The Fertility Answers Podcast

In this special and timely podcast, your host Dr. Neil Chappell is joined by fellow Fertility Answers reproductive endocrinologist Dr. John Storment to discuss the February 2024 Alabama Supreme Court ruling that deemed frozen embryos as children with legal status. This ruling came about after several Alabama couples sued for wrongful death of a minor when their embryos were accidentally destroyed...

Women with insulin resistance not only struggle with their overall health but their fertility as well. Join your host Dr. Neil Chappell as he delves into the intricate relationship between insulin resistance and fertility. Learn the science behind insulin resistance, the best way to test for it and how this condition not only affects your metabolism and other important bodily functions, but also r...

Join Dr. Neil Chappell in this entertaining and candid conversation with Olympian and former LSU track star Lolo Jones on her recent egg freezing journey with Fertility Answers. Approaching her 40th birthday and still single, Lolo feared she was running out of time to have children. Listen as they walk through her process of searching for information about egg freezing, costs and testing involved,...

Marijuana and THC use has gained followers in recent years as many states have legalized it for medicinal or recreational purposes. But, there are still many questions surrounding how marijuana and THC can affect the fertility potential of both men and women. Join Fertility Answers Podcast host reproductive endocrinologist Dr. Neil Chappell as he delves into some of the recent research that attemp...

Progesterone is a hormone secreted after ovulation that prepares the lining of the uterus for a potential pregnancy. Because of its important role at the beginning of conception and well into pregnancy, there is often a false assumption that low levels of progesterone are responsible for all pregnancy loss. In this episode, Fertility Answers Podcast reproductive endocrinologist Dr. Neil Chappell b...

While most women seeking fertility treatments eventually become pregnant, a small subset are never able to medically overcome infertility and seek other avenues to a family or resolve to live childless. When is it time to say enough is enough? How do you give yourself permission to admit that you've given it your best shot, but now is the time to stop treatment? In this episode, Dr. Neil Chappell...

There is no doubt that assisted reproductive technologies used in fertility treatment, such as intrauterine insemination and in vitro fertilization, have contributed to the rise in the number of twins and triplets over the last several decades. It's not uncommon for our patients to even ask for a twin pregnancy. However, multiple gestation pregnancies bring risks to both the mother and the babies...

The level of stress experienced by individuals and couples diagnosed with infertility is nothing to dismiss. Experts equate the distress and trauma one gets with being diagnosed as infertile the same as getting a cancer diagnosis. Join us in this special conversation with Samantha Rauber, LPC, a licensed counselor certified in perinatal mental health in the Baton Rouge area, who discusses how a di...

If you’re an IVF patient you’ve maybe heard your fertility specialist or embryologist use the term “mosaic” to describe your embryo after genetic testing. As embryo genetic testing has advanced over the last few years, geneticists are learning that not all embryos fall neatly into the classification of either normal or abnormal, but some can fall into a spectrum in between called mosaicism. Listen...

Uterine anomalies and structural problems with the female reproductive organs, such as uterine septums, are often associated with increased miscarriage. In this episode, Dr. Neil Chappell discusses uterine anomalies with Fertility Answers patient Emma who came to our center with a history of miscarriages and a uterine septum. Find out more about what that means, what to do about it, and what the j...

East meets West in this special episode featuring Dr. Jan Morello, a physical medicine and rehabilitation physician in Baton Rouge. Her strong interest in holistic approaches and combining Eastern and Western medicine led her to become a licensed acupuncturist through Harvard Medical School. Based on thousands of years of practice in Eastern medicine, acupuncture uses tiny needles to restore the e...

It's been over eight months since the vaccines have come out and we've learned quite a bit in that time. With close to 170 million fully-vaccinated people in the U.S., the preliminary research shows that the vaccines are doing their job of saving lives. But there is a lot of varied information and opinions about the vaccines, and we know you want truthful answers from people you trust. In this epi...

It's Pride Month and we've got a special podcast for our LGBTQ+ listeners who have been curious as to their options for family building. In this episode, Dr. Neil Chappell talks with patient Kaitlyn to take an in-depth look into the options she and her wife Alana considered, tried, and were successful at during their family building journey. Our discussion explores the pros and cons of home insemi...

What are the first line tests essential in the female fertility work-up? Join Dr. Neil Chappell and Fertility Answers physicians assistant Grace Pitt, PA, as they discuss anti-Mullerian hormone testing (AMH) and the hysterosalpingogram dye test (HSG) as the first two essential tests for diagnosing female infertility. AMH testing gives us clues to your remaining supply of eggs and fertility potenti...

Let’s get physical! In this first episode of 2021, Dr. Chappell joins up with Joanna, a physical trainer with a passion for pregnancy, to discuss exercise. Everyone knows that exercise is good for you, but how to put that into action is another thing! Here, Joanna gives actionable tips and advice on how to get moving right away, key exercises to incorporate day to day, and how to keep in the groov...

COVID has dominated the year of 2020 so it’s fitting that the beginning of the end of COVID comes into our lives at the end of this tumultuous year. The vaccines are here! And with the vaccines, a host of questions follows. What kind of vaccine is it? Is it safe? Who can take it? We will tackle the most up to date guidelines and provide a framework to figure out what’s right for you!

The semen analysis - one of the three most important screening tests in the fertility workup, though arguably one of the least understood. Join Dr. Neil Chappell as he sits down once again with Fertility Answers IVF Lab Director Dr. Chelsey Leisinger to cover each component. Motility, morphology, concentration, total motile count...what’s important, and how to piece all of it together to form a pl...

Cancer can be a devastating diagnosis, especially in younger women with a full life ahead of them. But in many cases, the conversation of fertility preservation can get missed or overlooked in a patient's consultations with oncologists in the rush to begin cancer treatment. In observance of Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, join Dr. Neil Chappell as he discusses fertility preservation befo...

September is PCOS awareness month, so we decided to take a very ambitious leap and present an overview of this extremely complex disorder. Join host Dr. Neil Chappell as he provides some thoughts on what goes awry in PCOS and what we can do about it. We take you through the basic mechanics of the menstrual cycle and how PCOS changes the game. With a focus on what symptoms to look for and what ques...

In this episode, Dr. Neil Chappell sits down with Hillary Janani, RN, MS, CGC, a licensed genetics counselor, to discuss carrier screening. Carrier screens are increasingly being discussed at routine doctor visits, and are a really important consideration for anyone in their reproductive years. So, we thought it worth a short discussion with an expert to arm patients with a few good facts to be pr...

Intrauterine insemination, or IUI for short, is one of the most commonly used infertility treatments. As an infertility patient, this is sometimes one of the first type of treatment protocols your doctor may prescribe for you, depending on your specific diagnosis. In this episode, join Dr. Neil Chappell and Fertility Answers IVF nurse Caroline Porter as they discuss the details of an IUI treatment...

In this episode, Dr. Neil Chappell is joined by Fertility Answers's own Dr. Chelsey Leisinger, PhD. As our chief embryologist and lab director, Dr. Leisinger answers some of the more commonly asked questions about what goes on after the egg retrieval, taking our listeners through the humble beginnings of the egg, its fertilization, and on to the early stages of an embryo's life. Is it best to free...

Ever wonder about food and fertility? Calories and conception? Protein and pregnancy? Join host Dr. Neil Chappell as we tackle the questions of what to eat when trying to conceive. We will discuss macros, diet fads, and supplements to tailor your meal planning for a healthy and happy “bun in the oven.” Enjoy!

What can I be doing to help egg and sperm quality and improve the health of my future pregnancy? Given the times we are in with COVID-19, Dr. Neil Chappell takes a few minutes to do a different podcast episode exploring how foods, heavy metals, pesticides and endocrine disruptors can affect your body and that of a growing baby. He suggests some easy changes that you can implement at home toda...

Shannon and Scott knew they were meant to be parents. They describe a calling to build a big family, and this led them to a path we don’t always get to talk about in the fertility world. Listen to their story as they dive down into the world of adoption, describing the decisions they came across, and how their approach ended with a happy surprise.