Big Fat Negative: TTC, fertility, infertility and IVF

Genevieve Thurley is a busy woman, what with her 1 million followers and career as a makeup artist and content creator. But today, she's making time to talk to us about her experiences of infertility and IVF. Trigger warning: this episode covers Thurley's jourrrrney all the way until its conclusion - ie. giving birth. If you're not ready to listen yet, don't! Or stop at the first ad break, which i...

Cathy Adams is the travel news features editor for The Times and Sunday Times -- and also a person who has spent years trying to conceive her second child. Now, she's at a crossroads: give up IVF and reconcile herself to having one child, or keep adding to the £40,000 it's already cost her? Secondary infertility has never felt so difficult. Meanwhile, Emma provides an update on her endometriosis s...

This week we're joined by Tristan Taylor, the founder of Mandrology, who is biohacking his way to sperm health. He explains why sperm quality is a biomarker of health, in the same way that heart rate and blood pressure is -- and what you can do to improve it. Meanwhile, Emma Whitney, director of embryology and genetics at The Evewell, explains why not all add-ons are made equal -- and why timelaps...

Oonagh Pickering is one of the research nurses at Tommy's whose study on graduated miscarriage care has already changed how the Scottish NHS approaches care after pregnancy losses -- and now they want England to make a change, too. Oonagh joins us to talk about how offering extra care following first and second miscarriages, including progesterone for threatened miscarriages, extra scans and menta...

The sourdough baker Martha de Lacey joins us this week: she has run the full gamut of infertility experiences, from going solo to recurrent miscarriage to secondary infertility. "It's so difficult when you give yourself this story of why things happened and the meaning behind it," she says. "Actually it's just nonsense. It's all just luck." Emma Whitney from The Evewell also joins us to explain wh...

She's a performer, musician and wickedly funny creator: Sheyi Martins-Allen joins us to talk about her experience of secondary infertility, and how her faith played into it. We also hear her gorgeous song, Stronger, which you can find on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/track/4cqnVteEnJmuttnOJ6wXFk?si=ar63ecyLTgyKOdTxuGx2Vw&nd=1&dlsi=2bdd768cd3fd4dc5 (or search for 'Sheyi'). Mr Ed Coats...

SPECIAL EPISODE SPONSORED BY WILD NUTRITION. Gabby and Emma swanned off to London last week to attend the launch of a new report by Wild Nutrition called The Fertility Disconnect, which shows that 79% of people want more children than they have. The BFN girls were joined by Julianne Boutaleb, a perinatal psychologist; Gail Madelena, a nutritional therapist at Wild Nutrition, Ian Stones, the  ...

Dr Helen O'Neill is many things: a mirror twin, an associate professor in reproductive and molecular genetics at UCL, and also the co-founder and chief executive of Hertility, the at-home hormone testing company which is changing what we know about infertility: the company has built up a database of 700,000 people whose responses to its health survey may shed new light on its causes. Meanwhile, O'...

The comedian Kate-Lois Elliott joins us today to talk about how she's balancing the demands of a comedy career with TTC and infertility - and what the books don't tell you about how it affects your ambition. Meanwhile, The Evewell's Emma Whitney explains whether it's possible to rejuvenate older eggs. Swears throughout. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jacky Maughan had been an international DJ before he and his wife, Eleanor, started trying for a baby. "His lifestyle was party, party, drinking, poor food choices... everything you shouldn't be doing when you're trying to conceive," says Eleanor. When they had trouble conceiving, they took a radical approach to finding out what was wrong, paying for add-ons and tests that weren't available on the...

The actor and writer Natalie Walmsley tells us their story of IUI, ectopics and queer conception - and how they are turning their story into a sitcom. Swears throughout. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're back! (Sort of). Today we're interviewing Dr. Shanna Swan, the presenter of The Plastic Detox, a new Netflix documentary examining the effect of plastics on our fertility. Dr. Swan explains how plastics affect our bodies -- and the small things we can do to limit our exposure. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You might know Dr Jessica Zucker better as @IHadAMiscarriage, the campaigner who helped thousands of women to tell their stories of loss. She joins us to tell us about her new book Normalize It: Upending the Silence, Stigma and Shame That Shapes Women's Lives. She discusses pregnancy loss and how it can change your life. Sorry about the strange hum - that's a recording issue. See you soon! Hosted...

We're back for one night only and we're joined by economist, author, data scientist and all-round HERO Emily Oster, who tells us what the data says about everything from Just Relaxing to acupuncture. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Well, that's a wrap for series 7. To celebrate, Gabby and Emma are raising a festive glass and answering questions from listeners. They're also exchanging gifts - you be the judge of who's the winner. Lots of hugs for your jourrrrney in 2025 - and see you soon! You can sign up to our substack at https://bigfatnegative.substack.com/. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We've heard some heart-breaking stories about the IVF postcode lottery - people who've aged out of their ICB's limit as they tried to lose weight to start IVF, couples who aren't allowed NHS-funded IVF because one person has a child from a former relationship. Amber Izzo and Katie Rollings want to do something about that. Today we talk to them about their campaign to end the postcode lottery, and...

This week we are lucky enough to be joined by THE Louise Joy Brown, the first IVF baby. She talks about how her mum felt about going through IVF, her relationship with Bob Edwards, Patrick Steptoe and Jean Purdy, and why the science is now more important than ever. No Prof T again this week. To sign up to our Substack, you can go to https://bigfatnegative.substack.com/. Hosted on Acast. See acast....

This week we're talking to Aisha Balesaria, aka Mind Body Revival Coach, about childlessness not by choice. She discusses her chronic endometriosis and adenomyosis, and explains why having a strong idea of why you want a baby in the first place can be a great first step to deciding when to give up IVF treatment. You can find Aisha's book, We Are One in Eight, at Amazon here: https://www.amazon.co....

Surprise! We're here on a Friday to give you a little something extra: an interview with the screenwriters of the new Netflix movie Joy , which comes out today, starring Thomasin McKenzie, James Norton and Bill Nighy, about Jean Purdy, Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe, the creators of IVF. Rachel Mason and Jack Thorne tell us about how their own experiences of IVF informed the narrative of the m...

Last time we spoke to the author, adventurer and arts producer Jessica Hepburn was way back in 2019, when we talked about how she swam the English channel. Now she's back, to talk about her climb up Mount Everest - and why she listened to the entire back catalogue of Desert Island Discs while she did it. Meanwhile, Professor Tim is talking sperm cups: do they work? The link to the Guardian piece E...

Bafta-nominated actor and director Maxine Peake and the actor and writer Hayley Standing discuss their new short, Incompatible , which tells the story of a pregnant woman who is told her baby is incompatible with life, and their experiences of infertility. You can watch the film at https://vimeo.com/713200159, or see the trailer on its Instagram account: @incompatibleshortfilm. Meanwhile, Professo...

In the second of our duo of episodes on surrogacy, Ariel Taylor, the founder of fertility and surrogacy organisation Carried With Love, talks about being a gestational carrier five times - and how it felt when she lost one of those pregnancies. Meanwhile, Prof T talks beta tests - why do some clinics do them and others don't? Scroll to 53:21 to hear Gabby's absolute banger. And if you want to chec...

Ginanne Brownell is a journalist whose jourrrrney took her to surrogacy via failed rounds of IVF and a very snazzy tattoo. Her new book, ‘Elusive Mommyhood: An Investigative Reporter's Personal Journey Into IVF and Surrogacy’ explores the history and politics of surrogacy in detail. And if you also want an Aku'aba tattoo, here it is . Meanwhile, Prof Tim talks about sex (baby): how often should yo...

The poet Harry Baker went viral this summer for his poem Trying , a heart-rending description of the anguish of infertility (/ode to German linguistic precision). He joins us today to talk about his creative process and why putting into words what you are going through is so important. Meanwhile Prof (or is it Dr?) Tim talks about antibiotics: can you have them during pregnancy? Find Harry merch (...

If you make it past the unusually rambly intro, this episode we talk to Marea Goodman, a midwife who specialises in helping queer couples to conceive. We discuss at-home IUIs and the dangers of buying sperm online. Meanwhile, Professor Tim is talking about sex: should you do it after an embryo transfer? Swears, probably. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.