This is Fertility

Frustration, confusion, and disappointment may be common feelings when going through a family building journey. But to have those feelings directed towards your physician is entirely different. For Delaine Williams, she felt dismissed by her doctor and the weight and reality of navigating the healthcare system as a Black woman became a bigger challenge. In this episode, we hear how Delaine had to...

The Fertility 101 Series, because there's no shortage of daunting terms to keep your mind running, is a quick and dirty breakdown on a specific topic with insights from a fertility expert. In today's episode, we discuss how someone can choose the right fertility clinic for their needs. Dr. Paul Lin of Seattle Reproductive Medicine discusses what requirements and key things someone should look for...

Many times, the family building journey can make someone feel alone and without help. This sentiment rang true to Priya Santhanam, Ph. D., a scientist and engineer in the STEM field. In Priya's culture, having children is an important life milestone and she, like so many others, imagined a life that followed the blueprint of get a degree, have a successful career, have kids, and maintain a harmoni...

As we close the chapter of 2021, we're also closing out season 4 of This is Infertility -- a season full of emotional first-hand stories, education from leading fertility doctors, and tales of tangible changes from the trailblazers and advocates in the fertility community. This season's year-end episode highlights the six-part series we released in April as part of National Infertility Awareness W...

Scott McGahey and his wife were among the 1 in 8 that struggled with infertility – their attempts at IUI and IVF failed, and when their employer-sponsored coverage ran out, the couple started thinking their dream of starting a family was impossible. Just as the couple started considering other options , Scott got amazing news. His employer, Willis Tower Watson, had enacted Progyny, meaning Scott a...

When it comes to family building, the holidays can be a time of heightened anxiety, sensitive conversations, and awkward family encounters. Dealing with infertility can prove to be challenging on its own but paired with pressing questions from relatives can really make one feel as though it's their fault. Today's episode features tips on how to handle tough situations and challenging questions abo...

The challenges of life and building a family can bring the best or the worst out of people, but in this case, it was both. This episode follows the story of Keia Jones-Baldwin, a woman who showed substantial amounts of physical and emotional strength during tough times . After going through countless miscarriages , empty conversations with fertility specialists, and more failed experiences, Keia b...

A family building journey may not always be straight forward and easy. And most times those feelings of hope and positivity may fade into confusion and gut-wrenching disappointment. This is what it was like for Claire and Patrick Gibson. As time passed and fertility treatments failed, Claire continued to struggle to find the right answers. However, those answers led to a breath of fresh air, build...

COVID-19 and its aftermath has changed everything , leaving us with more questions on how to navigate this new normal. When it comes to the vaccine and fertility, pregnancy, and trying to conceive , new concerns have come to light about how to proceed. Progyny's Lissa Kline, Senior Vice President of Provider and Member Services, and Dr. Alan Copperman, Progyny's Medical Director, sat down in a rec...

Molly Ryman was nearing her due date with her second daughter, who she and her husband, Matt, had named Mabel, when suddenly, the baby stopped moving. An ultrasound revealed Mabel's heart had stopped beating. Molly, Matt and their daughter were left to pick up the pieces. October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month so this week, Molly sat down with her friend and our colleague, Lissa Klin...

October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss and Awareness Month, and we want to shed light on the painful reality that is Recurrent Pregnancy Loss, sometimes shortened to RPL. RPL is a diagnosis when a patient experiences two or more miscarriages. And while this reality can be overwhelming, it's crucial to understand how common miscarriages are and not self-blame. On today's episode, Dr. Lora Shahine of...

The Fertility 101 Series, because there's no shortage of daunting terms to keep your mind running, is a quick and dirty breakdown on a specific topic with insights from a fertility expert. In today's episode, we talk about oncofertility and the opportunity this gives to patients for life after cancer. Dr. Wael Salem of CCRM San Francisco joins us to help breakdown the most common questions and mis...

Sometimes trying to have a child using your own eggs can be dangerous or impossible – this is where an egg donor comes in. We hear a lot about egg donation from the clinical perspective or from the intended parents, but what is the process like for the egg donor ? Holly Smith has donated her eggs to six different families. In today's episode, she shares the physical and emotional aspects of her jo...

There are a multitude of challenges that people face on their family building journey -- whether it's being misdiagnosed, not having enough information about your health, or facing a global pandemic. Angela Vega experienced all three, among others. Angela, a Progyny member through Expedia, was initially misdiagnosed with endometriosis at an early age but when she decided she wanted to have kids, t...

The Fertility 101 Series, because there's no shortage of daunting terms to keep your mind running, is a quick and dirty breakdown on a specific topic with insights from a fertility expert. In today's episode, we discuss PCOS and the challenges that come with it. Dr. Todd Deutsch from Advanced Reproductive Center educates us on the causes of PCOS, treatment options, and how PCOS impacts fertility a...

One thing always leads to another, and in Eloise's case, her actions illuminated a path of happiness and health for one family after another. Eloise Drain, founder of Family Inceptions and Reproductive Association of Minority Professionals (RAMP), started by donating her kidney to her cousin, and eventually Eloise found herself as a gestational carrier for many grateful couples over the years. In...

We've said often on this podcast that sharing a journey can be very cathartic for both the person sharing as well as for the audience. This was certainly the case for author Amy Klein, author and fertility advocate who chronicled her four-year journey with IVF and recurrent pregnancy loss through a column in the New York Times and eventually, a book. Amy's story consists of ten doctors , nine roun...

Society has come a long wayin finally providing fertility and family building benefits for same-sex male couples and single fathers by choice. But this journey can be complex and confusing. Which is why, for our third installment of our Journey to Fatherhood series, we pulled a panel of experts to give an overview on how to build family with a surrogate , donor eggs , and adoption . We also dive i...

When it comes to a family building journey, there are a lot of decisions to make along the way. ART has transformed family building options for the LGBTQ+ community , but there aren't a ton of data points and studies chronicling their experiences. Same-sex male couples have many options when it comes to family building, some of which could include finding a gestational carrier , donor tissue purch...

Did you know that one in three infertility cases is due to male factor? Which is actually just as common as female factor infertility. Male factor infertility has always been a taboo topic, but it's time to start talking about male reproductive health and prioritizing a man's journey on his path to parenthood. It can be hard to figure out where to start when it comes to tests, treatments, or just...

A lot of pressure is placed on women to start thinking about family building early in their lives due to the "fertility window" or "biological clock". Katie Becker, a Progyny member through Hearst (she works at Elle Magazine), felt the weight of having to pick between starting a family or focusing on her career . Katie's journey led her to fertility preservation, aka egg freezing, which was made f...

Due to advancements in assisted reproductive technology (ART) and more inclusive employer-sponsored family building coverage, the LGBTQ+ community has more options on their paths to parenthood than ever before. One of the most utilized technologies for LGBTQ+ singles or couples is donor tissue – the use of donor egg and/or sperm. Tissue donation can be confusing to navigate, so Progyny recently ho...

Family building comes with its ups and downs, but as the old saying goes, what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. That was the case for Matt Walters and his wife, Corinne. The couple went through IUI , IVF , and even a miscarriage, on their journey to create a family, but the difficult times gave way to a strengthened relationship and an appreciation of life's small moments. Matt, who has the Prog...

One of the largest misconceptions we hear is that infertility is a women's issue when in fact, female-factor infertility is only the cause a third of the time. One third is attributed to male-factor reasons, and a third of the time it is either unexplained or a combination. That is why we at Progyny are launching a three-part webinar series on men and infertility. Our first installment focused on...

The Fertility 101 Series, because there's no shortage of daunting terms to keep your mind running, is a quick and dirty breakdown on a specific topic with insights from a fertility expert. In today's episode, we explain some of the biggest misconceptions when it comes to fertility, male-factor infertility, and how lifestyle choices impact fertility . Dr. Natan Bar-Chama, a reproductive urologist a...