Fertility Forward

Mental health struggles are stigmatized and when women are pregnant or become mothers, these issues are almost completely overlooked. Dr. Emily Watts specializes in women's mental health and perinatal psychiatry and applies a holistic approach to the care of her patients. She sees the interplay between the physical, mental and social wellbeing of her patients as vital to their overall health....

A growing awareness that you don't need to have a partner in order to become a parent is changing the narrative about parenthood. Today’s guest to discuss this topic is Dr. Rachel Gerber, a reproductive endocrinologist, infertility specialist, and board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist who cares for patients at RMA of New York’s Eastside and Westchester offices. In this episode, we dis...

The month of September is PCOS Awareness Month and, in today’s episode, we are joined by Dr. Lucky Sekhon, OBGYN and fertility specialist based in New York City, to discuss polycystic ovarian syndrome and her unconventional approach to the disorder. We also dive a little deeper into the emotional impact of PCOS and the loss of control that patients often feel when diagnosed during their fertility...

The COVID-19 vaccine is raising a lot of questions and anxiety, but it is particularly pertinent to those with a special interest in fertility. On today’s episode, we talk to Dr. Lucky Sekhon, OBGYN and fertility specialist based in New York City. We kick off our discussion by acknowledging that pregnant women are a vulnerable population when it comes to COVID before discussing the misinformation...

So often when women struggle with their fertility, they are told to follow treatments that may not work for their bodies. Perhaps they are told to lose weight or live healthier, but for many women, this is not enough. Melissa Groves Azzaro is an integrative dietician who helps women with hormone imbalances, PCOS, and fertility issues regain their periods and get pregnant naturally. Through her fun...

Choosing to follow a healthy diet should be pretty straightforward, right? But with all the information available to us online it can often be difficult to know which sources to trust, especially when they contradict one another. Here to shed some well-informed light on the topic is registered dietician nutritionist, and certified diabetes educator, Lily Nichols. Lily is a researcher and author of...

Many parents who pursue donor-assisted reproduction often feel alone in their journey, but the truth is they usually share the same fears. Today we welcome back Nancy Kaufman, a licensed clinical social worker, and psychoanalyst who has been practicing in New York City for over 30 years. Nancy works with individuals, couples, and groups dealing with infertility and parenting after infertility. For...

Today, we speak with holistic nutritionist and women’s wellness expert, Erin Parekh, who specializes in guiding women to nurse themselves on their journey to and through motherhood. You’ll hear the story of how Erin’s own fertility journey sparked her special interest in women’s wellness and the pivotal moment when she realized how little clinics offered to those on a fertility journey. We touch o...

So much of women’s health is based solely on conventional medicine, leaving little room for other evidence-based methods. Today we talk to Dr. Anna Barbieri who has a passion for truly personalized patient-centered care for women from preventative care to complex gynecologic issues. Dr. Barbieri is a board-certified gynecologist with additional training in integrative medicine. She completed a res...

Every child will eventually ask the question, “Where do babies come from?” Your answer will have a lasting impact on the way they think about what it means to be part of a family, especially if they were adopted or conceived with a donated sperm or egg, also known as third-party reproduction. Today’s guest believes that compassion, love, and honesty are critical in helping families come to greater...

There’s plenty of information out there on the health challenges that accompany being overweight, but being underweight comes with its own set of challenges, especially on a fertility journey. In today’s episode, a previous guest, Nicole, visits us to talk about her journey with weight gain and nutrition. She gets real about the role of being underweight as a factor in her fertility journey and te...

Part of what makes people in the US feel so alone after a miscarriage is that we have no cultural rites of passage to help us make sense of this experience. In 2017, Angela Elson’s article, The Japanese Art of Grieving A Miscarriage, was published in the New York Times , and we are so grateful to welcome her onto the show today as our guest. Angela’s piece is one of the most poignant articles abou...

Although rich in knowledge, many fertility professionals simply cannot relate to the lived experience of the complexities of a fertility journey. On today’s episode, we speak with fertility specialist and business development director at fertility benefits management company, Progyny, Julie Hunt, who suffers from PCOS and has been through two egg-freezing cycles. She shares her background and the...

When Gena Jaffe had a baby using her wife’s egg, she learned that even though the baby was genetically her wife’s, only she, as the woman giving birth, was considered the legal parent. Gena discovered just how much confusion and misinformation is out there concerning the legalities of LGBTQ+ families, even among lawyers. As an entrepreneur and lawyer herself, as well as a mom who has gone through...

Each fertility story is unique and deserves to be heard. Today’s guest, Nicole, is not only a powerful warrior in the fertility space, but she is also a single mother by choice, a speech-language pathologist who works in numerous positions, and she is even getting her doctorate! In this episode, Nicole talks about her decision to become a mother despite not having a partner. She opens up about the...

The importance of balanced blood sugar levels on both fertility and pregnancy is often overlooked. For this reason, today on Fertility Forward, we discuss blood sugar regulation, gestational diabetes mellitus (or GDM), and polycystic ovarian syndrome (or PCOS) with regard to pregnancy and fertility. We are joined by an expert in this field, Casey Seiden, who is a Registered Dietitian and Certified...

Everyone’s fertility journey is different. Unfortunately, there is a lot of stigma around fertility issues and not a lot of support available to those who are dealing with them. Kristyn Hodgdon is on a mission to change this. The organization which Kristyn founded, The Fertility Tribe, empowers women through sharing fertility related stories and providing resources and support during all stages of...

Anybody who has struggled with fertility knows how heartbreaking and emotionally tumultuous it can be. We all have to find coping mechanisms to deal with the pain. Today, we speak to Jennifer “Jay” Palumbo, a freelance writer, avid women's health advocate, and a ForbesWomen contributor. She frequently covers topics such as infertility, women's health, pregnancy, and being the mother of a...

About 30% of women with unexplained infertility are found to have endometriosis. While this condition is usually associated with severe pain during menstruation, it often goes undiagnosed, and about six to 10% of women are likely to suffer from it. Today on the Fertility Forward Podcast, we talk to Dr. Kimberley Thornton, a Reproductive Endocrinologist, Infertility Specialist, Obstetrician, and Gy...

At some point, you have to realize that it is your life, and you have to do what you have to do to find your peace and your happiness. These are the words of Jenna Wolfe, who is today’s guest on Fertility Forward. Jenna is the host of First Things First, a daily morning sports talk show on FOX Sports 1, where she talks sports, adds a little comic relief, and sprinkles in the occasional Seinfeld re...

There’s no difference between a pregnancy lost at six weeks than a pregnancy lost at 10 weeks, or later down the road. Any pregnancy loss, at any point, is damaging. It’s unexpected and carries weight, no matter where you are in your gestation. Our guest today is Dr. Tanmoy Mukherjee, a board-certified Gynecologist, and Reproductive Endocrinologist, and is the Associate Director of the Mount Sinai...

Even though men contribute to more than 50% of instances of infertility, there is not the same culture around male fertility testing as there is around female fertility testing. Here to discuss this and many other topics around male reproductive health and fertility is the esteemed Dr. Natan Bar-Chama, Director of the Center of Male Reproductive Health at RMA of New York. He is a board-certified u...

There are not many resources for males to assist them in supporting their partners undergoing fertility treatments. This can often lead to increased feelings of guilt, shame, and isolation. Today’s guest, Steve Moskowitz, is the other half of Rachel Hess, a guest on episode 39. Steve joins us to present the male perspective of what it is like to watch a partner go through treatments. As Steve high...

Becoming an egg donor, or looking for one, can feel like a daunting task. Our guests on today’s show, Dara Berg and Melissa Brisman are here to provide some clarity around several common questions and concerns and hopefully quell your fears and give you the courage to embark on this journey. Dara explains the rigorous process involved in becoming an egg donor. While it is impossible to verify all...

Today’s guest is a friend of RMA New York and someone whose name comes up often: attorney Melissa Brisman. Melissa first started helping couples become parents in 1996. Actually, she was her own first client, guiding and directing the process in which she and her husband became parents of twin boys and later a daughter, all carried by a gestational carrier. Attorney Brisman has been instrumental i...