring kids about teen pregnancy and overshadowing important topics like fibroids, endometriosis, and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), which disproportionally affects black women. Beyond education, she struggled to find black representation for simple things like wedding planning, let alone infertility.

This episode covers Regina's family building journey from the beginning. Whether it's PCOS, In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), or foster care, Regina has been through it all. She reflects on how each struggle has made her stronger, teaching her how to speak up at the doctor's office, connect with others, and create community through an open dialogue.

Guests: Regina Townsend, The Broken Brown Egg

Host: Dan Bulger

If you'd like to explore The Broken Brown Egg further and get involved with Regina, click here to access her website and resources.

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].

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, which means today's bonus episode is all about fertility preservation for cancer, otherwise known as oncofertility. Receiving a cancer diagnosis can turn your world upside down but understanding your fertility options from day one can make all the difference. Thanks to earlier detection and improved treatments, survival rates among cancer patients have increased steadily, and as a result, focus has shifted from immediate treatment to life after cancer too, including your future fertility.

This episode comes from a recent webinar featuring Meghan Curci, Progyny Patient Care Advocate, Jaime Knopman, M.D., Director of Fertility Preservation at CCRM New York and part of Progyny's Provider Network; Emily Rich, VP of Strategic Planning and Operations at UJA and Progyny member; Joyce Reinecke, J.D., Executive Director at Alliance for Fertility Preservation.

Host: Meghan Curci, Progyny Patient Care Advocate

Experts: Jaime Knopman, M.D., CCRM New York, Emily Rich, Progyny member, Joyce Reinecke, Alliance for Fertility Preservation.

For more episodes of This is Infertility on Oncofertility:

• Episode 19: Oncofertility: Making Fertility Preservation a Priority
• Episode 20: Oncofertility: Fighting for Fertility Preservation Coverage

• Episode 21: Oncofertility: The Hope Fertility Preservation Can Bring
• Episode 22: Oncofertility: Helping Patients Navigate Between Oncology and Fertility
• Episode 54: Oncofertility: Having a Fertility Benefit that Covers Fertility Preservation
• Episode 84: Oncofertility: Donor Eggs, Surrogacy, and Embracing a New Plan

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].

Miscarriage is something that, no matter how many times we discuss it on this podcast, never gets easier to talk about. October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, and we think it's important to share these stories, just as other podcasters and advocates in the space do.

You may know Ali Prato by her podcast name, "Infertile AF", and by the open yet relatable way they address fertility and family building. But on today's episode, Ali walks us through all she did to get there.

After an easy pregnancy, Ali and her husband were confused and devastated when they experienced multiple pregnancy losses trying to conceive their second child. As Ali approached her 40s, she and her husband finally made the expensive decision to pursue IVF. As a podcaster and infertility advocate, Ali is no stranger to talking about her experience with recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL), secondary infertility, and IVF, but the trauma and emotion from those dark days are still very much with her.

We also hear from Dr. Monica Best from Reproductive Biology Associates in Atlanta, Georgia, on the most common reasons for pregnancy loss and how age dramatically impacts the quantity and quality of a woman's eggs.

Guests: Ali Prato, host of "Infertile AF" and Dr. Monica Best, Reproductive Biology Associates (RBA)

Host: Dan Bulger

If you're interested in learning more about Ali or tuning into Infertile AF, you can find it here or search for the show wherever you listen to podcasts.

More info on Fertility Rally and updates on how to join the community can be found here.

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].

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and when you hear the word cancer, your mind doesn't automatically go to fertility preservation. But when 30-year-old Tricia Russo learned she would have to go through chemotherapy, radiation, a mastectomy, reconstruction, and begin taking medications that could prompt menopause for her breast cancer diagnosis, her team quickly floated the idea of freezing embryos.

It's been nine years since Tricia's breast cancer diagnosis, and her world looks a lot different. Not only is she a breast cancer survivor, she has endured a brain cancer diagnosis and surgery, became a mother through a surrogate and using donor eggs, and detailed her experience through a documentary film.

In today's episode, we hear from Tricia on her experience, and get further insight from her fertility doctor, Dr. Natalie Cekleniak of IRMS.

Guests: Tricia Russo, Filmmaker, Dr. Natalie Cekleniak, IRMS

Host: Dan Bulger

You can watch 'Love Always, Mom', on Amazon Prime here.

For more episodes of This is Infertility on Oncofertility:

• Episode 19: Oncofertility: Making Fertility Preservation a Priority
• Episode 20: Oncofertility: Fighting for Fertility Preservation Coverage
• Episode 21: Oncofertility: The Hope Fertility Preservation Can Bring
• Episode 22: Oncofertility: Helping Patients Navigate Between Oncology and Fertility
• Episode 54: Oncofertility: Having a Fertility Benefit that Covers Fertility Preservation

Progyny is hosting a free webinar, Fertility Preservation for Cancer Patients: Focusing on Survival and Your Life After Cancer, with experts from the oncofertility industry (many of which are previous podcast guests!). You can find more information about it here.

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].

In the wake of the recent Black Lives Matter movement, companies, individuals, and institutions are taking a long, reflective look at their biases, policies, and inequalities, in an effort to stand together against systematic racism. The fertility industry is no different.

Enter Chiquita Lockley who realized that none of her friends were ever talking about fertility, infertility, and fibroids, so she decided to make a documentary, Eggs Over Easy. Her upcoming film features interviews with black women and physicians who discuss the jarring racial disparity in healthcare, the stigma of infertility, and need for advocacy and change.

In today's episode, Chiquita shares some of her findings, like how black women have a 243% maternal mortality rate, and how doctors are quicker to dismiss black women's concerns, sometimes fatally.

Guests: Chiquita Lockley, filmmaker, Dr Alan Copperman, Medical Director at Progyny

Host: Dan Bulger

You can watch the trailer for Eggs Over Easy here, and keep an eye on the website for upcoming screening dates.

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 PCOS Awareness Month and for those who have PCOS, you may know firsthand how difficult it can be to conceive naturally.

Kayleigh and Steven Hajny always wanted to have a baby. But when Kayleigh was 16 and diagnosed with PCOS, she was set to believe this was a pipe dream that wouldn't happen for her unless she did IVF.

So, they decided to go to a fertility specialist for help. What they didn't expect was the number of treatments and the amount of disappointment they faced. After nine medicated timed intercourse cycles, a failed IUI attempt, and a miscarriage, their fertility coverage was starting to run thin. They were told IVF was the next best option, but there was only $7,000 left of their coverage. How were they supposed to afford this?

With luck, Steven's employer, VMWare, announced they enhanced their fertility coverage by partnering with Progyny. This meant the Hajnys could move forward with IVF and didn't have to worry about the financial roadblock. So, they did just that, and two rounds of IVF later, (spoiler alert) Miss Olivia Eloise was bought into this world.

We also hear from Dr. Ilan Tur-Kaspa of IHR Institute for Human Reproduction on PCOS.

Guests: Steven and Kayleigh Hajny, Progyny members; Dr. Ilan Tur-Kaspa, IHR Institute for Human Reproduction

Host: Julie Hunt

To learn how you can bring a comprehensive and inclusive fertility and family building benefit to your organization, visit Progyny's Advocate page and start the conversation by talking to HR.

For more episodes on PCOS, check out:

• Episode 13: PCOS and Fertility: Getting Pregnant with PCOS

• Episode 14: PCOS and Fertility: Creating Awareness about PCOS
• Episode 15: PCOS and Fertility: When the PCOS Symptoms Don't Match
• Episode 49: PCOS and Fertility: Why it's a Serious Challenge to Get Pregnant with PCOS
• Episode 50: PCOS and Fertility: How Certain Foods Can Help with PCOS Symptoms
• Episode 51: PCOS and Fertility: An IVF Baby After Ectopic Pregnancies

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 Progyny webinar, "Fertility and Maternal Health in the Black Community", which reflects on the inequalities and institutionalized racism within the fertility industry.

Moderated by Progyny's Manager of Member Services, Selena Campbell, and experts Dr. Genevieve Neal-Perry, Dr. Tia Jackson-Bey, and Dr. Renita White, this panel breaks down some of the issues that uniquely face Black women in their fertility journeys, weighed in on why they aren't getting the care they need, and how they can advocate for it.

Panelists: Genevieve Neal-Perry, MD, PhD, Reproductive Endocrinologist and Chair, UNC School of Medicine Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology; Tia Jackson-Bey, MD, MPH, Reproductive Endocrinologist, RMA of New York and Icahn School of Medicine at Mt Sinai; Renita White, MD, OBGYN at Georgia Obstetrics & Gynecology

Host: Selena Campbell, Manager, Member Services, Progyny

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 talk about this quite often, infertility impacts 1 in 8 with 1/3 of that reason being female factor, 1/3 male factor, and 1/3 combined or unexplained. What we don't talk about often, is how when it comes to egg freezing, the financial burden typically falls entirely on the female.

In today's episode, copywriter KelseyFormost discusses her decision to ask her boyfriend to contribute financially should she decide to preserve her fertility. But not only did Kelsey have that difficult conversation with her partner – she opened up to the world when she shared her story .

Kelsey's story was met with both overwhelming gratitude and judgmental, hurtful comments. But she chose to look at the positive. By sharing her story, she's able to show others they're not alone and help people broach this topic with their partner.

Guests: Kelsey Formost, Copywriter, and Infertility Advocate

Host: Dan Bulger

You can find Kelsey's story in Glamour, here.

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].

A huge misconception in the world of fertility is that egg freezing is an elective procedure and should, therefore, be treated like one. This is absolutely untrue.

Women are born with all the eggs they will produce during a lifetime, therefore, the quality and quantity of viable eggs diminish as time goes on. And doctors are finding the leading cause of female-factor infertility is diminished ovarian reserve starting around age 35.

Advanced technologies, however, allow women to freeze their eggs before this happens, opening up the possibility of having biological children at some point down the line. In today's episode, we hear from two women who did exactly that.

Brandi Guthrie and Julie Hunt, both Progyny employees, went through the egg freezing process for different reasons, had different highs and lows, but came out feeling the same thing: empowered and in control of their futures. We also hear from Dr. Alan Copperman on the benefits of fertility preservation.

Guests: Julie Hunt, Director, Business Development at Progyny, Brandi Guthrie, National Account Manager at Progyny, and Dr. Alan Copperman, Medical Director at Progyny

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].

Infertility is already hard and complex, even with the advanced medicine and technology we have today, but imagine trying over 20 years ago, when commonplace protocols were still being developed. The first baby born via IVF is only 42 years old, and a lot has happened since then.

In today's episode, we dive into the evolution of IVF over the last 42 years and hear how the challenges of the '80s and '90s led to technological advancements and the carefully curated protocols we see in fertility clinics today.

We also hear from Sue Johnston, an infertility advocate, who walks us through her fertility journey. Her story spanned during the '80s and '90's and a lot different than one may experience today. Sue's story, one filled with perseverance and a passion to keep fighting, is highlighted alongside a medical history of IVF, discussed by Dr. Alan Copperman.