Fertility Forward

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...

Undergoing cancer treatment can be incredibly difficult and is complicated even further when you have to consider how it impacts your fertility. Today’s guest, Jen Rhodes, faced this challenge when she was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer in June 2011, at just 26 years old. After her bilateral mastectomy, followed by a chemotherapy regimen known to have reproductivity toxicity, Jen was advise...

For thousands of years, Chinese Medicine has been used to enhance fertility, improve sexual health, balance hormones, and regulate the menstrual cycle. Today’s guest is Dr. Daryl Thuroff from the Yinova Center to the Fertility Forward Podcast, who has spent the last 13 years honing her skills as a health care facilitator and educator. She has a Doctorate of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine, is a L...

Many patients who discover they have fibroids often have a lot of fear associated with the diagnosis. The aim of all of these episodes is, as always, to put out reputable information. Today’s episode should help you feel a little bit less fearful and more understanding about what fibroids are, how they can be treated, and how it affects your fertility. Tuning in, you’ll hear from Dr. Tia Jackson-B...

Welcome back to another episode of Fertility Forward. Today’s guest is Dr. Rachel Gerber Gerber from RMA of New York. Dr. Gerber is a reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist and board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist who cares for patients at RMA of New York’s Eastside and Westchester offices. In addition to her medical expertise, Dr. Gerber prides herself on treating every...

Resources regarding men's reproductive health are few and far between. We have such a deep association between women and reproduction, that men are often left out of the conversation entirely. Today's guest, Rene Almeling, is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Yale University with research and teaching interests in gender and medicine. Rene uses a range of qualitative, historical, an...

Today on the Fertility Forward podcast we welcome back the Medical Director of RMA of New York, Dr. Alan Copperman. A lot has transpired, especially over the last nine months with COVID-19, and you’ll hear from Dr. Copperman to see how things have been professionally and personally. We talk about what we can look forward to in the future, in terms of clinic closures and what COVID-19 means for tho...

Welcome to this mini-episode of the Fertility Forward Podcast where, today, it’s just your hosts, Rena Gower and Dara Godfrey. Listen in as they debrief on the biggest topic of 2020 – the COVID-19 pandemic – and share some of their hopes for 2021. Find out what Rena and Dara’s experience of the pandemic has been like, including recording via Zoom rather than at the studio, having less time for sel...

One of the most hotly debated topics in fertility right now is whether it is safe to get vaccinated against COVID-19 prior to conceiving, while pregnant, or while breastfeeding. The difficulty of the decision lies in the fact that there is no human safety data regarding the COVID-19 vaccine in pregnancy as the currently available vaccines have not been tested on pregnant women. Accepting a vaccine...