Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday

Send us Fan Mail Bleeding in Early Pregnancy: What We Know Now Seeing blood after a positive pregnancy test can turn excitement into fear in an instant—especially when you’ve experienced infertility, IVF, or a previous pregnancy loss. In this replay of our original 2020 episode, Dr. Mark Amols shares his family’s experience with bleeding during pregnancy and explores the questions patients ask in...

Send us Fan Mail “I feel like nobody is treating my problem. They just keep putting a Band-Aid on it.” If you have PCOS, you may have said this yourself. In this episode, Dr. Mark Amols takes the complaint seriously and explains what birth control, metformin, letrozole, and lifestyle changes actually do. He covers why symptoms can return when you stop treatment, and what the history of ovarian sur...

Send us Fan Mail You had 15 mature eggs and ended up with three embryos. What happened? In this episode, Dr. Mark Amols explains IVF attrition: the step-by-step drop-off from eggs retrieved, to mature eggs, to normal fertilization, to blastocysts and beyond. Your final embryo count tells you how many chances you have. Where the drop-off happened tells you what to ask about next. We cover: Why an M...

Send us Fan Mail Why were some of your eggs immature after an IVF retrieval—and does it mean your trigger was wrong? In this episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday , Dr. Mark Amols explains what low egg maturity really means, why a report may show GV, MI, and MII eggs, and why “we triggered too early” is only one possibility—not an automatic conclusion. Not every follicle and egg develops on the s...

Send us Fan Mail Why did 14 eggs retrieved become 10 mature eggs—and only 7 normally fertilized? In this episode, Dr. Mark Amols explains what IVF embryology reports really mean. Learn how egg meiosis works, why an MII egg is considered mature, and what GV (germinal vesicle), MI, and MII tell us about an egg’s development. We also break down polar bodies, pronuclei, normal 2PN fertilization, and w...

Send us Fan Mail In Part 3 of our three-part Egg Freezing Series, Dr. Mark Amols answers one of the most overlooked questions in fertility preservation: Once you are finally ready to have a baby, should you actually use your frozen eggs? The answer is not always yes. If you froze eggs when you were younger and are still relatively young with good fertility when you are ready to conceive, it may ma...

Send us Fan Mail In Part 2 of our three-part egg freezing series, we walk through the entire egg-freezing process from start to finish . What medications do you take? How long are the injections? How often do you need ultrasounds and bloodwork? What happens during the trigger shot? Does the egg retrieval hurt? And what actually happens to your eggs once they reach the embryology lab? Dr. Mark Amol...

Send us Fan Mail In Part 1 of our three-part egg freezing series, Dr. Mark Amols breaks down who should consider egg freezing, when it actually makes sense, and why there is no single “perfect age” or magic number of frozen eggs that guarantees a future baby. We discuss the important difference between age, AMH, and ovarian reserve —including why a high AMH does not necessarily mean better egg qua...

Send us Fan Mail Ever remember something from Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday and think, “Wait… which episode was that?” Now there’s an easier way to find it. Visit TacoBoutFertility.com , where you can search the entire podcast library based on the questions you’re trying to answer, browse episodes by topics like IVF, embryo transfer, PGT, IUI, egg quality, and more, or ask the podcast to help you fi...

Send us Fan Mail Thinking about freezing your eggs—or already have eggs frozen and wondering what happens next? Over the next three episodes of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday, we’re taking a deep dive into egg freezing. We’ll cover who should consider freezing their eggs, when timing matters most, how many eggs you may actually need, what to expect from the medications and retrieval, and what happens...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever asked three people at your fertility clinic the same question—and somehow gotten three different answers? It can feel like nobody is communicating. But sometimes the explanation is more complicated. In this episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday , Dr. Mark Amols takes you behind the scenes of a fertility clinic to explain how the care team actually works. Front desk...

Send us Fan Mail Does the ERA test actually improve your chance of pregnancy with IVF—or has endometrial receptivity testing been oversold? Patients often receive completely different advice. Some fertility specialists say the Endometrial Receptivity Analysis, or ERA, can identify a personalized window of implantation. Others say research has proven the test does not work. The truth is more compli...

Send us Fan Mail Could chronic endometritis—silent inflammation in the uterine lining—affect IVF implantation, miscarriage, or embryo-transfer success? In this episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday, Dr. Mark Amols explains what chronic endometritis is, what it is not, and when it may actually be worth investigating. We break down CD138 biopsies, hysteroscopy, cultures, EMMA, ALICE, and vaginal mi...

Send us Fan Mail What does it mean when your hCG is above the “discriminatory zone,” but a transvaginal ultrasound still shows an empty uterus? It raises concern—but it does not automatically diagnose an ectopic pregnancy or miscarriage. In this episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday, Dr. Mark Amols explains what the discriminatory level can—and cannot—tell us about an early pregnancy. He explores...

Send us Fan Mail Your first beta hCG is 100. Two days later, it rises to 150—but it didn’t double. Does that mean miscarriage? Could it be ectopic? Or could the pregnancy still be progressing normally? Before Google diagnoses you with three different pregnancy complications, take a breath. In this episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday, Dr. Mark Amols explains why the familiar rule that hCG must d...

Send us Fan Mail Infertility can lead to a painful question that many people are afraid to say aloud: Is God punishing me? In this deeply personal episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday , Dr. Mark Amols explores why infertility can feel like spiritual rejection. When children are described as blessings, pregnancy comes easily to others, and treatment repeatedly fails, it can be tempting to believe...

Send us Fan Mail After a disappointing IVF retrieval, it is tempting to change everything. But does a new protocol actually explain a better next cycle—or is biology doing some of the talking? In this episode, Dr. Mark Amols explains why IVF protocols absolutely matter, but why there is no single “perfect” protocol that can guarantee a certain number of eggs or mature eggs. Using the analogy of an...

Send us Fan Mail Can you actually get pregnant at 50? The headlines never tell you the number that matters most: how old was the egg? In this episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday, Dr. Mark Amols breaks down what is really behind those “pregnant at 50” headlines — and why the same story can mean completely different biology depending on the details nobody reports. In this episode: 🌮 Why there ar...

Send us Fan Mail Most people think of the menstrual cycle as bleeding, cramps, cycle day one, or an app prediction. But the period is really the final report — not the main event. In this episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday, Dr. Mark Amols explains the menstrual cycle from the ovary’s point of view. Learn how the brain, ovary, and uterus communicate each month, why one follicle becomes dominant...

Send us Fan Mail Progesterone-in-oil shots, also known as PIO shots, are one of the most feared and hated parts of IVF. They are uncomfortable, intimidating, and often leave patients wondering: “Do I really need this, or is my fertility doctor just being cruel?” In this episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday, Dr. Mark Amols explains why progesterone matters for implantation, how estrogen and proge...

Send us Fan Mail Can your embryo fall out after an embryo transfer? Do you really need bed rest after IVF? Can walking, peeing, coughing, laughing, going up stairs, having stress, or riding home in the car ruin your chances? In this episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday , Dr. Mark Amols breaks down one of the most common fears patients have after embryo transfer: whether one wrong move can preven...

Send us Fan Mail Fertility advice can be wrong even when the person giving it meant well. In this episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday , Dr. Mark Amols explores how reassurance, incomplete evaluations, and well-intentioned attempts to “save money” can sometimes delay the fertility care patients actually need. This episode looks at the emotional stress patients feel when they realize they may hav...

Send us Fan Mail A semen analysis is one of the most important fertility tests, but for many patients, it is also one of the most awkward. In this episode, Dr. Mark Amols walks through what to expect at a semen analysis appointment, how to prepare, what happens during collection, and why this test gives fertility clinics such valuable information. In this episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday , D...

Send us Fan Mail Fertility misinformation on Instagram and social media can make patients feel like their doctor missed something important. In this episode, Dr. Mark Amols breaks down fertility fear-mongering, IVF myths, unnecessary fertility testing, and how scary medical advice can turn real concerns into panic. In this episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday , Dr. Amols explains how patients ca...

Send us Fan Mail PCOS has officially been renamed PMOS , or Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome — but does the new name actually change the way patients are diagnosed and treated? In this episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday , Dr. Mark Amols explains why polycystic ovary syndrome was always a misleading name, how PCOS got its name from the historic Stein-Leventhal description, and why the “...