The Fertility Podcast (NATCHAT PRODUCTIONS LTD)

Earlier in June, a hugely important review by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) was published. This review produced guidance to help fertility clinics comply with their consumer law obligations but also provides guidance for you when considering purchasing IVF treatment. The word ‘purchasing’ there is massively significant because as well as being a patient, you are also a consumer and it’s very likely that you haven’t thought about fertility treatments in that way. It’s important that fertility clinics are fair and that you know your rights when it comes to consumer law.

In this episode, we’re delighted to talk to two guests who have been actively involved in assisting the CMA in producing this guidance – Clare Ettinhauser Director of Strategy and Corporate Affairs at the HFEA, and Patient Advocate and founder of @uberbarrensclub - Katy Linderman. Later we’re also joined by the chair of the British Fertility Society, consultant gynecologist Raj Mathur, to share his views on the CMA review.

Whilst we had Clare with us, we also asked her how best for women and couples to go about choosing a fertility clinic. Clare recommends checking out the Choose A Clinic function on the HFEA website. Kate uses this with her patients and finds it super useful in narrowing down your choices and finding the best clinic for you. She also mentioned paying attention to the individual clinics Live Birth rates on the HFEA website, these are collated and ratified by the HFEA every 2 years but are unlikely to differ very much in that time. Clare also talked about the benefits of attending, either in person or virtually, clinic open days.

Now on to the CMA review: Katy worked as a patient advisor to the CMA and it’s really obvious from reading the review that the patients’ best interests are at the center of every aspect. Katy talked about the need for patients to have accurate and timely information to help them make the right treatment choices and that there is a lot of work clinics need to do to adhere to this new guidance.

Here is what you should now expect to fully understand when choosing a clinic and treatments:

• a) Details about what the consultation consists of;(b) The cost of the consultation and any diagnostic tests and scans;
• (c) The possibility that additional diagnostic tests, and costs, maybe necessary once the results of the first tests are known;
• (d) Whether the results of any tests and scans already undertaken will be accepted; and
• (e) Details of any cancellation charges if they fail to attend the consultation appointment.

Claire talked about the HFEA’s involvement with the CMA review. Sadly, currently, the HFEA does not have any legal powers to ensure that clinics follow and adhere to the CMA guidance. We asked her if the HFEA had received any feedback from clinics since the review was published. As yet they have not but this is probably because clinics have been aware for some time that this review was happening, and that the guidance would be published.

As well as publishing information for clinics, the CMA has provided guidance for patients too. This also includes an informative video voiced by Lorraine Kelly and we urge you to watch this to understand your rights. Katy talks about the need to clinics to take considered action and make the legally required changes to their website, brochures, and any patient information so that there is treatment price transparency (among many of the other requirements) and a good understanding of what is and isn’t included, from the outset.

Katy also states that it is your legal right to have access to this information and if it’s not there, be your own advocate and persist in asking for it. By having this information you’ll feel more empowered on your fertility journey.

Next up we get Raj’s...

It’s episode 2 of the relaunched pod! This week we’re talking about what to eat when you’re trying to conceive. This can be so overwhelming, and we want to make it easy for you to understand all you need to know. So, we’re chatting with the lovely Ro Huntriss who is a registered fertility dietician.

On the pod, we’ve spoken to a fair few people who know what they’re talking about when it comes to fertility and nutrition, but dieticians work slightly differently. Their focus is very much on evidence-based practice and their training to become a dietician involves clinical placements and training to support people with co-existing medical conditions. So, basically, they follow the medical model such as doctors, nurses, pharmacists, etc.

So, where do you start with nutrition when trying to conceive? Ro recommends that you consider your own diet and look at the changes that you feel will make your diet healthier. Keeping a food diary is a great thing to do and can give you a really good picture of what kind of foods you’re eating and where you might need to make some changes.

Let’s talk about egg health. It takes around 3 months to influence the health of the egg and some of the nutrients to include are folate (folic acid) - to help reduce the risk of neural tube defect and also help to improve egg development and quality. Omega 3 - in oily fish or as a supplement can play a huge part in improving egg quality. Antioxidants – from fruits, veg, wholegrains, nuts, seeds, and even in meat.

Ro also shares with us her recommendations for sperm health and how a Mediterranean diet and antioxidants are particularly useful such as vitamin C, E, Zinc, Selenium, and folate.

We get the low down on whether you should go gluten and dairy free – Ro makes it really clear that unless you’re a diagnosed coeliac, it is not recommended to be gluten-free to support fertility as there is not evidence to suggest that this is necessary. Wholegrain is an important part of our diet and needs to be included. If you’re worried you might be intolerant to gluten, ask your GP for a test before removing out from your diet to be sure. With regards to dairy Ro doesn’t recommend cutting it out unless necessary and if you do, make sure you get your plant-based dairy alternatives in.

We frequently talk about the importance of weight when trying to conceive and probably focus more on being overweight, however being underweight is also a consideration when it comes to fertility. Having a low BMI can cause irregular cycles and therefore ovulatory disorders. Ro recommends that if you’re underweight include olive oil, nuts, seeds, and avocado in your diet.

Is it sensible to follow a vegan diet when trying to conceive? Ro says yes but encourages you to have a review with a dietician or nutritionist if you’re struggling to conceive. What about restrictive diets? Ro discourages this as these low-calorie diets are so restrictive and research shows that people that follow these diets don’t get the best outcomes.

We’ll be catching up with Ro in the very near future to chat about preparing for IVF but in the meantime, you can find more about Ro here:

Ro Huntriss: https://dietitianro.co.uk

The Fertility Food Formula: https://fertilitydietitianuk.teachable.com/p/food-and-fuel-for-fertility-an-online-fertility-nutrition-course

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fertility.dietitian.uk/

Registered nutritionists

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Possibly the MOST frustrating diagnosis when you are trying to conceive, unexplained or 'sub' fertility can really mess with your head as you just want to have something you can focus on. It's a label that we give people who haven't conceived within a reasonable timeframe and whilst it doesn't necessarily mean that there's a problem if there might be a number of things that are preventing a pregnancy.

In this episode Dr Jane Stewart, NHS Consultant in Reproductive Medicine in NE England and one of 143 experts is answering more of your questions over at fertially.com who we've worked with to make this bitesize chunk for you.

Jane explains what investigations can be done to try and find out what could be the problem, including explaining how it's important to consider.

Here you'll learn:

• Length of time a couple have been trying
• Making sure they're having reasonably regular sex
• The menstrual cycle of the woman needs to be considered
• Sperm Health - so tests need to be done
• Making sure the woman's fallopian tubes aren't blocked

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Listen to our full a patient story about their Unexplained diagnosis here

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Welcome to the latest episode of The F Word at Work to mark World Childless Week 2023 and in this conversation you'll be hearing firstly from our expert speaker, Katy Schnitzler founder of MIST Workshops about the research she's been doing around the childless community and the conversations we've been facilitating together. Our first guest is anonymous as she is sharing an extremely personal account of how she wasn't able to have a child - which was part of a session Fertility Matters at Work hosted for Zurich Insurance, we then spoke with Dr Robin Hadley an experienced early-career researcher renowned for his expertise in the intersection of male childlessness and the aging process.

What we discussed:

• Dealing with expectations of how life would be - Marriage, expectations, and pressures to have children.
• Emotional strain, arguments, and discussions about starting a family.
• Feeling pressure due to colleagues' pregnancy announcements.
• Enduring years of abusive behavior due to her desire to have a child.
• Escaping an abusive marriage at the age of 40.
• Finding a new partner and experiencing pregnancy loss.
• Repeated miscarriages, emergency surgeries, and medical searches for answers.
• Experiencing physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion.
• Coping with colleagues' questions and well-intentioned but insensitive advice.
• Challenges of sharing personal struggles at the workplace.
• Recognizing the need for a voice for those involuntarily childless.
• Encountering a lack of understanding and insensitive comments.
• Advocating for sensitivity and understanding towards those who are childless.
• Acknowledging the need for proactive support within organizations.
• Highlighting the impact of infertility and childlessness on individuals' lives.
• Encouraging organizations to embrace inclusivity and support for diverse life circumstances
• Dr. Robin Hadley shared his expertise in social gerontology, male childlessness, and aging.
• The rarity of having an in-person podcast recording compared to virtual conversations.
• The significance of World Childlessness Week and the importance of discussing male perspectives on childlessness and aging.
• Statistics about childlessness: One in four men and one in five women are childless, projected rise in childlessness among the over-65 population.
• The concept of "non-category" childlessness and the lack of recognition in academia and policy.
• Factors contributing to childlessness: partner choice, partner changing, timing of relationships, events, and economics.
• Differentiating between "child-free" and "involuntary childlessness."
• The impact of societal norms on men's emotional expression and vulnerability.
• Men's fear of humiliation and societal conditioning around masculinity.
• Disenfranchised grief related to involuntary childlessness and the lack of recognition of this type of grief.
• The emotional challenges and lack of narrative for men experiencing childlessness.
• The association of parenthood and how it's often focused on women, leaving men with limited narratives.
• The impact of childlessness on the workplace, including assumptions, responsibilities, and biases.
• Potential issues for childless men in the workplace: filling in for others with children, lack of recognition, and increased workload.
• Lack of recognition of men's fertility challenges, even in their 30s and 40s.
• Workplace considerations for childless men: acknowledging their experiences, offering support, and addressing

In this week’s episode, we talk to fertility consultant Rami Wakim. Rami, among other areas of expertise, specializes in Intrauterine Insemination (IUI).

We wanted to chat with Rami to find out if these days IUI is really worth it or should you go straight to IVF. Kate mentioned that, in her opinion, she has seen fewer and fewer IUI procedures performed over recent years. Is IUI on the decline?

Rami starts off by giving us a really interesting insight into the history of IUI. Did you know that the first successful IUI took place in 1953? It then became more popular as a fertility treatment in the ’70s and ’80s. However, only 35 countries consider IUI as a method of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) and only 30 consider it an appropriate treatment for single women.

So, is it worth it or is it just sex in a clinical room?

Rami spoke about how there isn’t any data about the success of IUI in the Middle East, Canada, and Australia and how

Europe only started offering data in 2002. There is currently not enough studies of IUI

Did you know that only 35 countries consider IUI as an ART technique?

When it comes to the NICE Guidelines, the suggestion for people who have not conceived after 6 cycles of donor sperm, should be offered a further 6 cycles ( 2013). You can read more here

In 2016 patients with unexplained or mild endometriosis or mild male factor should NOT be offered routine IUI, but should be advised to try naturally for 2 years before IVF considered

Rami highlighted the parameters for success with IUI are: 

1. Good sperm quality
2. Treatment has to be well-timed with the cycle, either using ovulation induction or based on the LH surge.
3. Double insemination seems more effective for the malefactor

As some people are very scared of IVF,  IUI is more accessible especially in communities where there is a lot of stigma around ART. People have the conviction to go for IVF after they have tried IUI, if they have been scared about the idea of it, at least they tried it.

You may be offered IUI if:

1.     you're unable to have vaginal sex – for example, because of a physical disability or psychosexual problem

2.     you have a condition that means you need specific help to conceive. For example, if 1 of you has HIV and it's not safe to have unprotected sex

3.     you're in a same-sex relationship and have not become pregnant after up to 6 cycles of IUI using donor sperm from a licensed fertility unit (the Stonewall website has more information about IUI for same-sex couples)

Bear in mind that the waiting list for IUI treatment on the NHS can be very long in some areas.

Costs range from about £700 to £1,600 for each cycle of IUI treatment.

Source NHS

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Clean out your ears as you're in for a treat. Over the coming weeks, as we will the British Summer to impress us, we're going to be sharing with you right here on The Fertility Podcast feed, The F Word at Work episodes, which is the podcast created by Fertility Matters at Work and its what has kept Natalie busy for the last 18 months and why Kate has been at the helm of The Fertility Podcast.

Hopefully it will be useful for you if you've been trying to find the words to talk about what you are going through at work, as there's lots of examples of how support has been implemented and even if you share it with some colleagues so they get a better understanding of what you are going through, that will in itself make a difference.

Be sure to subscribe if you've not already, so you don't miss anything and you can also follow The F Word wherever you get your apps and also follow Fertility Matters at Work on insta to stay up to date on all the amazing work it is doing to raise awareness of fertility issues in the workplace.

Well, we made it through our first series of The F Word at Work and we can't thank you enough for listening. We'd love to hear your throughts so if you're listening to this in Apple or Spotify, please do take the time to follow this podcast and also leave us a review. We'll be back in June with Series 2, talking about the new surrogacy reform bill, as well as sharing more wise words from our members about the work they're doing and thought leadership on Mental Health at Work, make sure you've subscribed. This episode is the perfect finale to our series, a conversation with one of our trainers Katy Schnitzler, founder of Mist about her research and training around pregnancy loss and childlessness.

**Trigger warning as we talk about pregnancy loss in this episode **

This is another taboo topic within the workplace, that needs to be better understood and supported and we know you will learn a lot from what she shares.

What was discussed:

• Research into pregnancy loss
• How Katy set up a consultancy to share her research 
• How employers need training alongside policy
• How shocking some of the insensitive reactions were from line managers
• The comments that people say in general about pregnancy loss
• People are unsure of how to react to pregnancy loss - due to the taboo 
• Communication training is well received - helping people what to say
• Not assumption forming - that everyone experiences pregnancy in the same way
• If there isn’t a policy it implies you can’t speak about pregnancy loss 
• How PTSD affects someone who has experiences pregnancy loss, panic attacks 
• 1 in 6 people women show symptoms of PTSD as a result of pregnancy loss 
• How men feel overlooked - therefore the training covers the impact on partners as they are ignored 
• The language used for those around those who don’t have children
• How someone was told they didn’t get the job as the person who did had ‘more supervision’ as they’re a parent
• How working from home requests have been designed as people don’t have children 

We refer to an episode of The Fertility Podcast, which is an interview with Dr Jessica Farren about her research which you can listen to here podcast link 

We also talk about Jody Day and I've shared another episode from The Fertility Podcast here which is Jody talking about why we need to talk about childless women differently. Have a listen.

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Just a little trigger warning, this episode mentions miscarriage and pregnancy loss. If today is a day you’re not feeling too strong, perhaps leave this episode for another day. We have a HUGE back catalog to dive into, so there may be something else you fancy instead. 

This episode of The Fertility Podcast, Kate is joined by Louise to talk about her fertility journey and her experiences with unexplained infertility AND all about the anxiety (scanxiety) you feel when you find out you're pregnant and you’re waiting for a scan. 

Louise’s fertility journey started back in 2020 when she came off the pill to start trying to conceive. After several months of trying without success and with one chemical pregnancy, Louise went to the doctors and was eventually told that they had unexplained infertility. Louise and her husband were referred to the NHS for IVF, sadly experiencing a miscarriage during this time. Happily, Louise and her husband conceived using her last embryo.

Louise shares her experience of waiting until 8 weeks for her first scan and being convinced that, until she could see the baby on the scan, that she had had a missed miscarriage. Luckily for Louise and her husband, this experience of her scan was really positive and ended on a high. However Louise did find that her 12 week scan was a very different experience, which caused anxiety for Louise and her husband.

Louise and Kate talk about Sonographers and the delivery of bad news to patients during a pregnancy scan. They talk about how the Pregnancy Loss Review identified that Sonographers do not receive adequate training in the delivery of bad news. Many sonographers are caring and supportive, but some may not feel equipped with the training to deliver bad news and this needs to change.

SPONSORS

We are delighted that this episode is sponsored by a friend of the podcast - @onedaytests. One Day Tests  is your one stop shop for ‘at home’ fertility blood tests and more. 

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You can find Louise on Instagram at Odd Ones Out (@oddonesout2023) • Instagram photos and videos

Pregnancy loss review - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pregnancy-loss-review

Joining us this week, on what is World Childless Week, is a familiar face. As some of you will know, Kate Pleace is one half of the ‘Kate’ double act, as she works with me in my practice seeing many of our fertility and menopause patients. However, Kate is more than just that - she’s also my beautiful friend.

Kate and I first met here on The Fertility Podcast, many moon's ago, when Nat and I interviewed her to find out more about her experiences of a rare condition called progesterone sensitivity, which sadly ended her fertility journey. Kate is living a life without children but that hasn't held her back from living her life to the full.

What we discussed:

• Kate tells us about her fertility journey that started back in 2012, like the majority of her patients, she had some time trying to conceive.
• Kate then moved onto IVF treatment using her own eggs which then lead to one unsuccessful cycle and one cycle that was cancelled.
• Kate talks about how she discovered that she had Premature Ovarian Insuffiency (POI) 
• Her husband and Kate looked at using egg donation. This was Kate’s last cycle of treatment, and she became pregnant for the first time.
• Unfortunately, Kate develped a condition called progesterone hypersensitivity which made her very ill and resulted in a miscarriage.
• After Kate started to feel better, her and her husband made the decision to end their fertility journey. 
• Kate talked about she felt she was childless but not by choice and how the decision was made for her.
• Kate and I talked about World Childless Week and what the campaign is doing during the week. 
• We talked about how employee’s who are childless feel underrepresented within the workplace, and how companies should start to include them in the fertility programmes that are in place. 
• How those who are single, childless or alone should receive something as well so that they feel like they are seen too. 
• Kate and I discussed how the language we use when talking about trying to conceive is important, and even if it was not meant to upset the other person, it is still hurtful. 
• Kate talks about her experience with comments and the language used when she was going through her fertility journey. 
• We also talked about moving forward, and not moving on. Understanding that there is an after.
• Kate mentions legacy and how she felt like legacy was meant for someone else, that she was supposed to leave a legacy behind when in actual fact it is your legacy. Do it for yourself. 
• Kate’s advice to you is: take the time to just be and to reflect with your partner and don’t try to force yourself to go to those baby showers or events like it. Be brave enough to say that you aren’t feeling up to it. Remember that you need to support yourself as well as others. 

If you would like to listen to more episodes on The Fertility Podcast that cover childlessness take a look at these:

https://www.thefertilitypodcast.com/childless-not-by-choice/

https://www.thefertilitypodcast.com/worldchildlessweek/

https://www.thefertilitypodcast.com/robin/

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This week we’re talking about egg collection and embryo transfer with former podcast guest Alpesh Doshi. 

We discuss how it all works and how the hormones are used to stimulate the ovary to produce follicles. 

Do numbers matter? 

We discuss the importance of managing your expectation in terms of what it all means, what size means, what % of follicles will result in an egg, and what stage an egg can be at. 

Alpesh explains how patients need to be informed at every stage of scans with how many follicles are in each ovary, what size are they, how many are they expected to grow, at the last scan, when they are ready for trigger - the patient should have more details chat about what to expect. 

Did you know 80% of follicles result in eggs? Typically follicles that are over 14mm in diameter 

What if I don’t get enough eggs? 

There is often a lot of disappointment that can come because patients aren’t sure how to interpret numbers. But it’s important to remember that 15 follicles don’t mean 15 eggs. Alpesh explains how important it is that patients shouldn’t fixate on a number = it could be a number of eggs and the number of embryos. The journey from the egg to the embryo is a funnel as the numbers come down. More important to focus on the embryo number.

How long does egg collection take and does it hurt? 

It can take 15 minutes to 45 minutes depending on the number of follicles. 

The procedure takes place under a general anesthetic, meaning you will have been nil by mouth since the night before. Alpesh explains the procedure of draining the follicles and how once it is done, and you have one round from the anesthetic you will be monitored to make sure everything is OK before you can go home. All in all about 2 hours. 

When will you hear from the clinic after egg collection? 

The embryologist has a conversation straight after once you are awake to explain what will happen next eg. IVF or ICSI 

There will then be a call the next day to update

Day 3 call - assessment 

Day 5 - to let you know how many have developed into Blastocyst 

Have a listen to a previous episode with Embryologist Rachel Cutting about ‘What an embryologist does’ 

What to do on the day of embryo transfer? 

If you have no complicated history of ET - no sedation will be needed, it’s like a smear test. You will need a full bladder, and a catheter will be passed into the cervix, using ultrasound and the embryologist will pass another catheter to release the embryo in the middle of the uterus. 

It takes about 20 minutes. You will be at the clinic for about 30 mins and then can go home. Hormones continued and then dealing with the two-week wait and talking to the clinic as much as you like. 

How to deal with the Two Week Wait #TWW

Natalie talked about how important it is to give yourself things to look forward to, and how she and her husband went away for a few days, so they’d done something nice even if the outcome wasn’t what they’d wanted. Alpesh talks about the importance of the emotions between couples being supported and managed. 

We will be making an episode about how you cope with the TWW, so if you’ve read this far and would like to tell us please email

The outcome - what if it’s not successful? 

What to expect from your clinic. Alpesh talks about how they manage a... 

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Egg health is a topic Kate and I are always asked about and having spoken with Embryologist Lucy Lines, on the podcast before we knew she’d be perfect for sharing bitesize chunks of helpful information on the matter. Lucy’s career as an embryologist began with Monash IVF in Melbourne in 2001. Since then, she has worked in Sweden, the UK, Ireland, and Germany. Lucy is one of 143 experts answering more of your questions over at fertially.com and we've worked to make this bitesize chunk for you.  

What was discussed: 

• What is the relationship between fertility and egg quality? 
• Can you explain a bit about why and how egg quality declines over time?
• What foods can improve egg quality 
• Does poor egg quality cause Down syndrome or genetic diseases in the baby? 
• How many eggs do you lose per cycle?

Find out more about Lucy here 

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Greetings and welcome to a brand new episode of The F Word at Work. Before we kick things off, we genuinely value your feedback, so kindly consider leaving us a review on the platform you're using to listen, whether it's Apple or Spotify.

 Now, in this episode, we have the pleasure of being joined by Emma Flaxman. Emma's career had been centered around marketing for many years. However, in 2019, she received a remarkable opportunity to become a mental health first-aid volunteer, which proved to be a life-changing decision, eventually leading her to her current role in a PhD position.

A deeply personal reason drove Flaxman to seize this chance as she had experienced the harrowing possibility of losing her sister to suicide ten years prior. The mental health training inspired her to establish MINDS, the first DE&I Group within Ph.D. As a result, she was soon entrusted with the responsibility of overseeing Wellbeing content for the entire parent group, Omnicom Media Group (OMG).

Within her Wellbeing role, Emma created a range of resources to educate employees on the impact of mental illness on work. She initiated projects like the Open Letters series, aiming to foster open conversations about mental health experiences among Ph.D. employees. She also made mental health training mandatory for all employees, previously an optional initiative, and passionately advocated for new benefits, such as providing free therapy to all employees. This move gained overwhelming support, with Ph.D. boasting the highest number of sign-ups for this program compared to any other agency within OMG.

What we discussed:

● Introduction to the podcast and the guest, Emma Flaxman.

● Emma's background and roles as a wellbeing partner at PhD, a UK media agency.

● Emma's blog, "Insanely Normal," and her mission to promote mental health awareness in the UK.

● Emma's recent journey to becoming a mental health advocate, starting with her training as a Mental Health First Aider in 2019.

● Emma's personal motivation, as her sister's struggles with mental health inspired her to help others.

● The increase in mental health-related calls after her training, and the insights she gained from the data collected during those calls.

● Discussion on workplace support for mental health and the role of workplace wellbeing.

● Comparison of experiences in promoting mental health in the workplace between the host's project, Fertility Matters at Work, and Emma's initiatives.

● The importance of data and evidence in making a business case for workplace wellbeing.

● The relationship between building a positive workplace culture and the mental health of employees.

● The importance of mental health support in the workplace and the impact of COVID-19 on mental health discussions.

● The role of managers in promoting mental health and wellbeing in the workplace.

● The need for proactive mental health support and the shift from reactive to proactive approaches.

● Challenges in discussing and disclosing mental health issues, particularly in relation to fertility issues.

● Strategies for smaller organizations to address mental health without extensive resources.

● The importance of role modeling and leadership in creating a psychologically safe environment.

● The significance of education and understanding different aspects of wellness, including physical, nutrition, and mental health.

● Emma's personal experience with burnout and the importance of setting boundaries and prioritizing self-care.

Thanks to our sponsor Apricity Fertility

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Welcome to the latest episode of The Fertility Podcast Bitesize. We are in conversation with Kirsty-Lee Wright and Joycelia Green, two Senior Nurses at The Centre for Reproductive and Genetic Health who are sharing some top tips for your IVF cycle that they gathered from the 28 strong nurse team at the clinic. The nurses are always on hand to hold your hand, literally as well as answer any questions you might have in between your consultations and stages of treatment and these tips are really handy. 

What we discussed: 

• Bringing in your own dressing gown 
• Remove all piercings, especially the intimate ones 
• Bring a snack for after egg collection
• Plan a treat for that post egg collection breakfast 
• Read all your discharge information once you’ve gone home and had a sleep and if anything doesn’t make sense - ring/email the nurses with any questions 

You can find out more about CRGH here

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In this bonus episode,Kate and I speak with  Sally Cheshire, who is the chair of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) 

These shownotes are a transcript of part of our conversation with Sally. Please listen to hear the full interview:

What is 'elective treatment' 

It is the word that the NHS use when it's not an outright emergency. So the NHS made that decision. And it's an unfortunate name because no one chooses to go in for surgery, particularly with regard to fertility treatment, but that's the word that's been used. 

So the NHS said that they would suspend all non-emergency treatment during the pandemic, so the only people who were being treated in the first stages of the pandemic after the 23rd of March, that was, were people who were in an emergency situation.

What we said in terms of fertility is that patients who were having cancer surgery, for example, and needed fertility preservation would still be allowed to go ahead and our clinics would stay open for those patients to store gametes and embryos. But also, we would allow as many patients as possible to try and finish their cycles if they had started. And we know that there was a different response from clinics, and you can imagine that they were trying to manage, as well as all other NHS hospitals, some clinics carried on with those cycles, and then collected eggs or frozen eggs or embryos. But some patients we know had their cycles cancelled earlier than the 15th of April. And all I have to say is it was up to the clinic to decide whether they could go ahead. Some of them of course, had already lost staff to the front line. They'd had some of their equipment used for testing for virus testing from the embryology lab, and some of them also had staff who were self isolating or who've been diagnosed.

Counselling:

We do know there's been a massive increase in patients seeking counselling support. But if you actually talk to counsellors, some patients are asking different questions. Some of them are clearly distressed, not being able to have treatment. Some of them are very fearful of the virus and what impact it might have. So counsellors tell us they've seen an increase in patients who were just seeking help to deal with their general anxiety, not necessarily ready to talk about the implications of their particular treatment and what that might mean. So we do know that there is support out there and I'm sorry to patients who didn't quite get what they wanted, perhaps from their clinic.

Professional Guidance:

We've had to rely on professional guidance. So from the UK bodies from the British fertility society and of and the clinical scientists, but also from Europe and America, who advised similarly to stop treatment, until we knew a few more things, and their guidance has been very similar to the UK all along. And the Royal College of Obstetricians and gynaecologists also had to think about whether they considered there was any risk in early pregnancy. And they've also issued a couple of sets of guidance. So I think everybody has issued at least two sets of guidance over the last four weeks from the professional bodies. We've issued a number of letters to clinics explaining our requirements. And we've also tried to communicate with patients as best we can.

The professional bodies have issued their latest guidance, which is cautious optimism.

Tough Decision:

I think this is the most difficult decision the FDA has ever had to make in 30 years really and the board and the staff have tried so hard to get it right. One of one of our criteria, quite rightly, was that there was no, or that there was as much evidence as possible to say there was no increased risk in pregnancy. And when I was thinking about it this morning, as a patient, you know, pregnancy is...

In this episode of The Fertility Podcast Bitesize we'll be hearing from Emma Grønbæk who is a Nurse and Content Marketing Coordinator at Cryos International supplies frozen donor sperm and eggs to more than 100 countries worldwide. Cryos hase the world’s largest selection of Non-ID Release and ID Release donors and boast the highest number of registered pregnancies in the world.

Emma talks about what you need to consider when choosing a sperm donor in this snippet about donor conceptions as well as highlighting the resources Cryos have available for you as they know how overwhelming this decision making process can be.

To find out more visit Cryos International and you can follow them on Instagram and facebook

Do come say hi on Instagram

This week we welcome Laura Rose Thorogood to the show. Laura is the founder of the LBGT Mummies Tribe, an LBGT+ activist, a lesbian mother of two by IUI, and is currently pregnant again after 5 rounds of fertility treatment.

Laura’s organization supports, celebrates, and reunites the LGBT community on their path to parenthood providing information and guidance on whichever route you choose to create your family.

Laura has had a crazy few weeks of awareness days and months and is balancing this with being 35 weeks pregnant. Laura and her wife started creating their family 10 years ago. They have two children and another on the way, all from the same sperm donor from a US clinic. They’ve both carried children and have navigated failed rounds, PCOS, low ovarian reserve, and, most recently the pandemic, to get to where they are now.

Laura talks about the common pitfalls that the LGBT+ community might face, particularly that they often come to trying to conceive later in life and often don’t consider this and the benefits, for example of preserving their fertility if they’re not ready to start a family until later. Also, the importance of researching the legalities so that all parties in the triangle are covered. Some couples find private fertility treatments inaccessible and may choose to seek a known donor. Laura explains the importance of seeking legal guidance and whilst there are financial implications involved, it is likely to be less costly than should there be any legal challenges in the future.

Laura explains the difference in access to information from sperm back nationally and internationally. In the US and Europe, you have access to more information about the donor whereas in the UK the information is limited to height, hair color, nationality, etc. Sometimes the difficulties in accessing sperm donors in the UK will force couples to use unregulated donors and in some circumstances, this can be dangerous. However, there are organizations such as CoParents and Pride Angle that are regulated and offer a professional service.

The LGBT Mummies Tribe is a central point for information and guidance on starting a family but is also a supportive community to bring other LBGT+ families together. They have a private support group but also get together in person (when the Pandemic allows) for meet-ups.

Laura talks about her interaction with medical services and the microaggression she’s experienced. How, as a lesbian woman, you have to ‘come out’ time and time again. Comments like ‘Who had the baby?’ ‘How did that work then?’ ‘So, you’re the other Mother’.

Natalie asks Laura about the guidance she offers on talking to children to help them understand the make-up of their family. It’s about sitting down as a couple and deciding on how best you address this. It’s very individual and personal, but best done at various age-appropriate sections of their lives.

Laura tells us how the healthcare arena is very heteronormative and the main area where she sees disparity and lack of inclusivity. She hopes that they can one day get to a place where campaigning is not required but is currently working with the NHS and Government to support them in understanding the community better, dispel the stigma and discrimination against them, and ‘usualise’ – making LGBT families visible and the everyday. Laura talks about how she can understand how confusing it is for the heteronormative community and that the LGBT community needs help in the education so that they are better supported. Laura says the NHS and the fertility clinics she’s working with have been proactive in changing for the better.

Laura’s final advice is to take your time, explore all paths to parenthood, join support groups, research, listen to other people's lived-in experiences, and investigated how LGBT...

In this episode of the Fertility Matters at Work episode, we want to focus on the psychological aspects of juggling fertility in the workplace. We all know it’s not easy to do and certainly not a great place to find ourselves in but what really is the impact? To answer this question, we’re delighted to welcome perinatal psychologist Julianne Boutaleb @parenthoodinmind.

Julianne is the Clinical Director and Founder of the Parenthood In Mind practice. She has worked for over 15 years in the NHS and private practice with parents and parents-to-be and their babies (and bumps) who have needed support with a wide variety of issues including anxiety and depression during and after pregnancy, miscarriage, and reproductive loss, attachment issues, re-emergence of childhood issues and couples’ issues.

Parenthood in Mind consists of a specialist team of psychologists and psychotherapists with decades of professional experience between them in perinatal settings, CAMHs, primary and secondary care, and Early Years settings. They are experts in working with individuals, couples, and their babies in the transition to parenthood, and with parents of children up to 5 years of age. Julianne is without a doubt well placed to talk to us about the impact of juggling fertility in the workplace and consults many individuals who are struggling in silence at work.

Today Julianne shared the following on her Instagram account - Help-seeking in the perinatal period.

It's so difficult to reach out. To say out loud I need help.

At no other point in our lives do we need help more, and yet fear asking for it.

The fear of being exposed, of being judged,

Of being misunderstood

Of admitting too much…

 Does this resonate with your experiences in the workplace? It certainly did with us.

Julianne starts off by explaining the impact of infertility and pregnancy loss on our mental health and then talks about the psychological impact of infertility, referring to the work by Alice Domar who likened infertility psychological impact of a cancer diagnosis for example. Julianne also likens it to the death of the story you originally dreamed of and that it is a moment of trauma. 

She explains that in the workplace this trauma can show up as panic attacks, feeling that you can’t get up in the morning, a sense of dread or difficulty over what would have been normal work tasks, individuals feeling as though they’re not in control or trying to ‘front it out’ and not divulging what you’re going through to your employer. She also refers to the interpersonal conflict you might feel and sadly individuals facing grievance due to a negative change in workability. Julianne urges line managers to be aware of sudden changes in workability and behavior and to try to find out why this might be happening. 

Julianne shares some fantastic tips on what she advises people to actively do if they’re struggling such as the importance of Identifying a colleague to discuss this and therefore start creating a little village of support within the workplace. Julianne has seen fantastic examples of where employees set up WhatsApp groups and peer support to facilitate better support within the workplace. She also recommends short sharp wins, such as stepping away from the computer, lunch outside the building rather than leaving your employment altogether, and the isolation, this can bring.

Finally, Julianne shares examples of difficult situations in the workplace she has come across from both an employee and an employer going through fertility issues at the same time and the employer being able to offer support but getting no support back and the frustrations she felt with this. Julianne also refers to a friend of the podcast - Sophie Martin @the.infertile.midwife who, as her Instagram name suggests,...

This episode of The Fertility Podcast Bitesize is in partnership with Mira, and you’ll be hearing from its founder Sylvia Kang to explain why it’s important to understand your fertility hormones and how monitoring them is a great way to help you understand whether or not you are ovulating and what might be going on with your menstrual cycle. Mira describes itself as offering personalized cycle prediction by measuring an exact number of hormone concentrations in urine samples, which can tell women their full fertile window, pinpointing ovulation, revealing hormone imbalances, and pregnancy status.

What was Discussed: 

• How hormones are measured
• What you are looking for 
• What surges you are looking for in your LH and why
• Oestrogen levels explained
• When progesterone surges 
• When the FSH surge should happen and what happens if it is too high 
• When is your fertile window 
• How Mira works and what you can learn from the app 

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It’s great to be back! We’ve had a bit of a break and we’re back with a new series talking all about Fertility in the workplace. As well as doing the podcast, Natalie’s voiceover work and Kate’s consulting; for the last 18 months or so, both Natalie and Kate have been working with organisations to help put fertility in the workplace firmly on their wellbeing agenda.

How does the landscape at work look?

Kate and Natalie discuss what we've heard from our work and how in light of, how in the last few months, a number of organisations have published fertility and pregnancy loss policies.

Over the coming weeks we will be hearing from different organisations who are speaking out about their work to support employees on their paths to parenthood and this new series of the podcast has been created alongside an exciting launch of a brand new training and policy programme from Fertility Matters at Work which we'll be talking about in the coming weeks too.

We’ll be sharing best and worst examples of fertility in the workplace and, as always, sharing your personal experiences, so we want you to get in touch and share yours stories which can you do right here

4 Women

In the first episode of our new series on Fertility Matters at Work we’re absolutely delighted to welcome Channel 4 to the podcast. Navene Alim who is a senior lawyer within the corporate legal team at C4 and Landy Slattery, creative director of All 4, Channel 4’s(CH4) on-demand platform. Both are the co-founders and co-chairs of the 4 Women network, and we’re talking all about CH4’s Pregnancy Loss Policy that was launched in April 2021.

When the pregnancy loss policy was launched, CH 4 stated that “The policy which was believed to be the world’s first is to support both women and men who have been affected: whether it happens directly to them, their partner or their baby’s surrogate mother, regardless of the nature of their loss, and whatever their length of service. It also recognises pregnancy loss as an experience not isolated to women or heterosexual couples.”

Why was the policy developed?

Following the huge momentum and notoriety that came from CH4's menopause policy the 4 Women network wanted to build on this. After surveying employees to find out the most important issues, pregnancy loss was identified as a huge issue for the workforce. They found that people were struggling in silence and making excuses for needing time off. CH4 were due to air a new series – Baby Surgeons delivery miracle babies ( quoted incorrectly in the pod ) and they wanted to get a policy in place to hit with the time the series aired.

CH4 share how they implement the policy they developed and wanted to ensure that training would be available for managers and colleagues to help them, support employees, appropriately. They are actively trying to find the right solutions to provide the correct support. Their policy is the first step in acknowledging that pregnancy loss is part of a woman’s working life. Having the conversations and the educational piece is the first steps in changing organisational...

Welcome to part three of this bumper podcast episode which is sharing our Diversity and Inclusion in Fertility Round Table conversation which was held on Zoom on 8th November 2022 with the aim to help you understand how many different people are impacted by fertility challenges in a number of different ways and also to give you a better understanding of the how these communities who are impacted. If you’ve not listened to Parts 1 & 2 yet, that's fine although we do suggest you give them a listen to give you a better context of the conversation. 

In this final section, we are starting to address some of the areas of intersectionality as Fertility is not one-dimensional but intersects with many of the other challenges that workplaces face when it comes to the Diversity and Inclusion agenda. One of the important nuances to consider is in relation to the impact cultural aspects have on people who are facing fertility challenges and in this final part of our conversation we spoke with  Dr Christine Ekechi, Co-Chair of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ Race Equality Taskforce and Noni Martins, a fertility patient and founder of Unfertility, supporting black women to break the silence, stigma & shame around unconventional fertility journeys.  

Watch our FMAW 30 minute demo on our services to find out exactly how we'd support your organisation with our training and membership  

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Kate and Natalie discuss the Frozen Embryo Transfer, explaining what it means when it happens and how it feels when cycles don’t work. 

The pair discuss how there is research to show that the success of the frozen cycle is as high as a fresh, so do not worry if you do have to freeze your embryos. With a frozen transfer, your body isn’t full of all the medication, so you’re embarking on a more natural cycle so there is also the thinking that you’re putting those previous embryos back in a more natural environment. 

Amber Woodward is a brilliant blogger and former book reviewer on The Fertility Podcast.

How to prepare? 

Amber talks about how she learnt about nutrition to help her get pregnant as it wasn’t happening and she had read a lot about the impact of your nutrition. Her medical records state unexplained infertility, underpinned by PCOS, Amber has had issues with her insulin and she discusses how it can make a real difference to your nutrition. 

After 12 months of changing her diet, she got regular cycles and talks about how much of a difference it can make for conceiving naturally and preparing IVF. Try to improve egg quality, keep your hormones balanced which she found very difficult and food has a big impact on her emotions. 

What about Eastern medicine - Chinese herbs? 

Amber talked about trying eastern medicine. Chinese medicine in particular despite her partner Joe’s concerns and the disgusting taste. She said it also made her cycles go crazy. She didn’t leave herself enough space between starting it and then doing IVF as it’s not recommended when you start treatment. 

Amber talked about how the pair of them had forgotten how all-consuming ‘trying again’ was and also how the treatment felt, as well as other people announcing 2nd siblings. 

Working and going through FET

She was at work when she had another FET, her nutrition wasn’t great and she wasn’t really exercising, so she didn’t feel very prepared. She went into it feeling like she should have put more effort in and they had 2 embryos left and the pair had decided they weren’t doing any more fresh cycles. 

What about when it doesn’t work? 

When it didn’t work - the clinic said ‘it's just one of those things about 70% don’t take. You can do everything and it doesn't work and you can do the opposite and not prepare. 

On the final FET, she wanted to give it her best shot and have no regrets. They didn’t need to wait very long after the failed cycle as you don’t need to treat it like an IVF cycle as you aren't’ stimulated. They were due to have the treatment in April as Covid took hold of the world. She describes how it was the best thing for them to have some time to adjust. Her clinic reopened the day before her birthday. 

How long does it take? 

Covid changed how the clinic did the down-regulation. In January when she cycled failed, they had 1 month of downregulation and then the oestrogen for 3-4 weeks. Then you’d have a couple of scans and then the progesterone. 

During Covid, the clinics wanted to limit the number of times you went there. Instead, she was posted the oestrogen (which increased womb lining) Amber was on this for approx 3 weeks and then 4 days later she had the transfer and two weeks later she had the pregnancy result. So a 5-week process. 

What if it doesn’t work and how having that conversation about ‘what if’ helped

Amber had shared on her socials about how the pair of them had talked about alternative life plans if it didn’t work. They had prepared themselves for the FET to be their last treatment. They talked about just being able to put it all... 

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We have spoken about Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) on the podcast numerous times in the past so make sure you scroll down to find links to previous episodes.

Kate is an expert on the topic, working with women on a daily basis to support them with their diagnosis, and in this episode, we've shared a previous conversation we had with Professor Adam Balen discussing the latest PCOS guidelines. Professor Adam Balen is a full-time National Health Service consultant and Lead Clinician at Leeds Fertility, one of the largest assisted conception units in the UK. His special interests include all aspects of PCOS, Assisted Conception, Paediatric & Adolescent Gynaecology, and Disorders of Sexual Development.

In this conversation, you hear snippets of a previous episode where Adam explains what the symptoms of PCOS are, including being over or underweight and how to maintain the condition with lifestyle changes. He also talks in-depth about the use of Letrozole over Clomofin, or Clomid is most people know it. At the time of our chat, people were still needing to change their mindset regarding prescribing Letrozole, and Adam had written papers for the RCOG to support this further. Kate said she is still seeing a mix of what people are being prescribed and explained how in the UK, health trust policies can dictate what drugs are prescribed. However, Kate advises if you are on Clomid and not responding after two rounds to go back and ask if you can go back and try Letrozole.

We discuss the link between Letrozole and Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) as well as there being a lower risk of multiple pregnancies and also discuss the frequency of scans people should expect when they are on these ovulation stimulation drugs

We also highlighted the problem with home ovulation kits.

When it comes to the common issues people are still coming up against Adam explains how women are still being told they won’t get pregnant with ovulation issues

or that they are overweight because they have PCOS and they can’t do anything about it. Which isn't the case. Also, the fact that a lot of women with PCOS end up having IVF when they don’t need it which is why we want to ensure you know where to get more support. We also discuss how Ovarian diathermy or Ovarian drilling which in very rare cases is an operation used to stimulate ovulation.

When it comes to top tips you can take away to manage your PCOS, Kate's top 3 tips are:

Changing your diet to low refined carbs/sugar.

Tracking your cycle tracking

Become your own PCOS advocate

Kate has written numerous blog posts about PCOS. This one discusses how whilst it can't be cured it can be controlled. You can also read about fighting back against PCOS here and Kate also has a brilliant journal you can use

Have a listen to previous PCOS podcasts we have shared - this one with PCOS Diva Amy Medling and this one with Kym Campbell both amazing women who have overcome their PCOS and had successful pregnancies and now work to support women further with lifestyle changes.

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Today’s bitesize is with

Kate - co-host of The Fertility Podcast where you can find yourfertilitynurse

Are you currently trying to conceive but nothing is happening?

Do you find it hard to access your GP for help and would like to move forward on your fertility journey?

Kate explains how she is now offering blood tests as well as her normal fertility consultation.

So you can now choose to book a Preparing for Pregnancy home blood test &

fertility consultation package or the Ovarian Reserve (Fertility MOT) home

blood test and fertility consultation package.

Here's what's involved in both:⁠

• Book the Planning for

pregnancy blood test and a fertility consultation to review your results and

receive bespoke advice on information on how to optimize your fertility.⁠

• Simple and easy-to-do finger-prick blood test.⁠

• Blood test checks your full hormone profile, Thyroid, prolactin, and vitamin D⁠

• 60-minute consultation provides personalized medical and lifestyle advice to optimize your fertility.⁠

Get in touch via https://yourfertilityjourney.com/ and make sure you tell her you heard about her right here.

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Wishing you a Happy Easter or a Happy Passover - or just a Happy Bank Holiday. This episode is a bit of an interactive one, so you might want to listen back if you’re on the move as I have a few tasks, all of them good and useful I hope. 

Mainly to get in touch and leave a message if you’d like via The Fertility Podcast about the topics we’re discussing in our next series - so have a listen and Kate and I would love to hear from you. 

The news feeds of our archive as mentioned in this episode can be found here:

Getting Pregnancy Ready

Infertility Support

Pregnancy Loss

Male Fertility

Alternative Routes to Parenthood 

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Don't miss The Fertility Podcast relaunch as we return to guide you through all the many things you need to consider when trying for a baby. We'll be talking about cycles and lifestyle changes as well as other conditions or deficiencies that might be affecting your changes of getting pregnant naturally. Then we'll be moving onto what fertility treatment is all about, the options available for you, support, hollistic treatment and most importantly making sure you know that there is a community for you to join so you don't feel like you are going through this alone.

Visit www.thefertilitypodcast.com

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Tune in to listen to me talking about stress and how it affects your fertility journey. Take an opportunity to put the kettle on and relax while listening to this episode as I bust some myths about stress.

What I discuss:

• The research and science behind stress 
• The ‘flight or fight’ response
• Short and long time effects on the body
• Professor Jacky Boivin - Cardiff University and her research on the impact of stress on fertility 
• How our bodies can adapt to conditions that may not be suitable, for example war stricken countries have some of the highest birth rates
• How stress impacts all aspects of life
• Finding support

Socials:

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Find out more about Jacky Boivin Professor Jacky Boivin - People - Cardiff University

Welcome to the latest episode of The F Word at Work, where we’re once again sharing a conversation from our F Word at Work series we shared on zoom in 2022. Here we’re speaking to Noni Martins, Noni is Zimbabwean British and her husband is Nigerian British and the pair have been trying to conceive for five years. Three years ago, they discovered that they needed IVF and they thought the issue initially was a male factor however further investigation has shown its a female factor. Noni and her husband are still on their journey and Noni has been doing amazing work as a blogger and a podcaster and she has built an amazing support network for black women called Unfertility It aims destigmatize this conversation within the black community and help overcome some of the shame and all the other kinds of hurdles that people have in their way when it comes to accessing treatment.

What was discussed: 

• How a huge part of Noni's upbringing was 'to be a wife'
• When she got married they had already started trying, but by year 2, still wasn’t happening
• She had grown up surrounded by a hyper-fertile idea that getting pregnant was easy
• Big part of her identity as an African girl was to have children , therefore she had a serious sense of shame. 
• Had pelvic pain in 3rd year which was when a nurse suggested she had more investigations 
• Catapulted into the world of IVF and all the focus on Noni she hadn’t mentioned her husband had been a dialysis patient - diagnosed with male factor
• Overwhelm of 3 failed cycles
• Her work was supportive and her husband was supportive but it took him a while to talk about his feelings. 
• Impact of Christmas and how it made them feel not being parents - how her husband actually talked about how he felt 
• Noni’s decision to talk about their experience publicly has helped with the unwanted questions from family yet people still make assumptions. 
• Difficulty in ‘answering back’ to comments made as it’s not part of her culture to explain that someone has said something offensive, as it's easier to say nothing than deal with the consequences of saying something. 
• How she felt about talking about her treatment at work over time 
• How she had to step back from her social presence as it wasn’t working for her, affecting her mental health 

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Thanks once again to our series sponsor Apricity.

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Meet Katy Leeson, Managing Director of Social Chain who also hosts a podcast called 'I Shouldn't Say This But' and at the time of us chatting had just been nominated for an award for 'Leading the Charge and Pushing the Boundaries' with Campaign Magazine ( a big industry title ) I spoke with Katy in real life at Social Chain's very cool office in central Manchester, in the days where you could do that, which is why Kate isn't in this episode. 

Self Protection

Katy spoke about her struggle with the responsibility of being a young female Managing Director. She had imposter syndrome and took herself into therapy sessions to get support on how best to deal with it. In the context of this chat, Katy explained how she made sure she was mentally prepared to talk about her miscarriage in the public sphere because she had no idea what the reaction would be and she was nervous that people would tell her it wasn't the right place or platform - something so many people fear when talking about infertility. 

Baby Loss Awareness Week

Katy shared her story in October 2019, a year on from her miscarriage which happened in December 2018. She spoke about the challenges of that time of year with everybody being together and how it forced her into telling people that I was pregnant, as she wasn't drinking in the Chrimbo celebrations - this was before the '12 week' point. Her family and friends knew and so she also had to share her that she had miscarried on Christmas Eve because she didn't want to get messages wishing her the best Christmas and New Year because I was going to have a baby in the next year. Katy talked about feeling that she was also ruining other people's Christmas because I'd tell them such sad news.

Miscarrying Naturally Katy spoke about how she miscarried naturally the day before she was due to be put under for the operation. The first the scan she had, she said felt a good connection to someone who really cared and she said 'You look healthy, everything there on the scan looks healthy, you've just started an unfortunate experience, there was just a problem with that egg or that sperm, and you should be fine and I can't wait to see you again' which Katy said gave her such hope as every other interaction she had, felt like she was just being told to get on with things. 

Breakdown in Communication.

Katy explained how she was still getting letters about having scans for her pregnancy after she had miscarried due to being registered with two different hospitals and how they were ringing her partner but wouldn't speak to him so he couldn't even act as her gatekeeper for. This meant in the end, she had to have numerous conversations reliving her experience over and over/

Telling Work

Katy talked about how she had spoken to others about how much of a lift it is, to be told it's not your fault, which is such a straightforward piece of information to give to somebody. We talked about how she had no follow up conversations after going through it and wasn't given any guidance on where to find support. She had stopped her therapy and hadn't told her work as she didn't want to tell them she was going through 'something so horrific' because she was worried they would think she would then be trying again and be off on Maternity. So she didn't tell anyone and struggled with it from Christmas until Easter - which is when she said the broke down. When she did tell them, they were amazing 

Talking it through in Therapy

Katy discussed the grieving process with her therapist and how she had been putting so much pressure on herself with her work and doing the right thing by others. She talked about giving herself permission to grieve once she had accessed support once again. She also talked about how she...

THE FERTILITY PODCAST IS BACK WITH A NEW SOUND, A NEW RESIDENT EXPERT BUT THE SAME MISSION. 

We’re so pleased to be back with you, having taken some time to really work out what the best future plan for The Fertility Podcast is, and it’s to clearly guide you along the way to pregnancy. We’re going through all that we think could help and sharing previous episodes to make sure you can really get stuck in. We can’t guarantee you a baby, nobody can. But we can promise you information you can trust and a lovely community to come and be a part of. 

Our first episode back is talking about what we wished we’d know before starting to conceive. To be honest it’s what we should have been taught in school.

Those teenage years and when you’re in your early 20’s can be pretty worrying if you have unprotected sex. It’s drummed into us NOT to get pregnant and what you should do to avoid getting pregnant. Sadly for so many of us, we never realised as we were never told, that our fertility is so finite.

That is what we’re here to do. Kate is SO passionate about empowering women to understand their cycle and the pair of us are talking through what you need to be thinking about. 

Research shows that time to conception is reduced with fertility awareness knowledge so for the next few weeks we’re talking cycles and diets. 

In this episode, we discuss how best to monitor your cycle with the different methods available and in particular what works and what doesn’t!

We’ll be talking soon with a brilliant new app available to help you that has worked with women all around the globe. We also want to be very clear on the language we use as one of Kate’s pet hates is the fact that a normal cycle is often referred to as a 28 days cycle and that you ovulate on day 14. 

FACT - Women’s cycles vary hugely and can still be normal when shorter or longer than 28 days. We want to dispel this myth once and for all. 

It’s also so important that if you are trying to get pregnant in a heterosexual couple both of you understand about fertility health. Since this podcast launched in 2015 we have talked a lot about men’s fertile health and we’ll be revisiting it again, don’t you worry. The good thing is there is much more awareness today about the issue, then there was 7 years ago, but it needs to be taken seriously. We discuss the issue of protein shake use and how they can affect sperm health, as can smoking, recreational drugs and too much alcohol. It's so important that if you are in a couple you both take responsibility for this and get yourselves in the best place possible to improve your chances of conceiving. Men need to realise that infertility issues are 50/50 male to female.

We’ll be talking over the coming weeks about optimising your fertility and be sure to join us to carry on this conversation in our closed facebook group where you can also submit questions to Dr James our expert for next time. Be sure to check the Insta grid for details of our fab giveaway happening for launch week only. Closes Friday 26th Feb 11.59pm.

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This episode of The Fertility Podcast Bitesize is a conversation with Dr Matt Prior, a doctor in Newcastle, and an NHS consultant one of 143 experts is answering more of your questions over at fertially.com who we've worked with to make this bitesize chunk for you. In this episode Matt explains what tests you can expect prior to starting IVF treatment, how you can prepare for your first cycle and he also explains why it might not work. Nothing can take away the heartache of a failed cycle, however hearing an expert validate that it's not your fault can sometimes ease the pain, which is why we wanted to share this bitesize snippet.

What we discussed:

• Tests you should expect before starting treatment: 3 most important are an Ultrasound to check womb, and counting follicles, AMH to check egg reserve, Male would have a sperm test to check any issues to make sure you don’t go through collecting eggs and then there being an issue with the sperm. Other tests might check blood - for anaemia, thyroid function, also both partners would be advised to check for Hepatitis and HIV. 
• Statistically first cycle is most likely to work, but IVF isn’t the most successful of treatment. 
• For most people whatever age - its not likely to be successful 
• Ahead of IVF take folic acid good, eat a sensible diet, don’t limit the amount of alcohol that you drink, look at different lifestyle factors.
• It’s important that even if you do take into consideration a change in lifestyle factors, if your treatment doesn’t work it’s key not to beat yourself up that you  might not have stuck to the diet that google told you or the book you bought. 
• Know that actually, most of it is out of your control and while you can do everything to try and prepare to make the IVF cycle successful, it might not happen.
• Consider IVF as a funnel - of those starting will have an egg collection 95% or nearly all of them will have embryos to transfer. 
• 30 to 40% of women all become pregnant
• After a positive pregnancy test, about 70 to 80% of women go on and have a baby so really IVF fails the most between embryo transfer and pregnancy test.
• Issues with embryo grading, putting back a perfect embryo still doesn’t guarantee success
• Transfer process could be problematic
• There could a problem with the womb lining - there is still a lack of evidence. 

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*Just a little trigger warning for this episode as there are mentions of termination for medical reasons and pregnancy loss, so if you aren’t feeling in the right place today, perhaps come back another day when you feel a little bit stronger. But don’t forget that The Fertility Podcast has plenty of back catalog for you to listen to!

On today’s episode, Kate is joined by Anita who is a fertility and pre-natal dietitian. Anita is here to talk about her making the difficult decision to end her pregnancy for medical reasons. This is called Termination for Medical Reasons or TFMR for short.

In the beginning of the episode, Anita talks about how her and her partner wanted to start trying to conceive back in 2019. After trying naturally for sometime, Anita and her husband embarked on IVF. After many rounds of IVF the couple were at at last successful and were overjoyed.

Anita shares that at her 20 week scan, the hospital staff started checking the scans and whispering to each other. This started to cause Anita concern and she just knew that something wasn't right. After a few weeks and scans later, Anita and her husband then received the information they were dreading. They knew that they had a difficult decision to make.........

Anita tells Kate in the few weeks that followed and due to the uncertainty that her pregnancy could continue, she felt the need to hide her pregnancy from her family and friends. Anita talks about how she felt receiving the diagnosis and making the heartbreaking decision to end her pregnancy. She explains that she would rather take the pain of losing her son herself, rather than Alexander, as they chose to name him, not being able to live a life. And as someone beautifully put, it wasn’t his time yet.

However, Anita's story has a happy ending. She and her husband now have their beautiful little boy, Oliver, Alexander’s little brother. Anita’s story is a rollercoaster of ups and downs, but she has proven there is always a rainbow after a storm. 

We are delighted that this episode is sponsored by two friends of the podcast - One Day Tests. One Day Tests  is your one stop shop for ‘at home’ fertility blood tests and more. The lovely people at One Day Tests are offering The Fertility Podcast listeners 10% discount with TFP10.

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This week we’re joined by Alice Rose who you may know on Instagram as @thisisalicerose. Alice is a former fertility patient, mum of two, campaigner and a mindset mentor. Alice’s ‘Think not What to Say’ campaign has been a trailblazer within the community, helping to bridge the disconnect between patients and their doctors and help friends and family to communicate better with their loved ones navigating a fertility journey.

On her own fertility journey Alice, who has PCOS, had numerous rounds of treatment, including ovulation induction. Kate explains what happens during ovulation induction. Often it is the first treatment you may be offered, particularly if you’re not ovulating. You may be offered Clomid or letrozole. These medications increase FSH to encourage the ovaries to produce follicles, one of which will mature and be released at ovulation.

In her treatment, Alice responded well to the first round of clomid but was really confused when in the second round she didn’t ovulate at all. Alice talks about not feeling very informed on what to expect during her treatment, including not being aware of the risks associated such as Ovarian Hyperstimulation (OHSS). Following a private consultation, Alice felt more informed and decided to continue with her rounds of clomid but still having varying degrees of response. Alice talks about how she felt as though she had to self-advocate which was hard to do.

We discuss egg quality when it comes to PCOS and long cycles, and how many rounds of ovulation induction you can have – which is generally 6 cycles. Kate discusses taking back control and maintaining a healthy lifestyle to optimise both your fertility and PCOS. Although Alice had been recommended lifestyle changes such as dietary changes, she wasn’t given any guidance on what to do by her doctor until she contact a nutritionist. Alice was also taking back control by working on her mindset and acupuncture which she found so helpful. Sometimes we focus on physical health and our emotional health is the last thing we consider, yet it is vitally important to find good support.

As time went on Alice felt really frustrated about not moving forward in her treatments and after 6 months of clomid, was offered gonadotropins - another type of ovulation induction treatment given by injection. Sadly, this too didn’t result in a pregnancy but happily in the end, Alice conceived her daughter by IVF.

Alice says that going through each round did bring her closer to success in the end. Each part of the experience is not wasted and was very much part of her story. Kate recommends not continuing doing the same thing if you’re not getting results, be your self-advocate and if you’re not responding to treatment go back to your doctor and discuss this.

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It’s episode number 7 and Natalie’s flying solo. She interviews Deborah Brock – Founder and CEO of Nua Fertility.

Have you heard of the microbiome? No, well you’re not alone…..

We have microbiome’s everywhere – skin, gut, vagina – you name it. The gut microbiome may not be the first thing you think about when you consider fertility but it’s HUGE. The size of two tennis courts of microbes in your body! This good bacterium supports the correct absorption of nutrients and vitamins which are so important for fertility. It also protects our immune system and offers protection against bad bacteria. Effectively it is your first line of defence.

Deborah tells us that the vagina microbiome is equally important, as the more good bacteria you have may help to improve embryo implantation and successful outcomes. There is an increase in the amount of research into the microbiome, and it’s hoped, this might just be the missing piece for many women.

As you’ll know, here at The Fertility Podcast we are always on a quest to hear about the evidence and research. In Deborah’s own fertility journey, she immersed herself in as much research as she possibly could and was blown away when she came across the microbiome.

Deborah did conceive and is now preparing to get herself in the best possible place ready for her next treatment.

Deborah is working with ABC Microbiome in Ireland, they’re a research centre and are looking at how the microbiome influences our health and well-being. Nua Fertility is keen to be at the forefront of research and development and make a difference within the fertility field.

Nua Fertility’s first product NuaBiome Women is a blend of vitamins, minerals and good bacteria to help the overall balance of the gut bacteria, support the immune system, reduce inflammation and support the vaginal microbiome. Deborah says, that despite taking supplements, it’s still vital to eat well by eating the rainbow (lots of different colour fruit and veg) and to eat more fibre to support your gut microbiome.

Nua Fertility for men hopes to be launched at the end of June – so keep an eye out for it. Deborah’s husband struggled with male factor infertility and they feel it is vital to also include a male supplement in their range.

Deborah shares with Natalie a case study from a fertility clinic doctor in Ireland who recommends Nua Fertility and has found that it reduced bloating in one of her patients.

Deborah discusses the research in the vaginal microbiome is starting to show that women who don’t have an abundance of good bacteria are more likely to have problems conceiving. Research is also looking into implantation failure. A note from us: It’s important to note that more research is required to fully understand the role of the microbiome when it comes to fertility and the benefits of supplementation.

Finally, Deborah explains that as well as Nua Fertility being the first of its kind, its ethos is driven by their own experience and also by research and development. They’re driven by wanting to ensure their product is the best for women. Lots of exciting things to come including a clinical trial! Watch this space……

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Trigger Warning: mentions of domestic abuse and infant loss

In this episode, I am joined by Social worker Rachel who became a young mum and experienced many hurdles through her fertility journey. Rachel talks about her son being diagnosed with Tay-Sachs disease and the journey they went on, the aftermath and starting trying to conceive. 

What we discussed:

• Her life and how if changed after her mum remarried
• Her son’s diagnosis and the process which her and her husband went through
• The issues raised after her son’s death and the support she received
• How her experiences led her to her career and what she does to support others who may be in a similar situation as her
• Rachel talks about her remarriage and how another hurdle was thrown at her
• Rachel and her new husband desire to start a family and the problems raised through this
• The process of trying to get pregnant and all the treatments that Rachel had to go through 
• How we should focus more on Women's health from an early age

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Welcome to another episode of The F Word at Work in this episode we're talking about how a change can come about in support of fertility struggles, from employees driving the change. You'll hear two amazing examples. The first is Natalie Sutherland from Burgess Mee, who is the UK's first 'Fertility Officer' and has led the way for her firm to become the UK's first organisation to become 'fertility friendly' with our accreditation. Then you'll hear from Kelly-Anne Morris, an employee at Cadent Gas who we've just launched our services with.

What we discussed:   

• Kelly needed to have her fallopian tubes removed, so knew she was going to need treatment when she was ready to build her family.  
• Once she met her partner and was ready, she looked to see what policies what was available - she had a supportive manage yet nothing was written, so the approach wasn’t consistent 
• Women In Cadent - had leads on improvements within the workforce which is where Kelly got involved which was how she got involved in meetings.  
• Started speaking about IVF  - doing a survey to find out about other people’s experiences 
• First person she spoke to was in HR - at the time there was a lot of change happening in the company 
• Now at a point where all family provisions policies are being reviewed.  
• It takes time to find the right people 
• As Kelly was trying to put content together - she realised how much support she needed, such as regarding the LGBTQ communuty  
• How she came to FMAW for facts and figures  
• How it can be challenging at times, questioning whether she’s doing it right and has time to give it her full attention - when she doubts herself and then gets an email to thank her for what she’s been doing.  
• News articles from people sharing their stories have been mixed genders ( including Men in leadership )  
• Fertility Focus policy also cover partners - eg. if the Man works at Cadent and his partner doesn’t they hope to support the person wanting to accompany their partner.  

Watch our FMAW 30 minute demo on our services to find out exactly how we'd support your organisation with our training and membership 

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Welcome to the first episode of The Fertility Podcast bite-size, where the aim is to give you a snippet of useful information.

March is Endometriosis Awareness Month and Andrew Horne is a Professor or Gynaecology and Reproductive Sciences and Co-Director at the EXPPECT Centre for Pelvic Pain and Endometriosis and one of 143 experts is answering more of your questions over at fertially.com who we've worked with to make this bitesize chunk for you.

What you'll learn:

• What is Endometriosis
• How it can impact a woman’s fertility
• What are the symptoms
• The four stages of endometriosis
• How would a woman know what stage of endometriosis she might have?
• The best pain management before surgical intervention 
• Can you still be fertile? If you have endometriosis

To get more support for Endometriosis visit Endometriosis UK

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In this episode of Behind the Scenes of IVF, we’re looking at who owns the clinics, with there being more groups, more venture capitalists, and more private equity. What does this mean for you, the patient? How might it impact your decision-making? What might the benefits be? We’re in conversation with James Nicopoullus, Medical Director at The Lister Fertility Clinic, Peter Reeselv - Founder and CEO of The Fertility Consultancy, and Griffin Jones founder of Fertility Bridge

What was discussed: 

• How the HFEA is still in charge in the UK as the regulators
• VCs who have bought clinics as they see it as a good business prospect and will have a master plan to make money  - therefore there will be pressure, however word of mouth will always ensure the clinic is a success 
• How clinics must make it absolutely clear where the ownership is on their website 
• Finance packages are separate from the clinical decision making 
• Whether prices will change and become more regulated
• Where does the buck stop when something goes wrong 
• What is happening in Europe and how developments in the fertility space are changing because the pioneers are retiring so international networks can combine and offer more opportunities for patients.
• How fertility tourism is going. 
• How Sweden, Norway, and France are now enabling single women and same-sex couples able to have treatment, yet in Poland, this is the opposite  
• How consolidation should put more pressure on clinics to improve services 
• Shared best practice
• Networks enable clinics from different countries to  come together and share best practices and research 
• The global reach of IVF
• Private equity within the IVF sector
• How Branding has changed over the last 20 years 

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This episode focuses on the impact fertility has on your emotional health and we’re delighted to have Abbie and Karen from Fertility Circle join us on the podcast.

Abbie tells us how she searched for fertility support when she was trying to conceive 7 years ago and how she felt completely lost. Tragically Abbie made some poor decisions on where she looked for support that has impacted her health for the long term. The same was for Karen, in that she didn’t know where to access support and for these reasons, this is why Abbie and Karen felt motivated to start Fertility Circle.

It’s also important to Abbie and Karen to provide women with the right expert advice and information across the whole spectrum which includes both the physical and emotional aspects. As Abbie and Karen are both now trying for their second babies, they both feel so much more empowered and informed to make the right decisions.

Karen talks about the forced break women have had during the pandemic and how it’s been an opportunity to reset and

At the time of recording, the Fertility Circle app has had over 5,000 downloads! Abbie explains that they want women to feel that Fertility Circle is their best friend when trying to conceive but with all the fertility smarts. The app provides a community to connect with peers, a platform to connect with experts, content to inform, inspire and empower and finally offering the very best in emotional wellbeing and support.

The app also includes a section on learning, the ability to watch events and tutorials, live events, ask the expert, offers, and planning to support fertility wellness and IVF.

As many of our guests start a fertility business when trying to conceive, it can be a challenge. Karen talks about the potential triggers she comes across on social media for example but with that comes the immense support from the community. Abbie says that stepping back and taking a break when you need to, is vital in enabling her to carry on supporting their community.

We talk about the amazing friendships that are made within the fertility community, especially when all around you, your friends and family are getting pregnant easily! Abbie and Karen met this way, and even Natalie and Kate met through both working in this space! Natalie is now taking on more clients teaching the Freedom Fertility Formula and if you want to learn more about how Natalie can support you with your mental health click here

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Welcome to the final episode in this series of The F Word at Work, where we discuss mental health at work, and its prevalence regarding the topic of fertility in the workplace. We're delighted to be in conversation with Simon Blake, CEO of MHFA England® and a leading voice in mental health advocacy.

With a passion for driving social change, Simon champions diversity and community support. As Chair of the Dying Matters Campaign, he continues his commitment to promoting holistic wellbeing.

Here's a glimpse into our conversation:

• Over 300,000 mental health first aiders are now active in the UK, with one in 40 adults receiving training. We delve into the impact of this training and how it has evolved over the years.
• Mental health takes centre stage alongside physical health concerns, emphasizing its crucial role in creating a healthy work environment.
• We explore the importance of using inclusive language and fostering supportive behaviours when discussing both fertility issues and mental health.
• The importance of listening and offering support, rather than trying to "fix" someone's situation.
• Learn about the valuable resources available for Mental Health Awareness Week and how these can support the fertility conversations in the workplace.
• We learn about Mental Health First Aid England's mission to provide training and consultancy on mental health awareness and support.
• Understand what mental health first aid is and its role in the workplace, including recognizing signs and symptoms of mental health issues, providing initial support, and signposting individuals to appropriate resources.
• The importance of creating a workplace culture where employees feel safe, supported, and have a sense of belonging, especially in the wake of the pandemic's impact on mental well-being.
• We explore the "My Whole Self" campaign, which emphasizes the need for dismantling the stigma surrounding fertility challenges and their connection to mental health.
• The importance of well-being check-ins and the need for managers to be trained in supporting employee well-being. It also recognizes the fear of missteps in difficult conversations and emphasizes building trust with employees.
• How mental health first aiders can empower managers and employees to address mental health and well-being concerns, including those related to fertility challenges.
• The importance of psychological safety in the workplace is highlighted and how mental health first aid training empowers individuals to support their colleagues, fostering a positive work environment.
• We conclude by reflecting on the rewarding aspects of MHFA England's work. This includes the widespread impact of training, the stories of individuals using their skills to help others, and the dedication of mental health first aiders in creating positive workplace cultures.

Thank you to Apricity who are sponsoring this series of The F Word at Work. To find out about more about  how they can support your employees with inclusive fertility care please get in touch with its expert corporate team here.  We'd love your support and feedback so please do hit follow and if possible leave a review in the app you are listening to.

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Welcome to the latest episode of The F Word at Work coming to you for National Fertility Awareness Week 2023.

We're really excited to be able to share something that has been shaped by our hard work within the workplace wellbeing space over the last two years as we've really gained a lot of knowledge from the many conversations we've had with organisations looking to implement support and the range of policies we've now seen, so to mark the week we've launching a brilliant new download for you to use to shape your workplace policy and our three co-founders Becky, Natalie and Claire have a chat about it. We also caught up with Fran Steyn, VP of Clinical at Peppy healthcare about new research they are sharing for the week about the impact fertility issues have on people's working life.

What was discussed:

• What you can expect from our policy guidance document - Claire talks about how she approached it from the patient as well as an HR Professional
• Our aim was to give people a boost in their understanding 
• How this should help HR have an honest conversation with employees - to ask them what they need
• We hope organisations can use it to put their own stamp on it
• Stats included to ensure people understand the scale of this conversation 
• Key for managers, HR or the person going through it - that if the policy isn’t relevant, isn’t inclusive, doesn’t validate what you are going through how that will impact your first reaction as to whether you feel your organisation will support you to encourage disclosure
• Lived experience can help the document in terms of tone and really helps it come to life - when this hasn’t been the case we’ve had to give feedback on the lack of warmth and empathy and the policy can be too formal
• People will want to know what they are entitled too - yet the sensitive nature of the topic means it’s important to compose this in a sensitive and considered way, so its holistic 
• Be aware of cold language for this topic - it’s essential for this life event, like you would approach policies about
• Inclusive policies are key - ensuring Intended Parents are referred to in policy, be careful about referring to those going down the surrogacy route that they’re not signposted to the Adoption policy. 
• Understand who is impacted by Surrogacy 
• How to support the Childless not by Choice community - recognise that fertility treatment doesn’t always result in a baby. Ensure that those people are recognised in terms of their experiences and signposted to support. 
• Making provisions clear in terms of leave for appointments and will it be paid, ensure practical elements are included
• Hard to say average amount. We’ve seen a variety of days given and we advise there to be some flexibility that it doesn’t just have to be in days but it can also be in hours. 
• There can be non-financial things done as well. 
• Peppy Findings aimed to highlight what was going in terms of access - in relation to the cost of living crisis, the stresses within the access to funding on the NHS and the impact on people’s lives. 
• More people are aware of fertility issues and how that’s not just about IVF but also PCOS and Endometriosis and

Welcome back to The Fertility Podcast, yes it’s been a while since our main series was published and with this one, we’re going Behind The Scenes of IVF and in our first episode, we’re starting a conversation about the IVF sector’s green credentials. We hear from locum Embryologist Dani Smale, who started her training at CARE Fertility London where she undertook small research projects, including looking at the environmental impact of IVF, mainly plastic use. We also talk to Annemette Arndal-Lauritzen, the CEO of the European Sperm Bank about the Communication on Progress (COP) report and talk about how whilst their primary focus is on creating healthy babies, they also want to make sure that current, as well as future generations of donor children, grow up in a healthy world and that their families are on an equal footing with any other type of family.  You will also hear a snippet from Dr Emma Saunders and  Ricard Ledin da Rosa, Sustainability Specialist at Vitrolife. 

What was discussed: 

• With almost 2.5 million IVF cycles completed around the world every year and the number is constantly rising - can IVF go green? 
• It’s possible that per cycle / per consumer portion of greenhouse gas emissions could be higher than any other healthcare-related procedure
• Dani Smale study with Care Fertility in 2018 looking at the number of cycles and the average number of different consumables for each procedure
• 69,500 consumables about 22,800 pieces of packaging
• Difficult for a city-based clinic to recycle. 
• Lab mentality - just get another one, rather than recycling 
• NHS Labs are much more conscientious in thinking about costs 
• Using reusable caps , but not that many units use them. 
• People are worried about infection control so they use disposables. 
• Repurposing = Glassware might be used in arts and crafts, schools, Girl Guides 
• The Sustainable Development Goals from the UN to choose which applied to the European Sperm Bank  - 3 Good Health and Well-being, 5 Gender Equality, 16 - Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions  
• Recycle tanks  - don’t use dry ice as it requires a lot of plastic
• Use large tanks that can be recycled and optimised for usage 
• Aiming to become zero neutral in 2025 in 2022 - attempting to reduce by 50% by minimising as much as possible and for the rest, they are offsetting, by planting trees. 
• Importance of working with a company that takes pride in protecting the environment  - perception this gives to patients.

We talked about the International IVF Initiative and a session they held called ‘How Green is your IVF’ which you can watch here

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Unexplained Infertility

In this episode, we’re together, in person and in the same room!! What a novelty. We’re talking unexplained infertility and whilst together we had a quick chat with the lovely Jen who is @jens_endlesshappydays on Instagram

Jen has been diagnosed with unexplained infertility and is struggling with PCOS, however, her doctors don’t feel that PCOS is impacting her cycle and therefore her diagnosis remains unexplained.

Jen tells us how she feels frustrated at the diagnosis of ‘unexplained’ and the rollercoaster of emotions that comes with her thoughts of why she’s not getting pregnant, symptom spotting, the two-week wait, and the crushing disappointment of getting her period every month.

Jen has been really open with her friends and family and feels so lucky that she has a good support network, which includes friends who have experienced a similar journey themselves. Jen decided to be open on social media and as a result as made some amazing Instagram friends. We talk about friendships and how you cope when a friend you make through a shared experience, such as infertility, then becomes pregnant.

We touch on male fertility tests and how men are often the ignored factor when it comes to fertility investigations. Jen and Alex have only been offered a sperm test, but no further testing, and Jen says she is completely unaware that there are any other options for male investigations. Tune in to next week to hear more about this with our guest expert.

Jen is soon to start IVF treatment and has been working hard to reduce her BMI. Due to her PCOS, she has found it hard to lose weight, and has found losing weight to be eligible for IVF has further added to the burden and stress she feels.

Good luck Jen – we’ll be crossing everything for you!

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This week we’re talking about the TWW which is that period of time from embryo transfer to when you can do a pregnancy test. Natalie has been through it once, having had success on her first attempt at IVF however we know, for many of you it can be something of a Groundhog Day experience and we wanted your thoughts on how to cope with it. 

Kate talked about how she tells her clients to set an intention for the 14 days in terms of what they want with their family and friends, so you’re in control of how the tww goes, which is sound advice. 

We also spoke with author and former fertility patient and Midwife, Sheila Lamb about her experience of the TWW and her book ‘This is the Two Week Wait

Sheila curated over 30 accounts from people willing to share their experiences, Natalie was one of them, talking about how she made a point of going away to the coast, which did her the world of good. Sheila talks about one thing that stuck out was people talking about how ‘on your own ‘ you are, after all the put from the clinic, it just stops.. it’s like tumbleweed. 

We talk about how best to keep busy and how you need to think wisely about who you spend time with. People talked about symptom spotting and how for example their boobs were ‘buzzing’ Sheila talked about how

her experience and how she didn’t want to test during the wait. 

after four cycles she was very aware of what worked and what didn’t work for her. Her fourth cycle was 6 years later and was with donor egg, and additional medication after a miscarriage and she was abroad, which made it nicer as they were away and able to keep busy. She talked about doing visualization which she hadn’t done previously as she hadn’t learnt about it in the earlier days. 

We’re all so different which is why we wanted to get your thoughts and had you record them for us using our exciting new software, so if you want to get in touch for future episodes we’ll be reminding you of how to do it. 

We had some amazing and varied comments from you. Elyse talked about how it is so important to expect and accept that your emotions will be all over the place, if you need to shout, cry, call your friend for a bitch do what you feel, and don’t feel guilty. She advised you to keep things to yourself if you want to, you don’t have to share with family and friends. Also to Keep reminding yourself you’ve done your best and the next stage is out of your hands and your brain goes a bit wild - uf it gets too loud try and takes control back.

When it comes to testing the consensus was to not drive yourself mad with early testing!! 

Bilitis shared how she picked up a new hobby, during her TWW, which was during the lockdown. So she learned to sew using a sewing machine which kept my mind occupied, which she said stopped her dwelling. 

Sophie talked about how she and her partner, blocked out the two weeks for themselves to go away and see something new. Or if that’s not possible just get away from every day, or go for a walk along with the coast, anything to get away from the norm. She also talked about how they treated themselves to something nice, a massage, a nice meal and focused on themselves rather than being with family, or friends. Her go-to activities were yoga, meditation, baking, and eating. Nice!

Susanne shared her wisdom, after having five cycles. She highlighted how you come to realize there are no hard and fast rules. There’s no ‘if you do this it will work’. She said to follow your gut and do what feels right which we’re big fans of. You know you ultimately. 

Susanne said how in the past taken 2 weeks off work, which helped her have nothing to blame, but wasn’t right, as she also worked which then gave her something to blame. Ultimately, she says to stay... 

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We all spend A LOT of our time at our place of work of if you freelance, you possibly spend time in and out of workplaces.

However it manifests, if you are working it takes up a lot of your time. So when it comes to trying to conceive and struggling - the one thing you really need in place is a supportive workplace. 

Sadly, this often isn't the case, which is why Natalie has teamed up with two brilliant ladies Becky Kearns and Claire Ingle to create Fertility Matters at work. 

This episode may seem a big self-indulgent as Natalie interviews Becky and Claire, her partners in crime at Fertility Matters At Work, but please do indulge us just this once as we are on a mission. 

One step at a time we are looking to change how fertility issues are addressed in the workplace.

The motivation behind Fertility Matters At Work

Becky has a background in HR but also experienced fertility treatments and a miscarriage whilst holding down a job and strongly felt that so many things could have been done differently. Becky hears from other women just how stressful it is for women going through fertility treatments and how they have felt that they’ve not been able to speak out, feeling misunderstood and unsupported in the workplace. Becky recently featured in the latest video from Ferring Pharmaceuticals talking about one encounter she had with her boss which you can watch here 

Claire also has an HR background and felt that she ‘bumbled’ through her IVF treatment, working around appointments and trying not to inconvenience her place of work. This caused Claire so much anxiety and stress and she felt she couldn’t manage both her job and her fertility treatments. Like Becky, Claire felt this could have been handled so differently. Claire also felt that the policy in her workplace was lacking. Natalie met Claire through a mutual friend as Claire was already running a survey on her instagram called IVF at Work 

Support in the workplace

Natalie shared her experience of not knowing who she could turn to for advice and support within her workplace. Both Becky and Claire noticed that while they were working in HR never once did an employee came to them for support or to understand what they were entitled to. Employees are worried about how they are going to be perceived for openly admitting that they are trying for a baby, and there is the assumption that women who are trying to conceive are not as committed.

Advice to employers and employees

Together they are hoping that they can increase the conversations and narrative surrounding what needs to be thought about from employers and an employees perspective. They have already found that they are getting a huge response on social media and have started gathering examples to use this to inform employers about the issues that women are facing.

Natalie, Becky and Claire want to be able to offer advice and tips to empower women to start conversations and challenge their employers to change current policies and strategy. However, they also hope to be able to support employers to aid retention of the workforce and understanding what their generation of workers need.

Changing policies

All organisations will differ on how easily and quickly they can change policy. Natalie, Becky and Claire hope to be able to offer employers assistance with the development and implementation of these policies.

Socials:

Fertility Matters at Work on Insta

Get in touch via email with your positive or negative...

In this episode of The Fertility Podcast, I’m discussing how to navigate through the private IVF system. It’s a topic I’ve wanted to record for an age, mainly because many of you book in to see me for advice and support on this very topic. It seems to be a big pain point. In the UK we’re not familiar with accessing private healthcare, so how do you do it? And importantly how can you change your mindset from a patient to a consumer and why is this important? I also share some great tips on how to choose the right clinic for you and what questions to ask at your first IVF appointment. 

Later in the pod, I’m joined by freelance journalist Antonia Hoyle @greenerlanes who recently investigated the darker side of fertility ‘treatments’. We talk tarot card readings (yes really!), alternative therapies, and immunology.

We talk about how these alternative ‘treatments’ and IVF Add-ons do not have the evidence to support their use. And that vulnerable women being taken advantage, both emotionally and financially of by unregulated and self-styled fertility ‘experts’ who are offering false hope.

We are delighted that this episode is sponsored by two friends of the Podcast. Firstly,  The Lowdown is the place to get the lowdown on your reproductive health. Learn about your fertility, share your experiences and read those of others. And One Day Tests your one stop shop for ‘at home’ fertility blood tests and more. The lovely people at One Day Tests are offering The Fertility Podcast listeners 10% discount with TFP10.

Socials

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Welcome to another episode of The Fertility Podcast bitesize, with The Centre for Reproductive and Genetic Health (CRGH) in this snippet, we’re going to be hearing from Xavier Brunetti, Deputy Head of Embryology to explain more about how embryos are graded. All too often there are conversations online within Facebook groups or forums about what the different gradings mean and it can cause all sorts of stress and unease for patients. We are all so different and every clinic is different, so Dr. Google is not your friend when you are at this stage of your fertility treatment. So have a listen to Xavi explain more about what the embryologist is looking for and what happens in the lab. 

We discuss: 

• Day 1 - Day 3 and then Day 4 to Day 5 or 6
• Symmetry, fragmentation, can they see the nuclei
• How synchronized cell divisions are 
• How Blastocysts grow 
• What that means for the grading
• How the lab keeps in touch with you - the patient 
• How to manage patients' expectations of egg collection 

Find out more about CRGH here

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This episode of The Fertility Podcast is all about the practice of Fertility awareness. Fertility Awareness may not be a term that you’ve heard previously, or you might be an expert! Essentially the term means understanding your body and becoming more aware of the changes throughout your cycle. I discuss how you can become more aware of what is happening in your body and just how to become fertility aware. 

In the second half of the episode, I’m joined by my colleague Laura, who has developed the ‘Read Your Body’ App. This fabulous little App, which I highly recommend, helps you get to know and understand your body. Listen in to hear what Laura has to say about her app and how it can help you when trying to conceive.

What’s in this episode:

• In the first half of the podcast, I explain what we mean by the term ‘fertility awareness’, and share the 3 indicators of fertility to help you better understand both your body and your fertility.
• These three indicators are: Temperature, Cervical Mucus and your Cervix.
• I discuss how ovulation predictor kits and fertility monitors may help but also some of the pitfalls……
• I talk about how you can observe these indicators to help you identify when you’re fertile and the all important fertile window.
• Laura joins me to explain just what the Read Your Body app does and how it can help support you to conceive naturally.
• There are many methods available to help you understand your body and fertility better. From period tracking apps, to ovulation predictor kits and fertility monitors. It’s all about finding what works for you.
• Fertility Awareness is not currently recommended by NICE based on lack of evidence, but also concerns that women will become overwhelmed. This guidance, based on women’s curiosity and a desire to become empowered, is perhaps outdated.
• Becoming fertility aware is under your control. It is incredibly empowering and can provide you with so much insight. As Laura says, knowledge is power, so why would you not want to explore all the options that are available to help move you along your fertility journey?

Socials:

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Look at Read Your Body (RYB) - Home website

The OvuSense Fertility Monitor

Find out more about Ovom Care here

Welcome to another ‘Meet the Makers’ episode where we chat to Louise Zeniou from Cradle. When we spoke to Louise, she had been having a busy few days with various media interviews, and in-between her busy schedule she managed to sneak in an interview with us whilst sat on the floor outside the toilets in Pret!

Louise has a personal experience of what it feels like to go through early pregnancy loss when she became ill and diagnosed with an ectopic pregnancy. As she was so ill, she was rushed into hospital and had surgery immediately. She talks about the amazing care she received, but after surgery she missed the most basic of items such as a toothbrush and a hairbrush.

The Comfort Bag

From her own experience Louise started the Comfort Bag Project with the aim to support hospitals, so that in those early moments of pregnancy loss women and men can be provided with toiletries and other products to give them a little comfort and importantly dignity. In the bag Louise also includes a personal message to give immediate words of comfort following a loss and the ways bereaved parents can connect for support once they have been discharged from hospital.

How Cradle Supports the NHS

Cradle provides Comfort Bags to various hospitals across the country and it’s growing! From just starting out as one, Louise now has 73 volunteer ambassadors. Cradle also work with Hospital Trusts as the patient voice to help in the development of services and projects for bereaved parents.

Signposting

The role of Cradle is also to signpost to various support and counselling services to offer parents much needed professional support.

Want to get involved?

Contact Louise for information on how you can become an ambassador for Cradle.

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This week to mark Men's Mental Health Week, we are putting the spotlight once again on Male Fertility issues with two conversations to share with you.

We welcome back to the podcast Professor Sheena Lewis to talk about DNA Fragmentation. Sheena is the CEO of Examen and a professor in Reproductive Medicine and has been working on male fertility tests for the last 25 years. You'll also hear from Shaun, who has created an account on Instagram called Knackered Knackers, where he has shared his story of having male factor infertility, having had mumps and ultimately had to use donor sperm.

Male infertility is on the rise but luckily, we’re beginning to make progress in the research surrounding this. Sheena talks about as well as sperm counts declining, sperm quality is also reducing and the DNA of sperm, in particular, is becoming worse, in part due to 20th century living such as environmental factors, having children later in life – the things we can’t do anything about. However, there are factors that we can influence, and we need to do all we can to start focusing more on men, rather than just the woman.

If you go back to basics, the first thing a man needs to do is to get a sperm test. This looks at the count (how many there are), motility (are they swimming), and morphology (the shape of the sperm). What you don’t find out from a sperm test, is what’s inside the sperm – the DNA. Sheena feels that we should be doing more DNA fragmentation tests. However, as fertility clinics are ‘female focused’, this is rarely offered. We need to bring urologists into the picture to also focus on men and have better joined-up working.

Sheena talks about the misnomer of unexplained infertility. 25% of couples are given the frustrating diagnosis of unexplained infertility, but the reality is we’ve not actually searched hard enough for the answer because men are left out of the picture.

Sheena’s research at Queens University in Belfast has shown that 40% of men given a diagnosis of unexplained infertility have DNA fragmentation. A startling figure indeed! It may not be the only answer, but it certainly is one reason for their inability to conceive.

40% of men with fertility problems have varicoceles but as men are not generally examined this is not diagnosed or treated. As a result of male infertility women have to go through ICSI treatment but, as Sheena says, why can we not have equality in reproductive health where men are examined, tested, diagnosed and treated in the same way women are? This would put the man right back in control and be empowered to make the right lifestyle changes to improve sperm.

Sheena also talks about the importance of nutrition. Many men have a calorie-rich and nutrient-poor diet. Sheena recommends getting the right expert advice on nutrition and the right supplements to help improve sperm health. Sheena recommends vitamins A, C and E, with vitamin E being especially beneficial.

Natalie asks Sheena about DNA fragmentation and miscarriage. Research in 2012 and 2020 showed the association between DNA quality and miscarriage. The need for DNA fragmentation testing following miscarriage is now in international guidelines but is sadly rarely done. Sheena recommends that men should be empowered to be proactive and ask for this test to be done.

It was just Natalie chatting with Shaun and the pair didn’t discuss his story in detail as Shaun has set it out brilliantly on his instagram account, talking about how he had mumps which always made him think there might be a problem. He then had to have a number of operations including a varicocele and a microtese and in the end, Shaun and his wife Jenna had successful treatment using donor sperm and Jenna gave birth to their...

In this episode, we’re talking about what to expect in IVF which we hope you take as an overview as everyone’s experience is different. Of course, there will be some commonalities in terms of treatment plans, which is what our expert Dr. James Nicopollus will be explaining. 

First up we discuss a conversation from social media that has been front of mind and that is about the latest data on the safety of the Covid Vaccine. Here’s Kate’s post that we discuss. 

Your initial visit to the fertility clinic

James talks about what to expect after you have an initial referral for a series of 2 or 3 diagnostic tests and how there should be a plan for you put in place. 

We discuss: 

• What information should people bring with them? 
• How clinics will have a questionnaire, including info like the previous history ( how long you’ve been trying ) any previous pregnancies, as much info as possible about your menstrual 
• Any other info, surgical, gynecological, medical
• Important to identify any other risks complications that need to be made aware of. 
• If you’ve had treatment elsewhere - bring all the info

What about delays due to COVID: 

In terms of key investigations markers of egg reserve, transvaginal scan, AMH blood tests - if done within last 6 months Semen analysis within last 6 months - unless significant abnormality, it might need to be repeated. Other tests for IVF include HIV, Hep B, Hep C - within the first 3 months of treatment 

James gives his opinion on home blood tests and whether he accepts them and he explains how it depends on where they’ve been done and who they’ve been done through. As long as he can see where they’ve come from and ascertain how accurate they are, there should be no need to repeat them. 

How often should you expect to see the same Dr? 

James explains how you will have a point person - you will have direct access to people via email. However due to the nature of the treatment with your embryos being ready when they are ready, so it might mean that your collection or transfer might not be at a time the Dr is available. He explains how you will have continuity with your Dr, but it won’t always be just with him. 

Kate shared a great post on Insta about what questions to ask about IVF 

Workup is key

Once you have had the tests, then you get ready for the treatment itself - so what should you expect. James talks about the treatment and explains what it is going to be doing - FSH hormone in higher doses, with a daily injection ( on average this is about 12-14 days ) in the same time it takes for one egg to grow, we’re trying to get more. 

In almost every cycle, it starts just after your period, then for 2 weeks you take an injection to make your eggs grow with 3/5 scans, to see when you are ready for egg collection. You may have blood tests. All help to decide when you are ready for egg collection. The second medication is to stop your body from releasing the eggs. The main difference between long and short protocol is when the medication is changed. A long and a short protocol from period to egg collection is the same, it’s just different by the medication. 

Approx 2 weeks of intensive monitoring/estrogen goes up, it tends to make you feel good. It’s more likely that post embryo transfer the homes can make you feel a bit gritty. 

The hardest thing is the logistics. James talks about stress and the importance... 

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Welcome to episode 2 of the F Word at Work podcast, where all three co-founders, Natalie, Becky and Claire are here once again to discuss male infertility and how traditional gender roles play a huge part in why men are less likely to discuss or seek help for their mental health and what the workplace can do to address this issue. We'll be talking with our guest Shaun Greenaway, a male fertility advocate who was diagnosed with azoospermia due to having Mumps in his 20s. After having to go through invasive procedures whilst working for the Met Police, Shaun had to go down the donor conception route to have his family. His experience has had a profound effect on him and he is now a proud Dad of twins and the founder of Knackered Knackers where he is continuing to build an amazing support platform for men dealing with infertility.

Huge thanks to our series sponsors Apricity

 What was discussed: 

• Shaun talks about the difficulties to open up in a male-dominated work environment and how he felt if he did he would be ‘cannon fodder’
• He hid the appointments with multiple dentist appointments - but how many can you realistically have 
• How infertility is always seen as a female issue, especially in the workplace
• Shaun’s experience was a positive one once he finally disclosed to his male counterparts 
• He still didn’t feel confident sharing with all of his colleagues due to how society behaves around Men showing vulnerability
• He decided to set up Knackered Knackered his own support group which has grown from strength to strength 
• How more needs to be done around the stigma of men talking about these issues 

Find out more about Knackered Knackers

You can also find support via this Male only facebook group

Visit Calm or the Samaritans

Find out more about our services here

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*Trigger Warning: Mentions of pregnancy loss*

In this episode of The Fertility Podcast I chat with the Infertile Midwife, Sophie Martin about infertility, IVF and pregnancy loss. Sophie’s experiences inspired her to write a deeply personal and moving memoir and changed her perspective on her practice as a midwife. Sophie shares how pregnancy loss can impact on the wider family, something we might not have the emotional energy to consider at the time. We also talk about the publication of the recent Pregnancy Loss Review and Sophie’s hopes for change as a result.

What we discussed:

• Sophie shares her infertility journey, including her gut feeling that she was going to struggle to conceive, and the ultimate decision to access privately funded IVF
• We talk about Sophie’s joy of finding out that she was pregnant with identical twins and then the devastation when she went into spontaneous labour at 21 weeks
• Sophie talks about her decision to share the story of Wilfred and Cecil because pregnancy loss is not something to be ashamed of.
• How her own experience has changed her practice as a midwife and that Sophie has gained a different level of understanding her patients.
• We talked about Sophie going back to work and how she coped with the inevitable triggers.
• Sophie shares her experience of further rounds of IVF, becoming pregnant again and how to cope with pregnancy after infertility and loss.
• We discussed the impact of loss on the wider family. Sophie shares how it is important to learn to lean on others and being open with your family.
• We discussed the recent Pregnancy Loss Review and our hopes for the future.
• And to finish, Sophie tells me about her book, to be released on the 31st of August 2023. Her book is a moving, hopeful and warm account of her work as a midwife in a busy London hospital whilst dealing with infertility and pregnancy loss

Socials:

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Follow Sophie Martin (@the.infertile.midwife) • Instagram photos and videos on Instagram

You can pre-order Sophie’s book here The Infertile Midwife: In Search of Motherhood - A Memoir (geni.us)

You can check out the Pregnancy Loss review here Pregnancy Loss Review - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

You can find out more about Sepsis here Symptoms of sepsis - NHS (www.nhs.uk)

Warning: Explicit content

Welcome to the Mindfulness episode! Joining me today is Amy Polly who is a Mindfullness Teacher and we will be talking about how mindfulness can help with fertility. Amy will give some tips on how you can have a go at mindfulness in your daily life. 

What we discussed:

• What drew Amy to mindfulness and how it has helped her in everyday life
• How mindfulness can help through the stress of fertility
• The research and science behind mindfulness 
• Talking about taking notice of what is around you, what you are doing - Mindfulness everyday
• Breathing meditation 

Socials:

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Find Amy Polly on LinkedIn 

To mark Men’s Health Week, this week in the UK we are chatting with Tom Webb the Director of The Easy Bit, and Morten Ulsted CEO and co-founder of ExSeed.

The Easy Bit

First up it’s Tom. Tom has spoken on the podcast before and this time joins us now that his film – The Easy Bit is finished and now available to watch. The aim of the film is to help men realize that there is help and support out there for them, particularly as more often than not the focus, when going through a fertility struggle, is on the woman.

Tom has been overwhelmed by the reaction the film has had from both men and women, but he wasn’t expecting the overwhelming response from the fertility industry on how the film has opened its eyes to how men feel. Hopefully, this will result in changes to care within the clinics and consideration of the language used by men and couples. You can view The Easy Bit now on Vimeo 

Mental Health and Fertility

During the film, the men being filmed used the words such as shame, upset, anger, horrific ordeal, and emotional toil, to explain their experiences of infertility and all talked about the feeling of being ignored throughout their journey.

The film highlighted that counseling services within clinica are all set up for women and no support is available for men. However, Tom found that men do prefer to access support very differently from women such as through podcasts, peer-to-peer support, and men-only Facebook groups. To visit the Men Only Fertility Support Facebook page click here

Tom tells us how watching the film can teach men so much and validate their feelings. One of the men filmed said that being vulnerable makes you stronger

COVID-19 and Men

The new guidelines within clinics due to COVID-19 mean that men may well be excluded from the majority of appointments. Tom believes that excluding men will do so much damage, and he hopes that clinics will consider ways in which men can be safely included during this time.

ExSeed the Home Sperm Test

Morten Ulsted is the CEO and co-founder of the sperm home test ExSeed. Morten set about developing an advanced home test that is as good as clinic tests. The test uses the amazing computing power and camera technology we all have in our pockets on our smartphones.

What ExSeed Tests

Using your phone as an advanced microscope, the ExSeed test looks at sperm concentration and motility. Morten wanted to design a test that any healthcare practitioner, anywhere in the world, will look at the result and feel confident with what it says.

As well as testing, ExSeed also offers a personalised programme to improve sperm based on the test. This bespoke advice supports men to work on and improve their lifestyles to optimize their fertility. Through the ExSeed App users are also able to book a chat with a doctor, dietician, or personal coach

When should you test with ExSeed?

Morten tells us that the test can be used for men who are curious about their fertility, those who are starting out trying to conceive, and those who have been trying for some time and want to monitor any progress. The ExSeed box comes with 5 tests and Morton recommends that as sperm parameters can fluctuate on a daily or weekly basis, you should test once then wait about a week and repeat the test. It’s important to abstain from ejaculation 48 hours beforehand.

ExSeed costs £149.00 for 5 tests and is available on the ExSeed website. Check out Natalie’s Facebook Group where she’s...

Continuing our series on all things to do with navigating a fertility journey whilst working, we’re delighted to chat with Natalie’s co-founder and partner in crime at Fertility Matters at Work - Becky Kearns. Sadly, Claire Ingle who is also a co-founder had tech gremlins and couldn’t join us to chat. We’re also joined by Helen Burgess who, like Kate, is a partner at Fertility Matters at Work and an employment lawyer at Shoosmiths.

Becky gives us the low down on the recent launch of the Fertility Matters at Work e-learning training and policy program, that supports employers become ‘fertility friendly’. E-learning helps employers understand what is involved in a fertility journey but also how to have conversations to support their employees. The e-learning covers all the different ways in which families can be made, including solo motherhood and same-sex relationships, and is suitable for all organizations whether large or small.

Helen shares why her firm, Shoosmiths was keen to start talking about this topic. After talking to colleagues Helen found that, like her, there was very little support in the workplace, and as an employment lawyer wanted to shine a light on employers and organizations.

Becky and Helen share their own personal experiences of their fertility journey in the workplace and the difficulties they faced. Becky experienced early menopause at the age of 28. She luckily had flexibility in her role, as an HR professional, to attend appointments but struggled with disclosing her diagnosis and the need for treatment. In particular, she struggled with the emotional aspects and juggling her workload. She just felt so alone and exhausted. Helen, similar to Becky, was in a senior position and therefore had the flexibility to attend fertility treatments and fortunately had a supportive colleague. Helen made the decision to divulge to her team, but the flip side was the need to than to tell work when a fertility treatment fails, and the difficulty of reliving it all whilst trying not to be emotionally reck at work.

Claire talks about the difficulty in disclosing your fertility journey to your employer and their worries over confidentiality and the impact on their careers, but also how often disclosing can be a relief if you are given the support you need. She also talks about the constant triggers in the workplace from baby showers and new babies being brought into the office. Fertility wellbeing is so much more than just having the flexibility to attend appointments…….

Kate asks Helen what organizations need to consider from a legal perspective. Sadly, currently, there is very little protection for employees. There is no legal right to attend appointments and it is down to the employer. Helen mentions that in some circumstances if you’re refused flexibility to attend appointments then it could amount to indirect sex discrimination. Employers do need to consider when employees are not on their A-game so that they can offer support. After embryo transfer, you are protected by pregnancy discrimination protection.

Helen is not sure if there will be a legal change in the future but is hopeful, but certainly not in the short term. Disability employment law doesn’t cover infertility but could cover some of the conditions that lead to infertility such as severe endometriosis. Helen also discusses the complexities of same-sex relationships and discrimination.

We talk about how a policy is the first step, but employers need to consider so much more such as raising awareness, recognizing the complexities of fertility in the workplace, and peer support. Employers need education on what to say and what not to say.

Becky shares her advice on how employees can start a conversation with their employer. The Fertility Matters at Work, website provides lots of guidance in relation to

Welcome to Series 3 of The F Word at Work where we'd love your support and feedback so please do hit follow and if possible leave a review in the app you are listening to.

In this episode, we are joined by Caroline Noublanche, the CEO and co-founder of the world’s first virtual fertility set-up called Apricity discussing the evolving landscape of fertility benefits, their importance, implementation challenges, and innovative solutions to support employees through their fertility journey.

What we discussed:

• How Facebook was among the first to offer fertility benefits in 2014, followed by other tech giants like Google and Apple. Recently, companies in the UK, such as NatWest, Monzo, and Marks and Spencer, have also started offering these benefits.
• How FMAW’s work is to help organizations understand family-building challenges and support employees going through fertility treatments.
• Caroline explains the workings of fertility benefits explaining how they are compensation packages to support employees through their fertility journey.
• The workings of fertility benefits - how they can include health insurance coverage or cash allowances and are important for attracting and retaining talent, improving productivity, and promoting diversity and inclusion.
• How companies often inquire about the implementation, cost, and coverage of fertility benefits.
• The need to address misconceptions, such as the idea that offering egg-freezing benefits encourages women to prioritize their careers over family planning.
• How Apricity's virtual approach to fertility treatment minimizes disruption to a person's working day and providing constant support through its innovative technologies.
• How it can be both HR professionals who drive discussions around fertility benefits as well as employees with lived experience of fertility struggles who advocate for these benefits.
• The US is more advanced in offering fertility benefits, with about 40% of employers providing them. The UK is approximately three years behind but is gradually catching up, especially among large international companies.
• How organizations may be apprehensive about the cost of implementing fertility benefits, however, innovative approaches, such as utilization-based insurance and partnerships with insurance companies, can help alleviate financial burdens on employees.
• Fertility benefits extend beyond financial assistance. Virtual clinics like Apricity offer convenience, better outcomes, and reduced disruption to employees' lives, addressing physical, emotional, and financial aspects of fertility treatment.
• Both Fertility Matters at Work and Apricity offer educational workshops and resources to help organizations understand and implement fertility benefits effectively.

Thank you to Apricity who are sponsoring this series of The F Word at Work. To find out about more about how they can support your employees with inclusive fertility care please get in touch with its expert corporate team here.

Follow FMAW and access our free resources: 

• Make sure you download our guidance here 
• You can book a call to speak with us here.
• Find out more about our services and sign up for our newsletter here.

*Just a little note: There is a little bit of background noise as Kayleigh joins me from a busy office. We’ve done our best to minimise it, but apologies if you hear a bit of background noise. *

In what is the last episode of this current series, I am delighted to be joined by Kayleigh the founder of Fertility Mapper. 

Fertility Mapper aims to personalise and humanise the access to high quality fertility care. The site allows you to choose a fertility clinic based on geography, cost and patient reviews. There is also a calculator to help you identify whether you are eligible for NHS funded fertility treatments, and handily includes information on your local ICB, to help you really understand what is available for you and your specific circumstances.

Kayleigh’s advice to anyone looking to access fertility treatments, is to take your time to gather all the information that you need, compare clinics and costs. She also advises to look around and read the stories of others, to help you in deciding which clinic is the right one for you.

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Find Fertility Mapper | Our stories change everything. For more information and support

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To mark the end of Endometriosis month and we wanted to share with you a bumper episode - a guest interview with an expert and a true-life patient story. First up we chat with Andrew Horne - Professor of Gynaecology and Reproductive Sciences at Edinburgh University and an all-around expert when it comes to endometriosis.

Andrew is currently involved in ground-breaking research into a drug treatment trial for endometriosis. He and his team identified that women with endometriosis produce excess lactate in the pelvis, compared to women without the condition, and are trialing a cancer drug to see if this will reduce the lactate levels in these women and reduce the endometrial lesions. Lactate causes pain and therefore reducing lactate may help to reduce the pain experienced by women with endometriosis.

Andrew is also currently recruiting women to be involved in a study looking at the benefits of surgery with regard to improvements in pain and quality of life. This trial will be rolled out among many Endometriosis centers in the UK.

We talk about the main misconceptions surrounding endometriosis and in particular how women are often told that painful periods are normal. Pain is not normal if it impacts your relationship, work, or quality of living. If you feel your pain is not being taken seriously by your doctor – keep going back. If you’re suffering from chronic pain you may find it useful to see a pain psychologist for support.

The symptoms of endometriosis are not just pain. Women can also experience fatigue, pain when passing urine or opening the bowels, painful sex, and infertility. We talked about the frustrations surrounding the lengthy time to diagnosis and the management using pain medications and surgery and where appropriate, complementary therapies can offer some benefit.

Many women are interested in how diet and supplements can impact endometriosis and Andrew is starting to investigate this area, and it will be really interesting to see what comes out of these studies. Keep tuned and you can be sure we’ll be the first to let you know when we hear more! You can hear previous conversations we have had with Endometriosis UK here

Following Andrew, is our chat with Gemma Watts about her lengthy diagnosis from painful periods aged 14 to years of missed opportunities for a diagnosis until she was 31. Gemma had been dismissed at so many points, it was her husband who forced her to go back to the Doctor as her periods were putting her in bed for 2/3 hours. Gemm had been told it was down to her being underweight, that she didn't really have enough symptoms as the pain went after 6 hours and she was told there was still no point in doing a laparoscopy and trying IUI.

In Feb 2020, Gemma worked with Kate and learned more about what was going on with her body and went on to have treatment for 3 IUI’s and on the first scan, at the fertility clinic, she was told she had Endometriosis, despite having always been told this wasn't the case. In fact, Gemma had a large Endometrioma often the only thing you see on a scan. 

When Gemma saw someone privately within 5 minutes she was diagnosed with Stage Endometriosis - the most excessive as it's not just in the uterus it can be all over the body

Endometriosis UK says even if you just have 1 symptom - still ask.

Gemma has started talking about it more as she was desperate to find more people to talk to about it and now has found 4 people in her church. She has found Facebook groups can be helpful - but stresses that as with all social media, you need to be in the right mindset ad remember everyone’s stories are different. She is working hard to control the condition with diet, as there is some evidence that gluten/dairy-free, and Gemma has found the... 

See

Dr. Zeynep Gurtin, a Lecturer in Women’s Health at the Institute for Women’s Health at UCL, and holds an Affiliate Lectureship at the University of Cambridge Sociology Department.

In 2020 - spoke to a sample of 457 women to find out their experience of fertility treatment whose treatment has been delayed due to clinic closures. The questionnaire was live for 6 weeks during May-June 2020

The focus was to talk about the issues from lockdown stopping treatment. It was monitored by a multidisciplinary team of 6 - clinicians, counselor, psychologist

The survey was an anonymous online long questionnaire - some quantitative, other questions asked for people to tell in their own words about the impact.

For many people, it was underlined with a sense of how important the treatment was. Dominant responses were that they were much less concerned about covid than their declining fertility.

People scared about how long this is going to last. How at the start there was such little clarity

People were saying ‘I don’t want to look back and say that this virus is what robbed me of my last chance to become a parent.

People who were essential workers, such as nurses, had a priority of wanting to undertake treatment, yet they were very aware they had to expose themselves to the virus.. and at the time we had no idea of the impact it might have on pregnancy.. and of course, it became impossible for them to take time off - issues of there not being enough clarity on what people should do when it came to having the vaccine initially.

On the other side, people who became furloughed or jobs were precarious, which made it even more difficult. People feeling anxious about how secure their employment was and what impact that would have on them having a family.

Words used to describe feelings :

Powerless, helpless, frustrated, anxious, intense feelings

‘when i heard the clinic was going to close I was completely devastated, my partner isn’t getting any younger and further delays to our treatment was beyond belief. It was a particularly bitter pill to swallow with all the jokes about lockdown baby boom’

‘i was so heartbroken to be so close to making it happen and then it was wiped away from us’

‘i find the uncertainty of the wait unbearable ‘

People talked about it as ‘yet another disruption’ people having to halt treatment in the past due to losses, for financial reasons, to stop caring for a family member - and now there was this

Patients having to undergo surgery for fibroids and just at the point when they could start treatment, it was put on halt… ‘a feeling like the world is against us.’

When will we get over the Covid crisis and when will we understand the impact it is having on the TTC community

People found it really difficult to receive support - many stories of people with young children/friends or work colleagues being insensitive ‘ at least your lucky you don’t have to home school’

How the clinics let people down - lack of communication such as timelines, lack of access to staff, and also a perceived lack of care and empathy. People getting letters with black lines

When clinics did offer updates - zoom meetings, webinars were really appreciated.

Having a counselor or patients supporter is an enormous help and reassurance, helps them feel connected, they have a place to check-in.

Hopefully, the message will be to the sector that better communication should be implemented. Some clinics have said they’ve been using the findings. It’s so important we put...

Welcome to the latest episode of The Fertility Podcast bite-size where we are in conversation with Dr Waal Saab, Deputy Clinical Director at The Centre for Reproductive and Genetic Health.

What was discussed:

• How treatment is tailored depending on medical history
• Success rates and what they mean at different clinics
• How CRGH is open 24/7
• The multidisciplinary approach when it comes to medical care. W
• How all medical decisions depend on input from clinicians, embryologists, nurses.
• How a patient’s psychological status is well cared for with access to counselling and how partners are also supported
• How CRGH are well known to be a centre of referral where patients come, after recurrent failures eg. implantation failures or miscarriages

To find out more visit CRGH

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This week's episode comes with a trigger warning as we are discussing pregnancy loss. If you are struggling right now, perhaps leave this episode for when you are feeling a little bit stronger and please do access all the support out there that is available to you.

On what is Baby Loss Awareness Week, I am delighted to be joined by the lovely Tess Souray, model, actress and wellness influencer in the US. Tess shares her experiences of IVF, pregnancy loss and her decision to try genetic screening.

• Whilst navigating her fertility journey, Tess found out that her ovarian reserve levels were much lower than they should be for her age and that in fact her egg age was 10 years older than her biological age. This came as a huge shock as Tess assumed that as she young she wouldn't have any problems getting pregnant.
• Tess shares her frustrations of not being able to progress her fertility journey during the pandemic and the isolation she felt during this time, which has been common to many.
• Tess tells me about how much IVF has taught her about herself and her body, and that during a fertility journey you have to learn a whole new language with all the different words and acronyms that she had to get familiar with. 
• We talked about the decision to go through IVF and the support that she had from her friends and other women who had gone through fertility treatments. 
• Tess talks openly about how she coped with IVF and the challenges they went through.
• Tess explains how it felt, to find out at her 10 weeks scan, that there was no heartbeat. The devastating news no one wants to ever hear.
• Tess unfortunately had a miscarriage just before Thanksgiving, an American National holiday at the end of November. She talks about her down she felt during the holiday.
• Like many women, Tess felt that there was something wrong and made the decision to get further medical opinion. One specialist mentioned blood clotting, something that hadn’t been raised before with Tess.
• Tess made the decision to try an IVF add on tests and treatment, currently not available in the UK, called Pregmune which is a comprehensive, AI-powered fertility assessment. During these tests, Tess discovered that she had 3 active blood clots that were only present when she was pregnant. 
• Tess shares that she was able to get the right support from her doctor and happily went on to conceive again.
• Tess offers some good advice that you are your best advocate, so research and find out everything you can to support your fertility journey.

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Baby Loss Awareness Week

Pregmune

Welcome to Part Two of this bumper podcast episode which is sharing our Diversity and Inclusion in Fertility Round Table conversation which was held on Zoom on 8th November 2022 with the aim to help you understand how many different people are impacted by fertility challenges in a number of different ways and also to give you a better understanding of the how these communities who are impacted. 

We know that this affects 1 in 6 couples, 1 in 7 individuals and that the World Health Org defines infertility as a “disease of the reproductive system”. As you will hear, fertility treatment is also needed for social reasons, and as such is a necessary medical treatment to enable people to have a child, not a simple lifestyle choice as it is sometimes portrayed. Sometimes this is the only way for people to have a chance of a child, it’s also important to be aware that it isn’t a guarantee.

Here we discuss what employers need to know about being inclusive of other less commonly known paths to parenthood, such as solo parenthood, donor conception, adoption and then moving on to Surrogacy. The assumption when we think about fertility treatment is IVF – and normally with two people involved.  

You will hear conversations with Mel Johnson, HR Professional and Founder of The Stork and the UK’s first and only Solo Parenthood Coach and  Nicole Narracott, Adoptive Parent and Senior Business Change Manager. We also discuss how organisations can usualise, be inclusive of and supportive of LGBTQ+ family building with discussions with Wes Johnson Ellis, Co-founder of TwoDads UK, My Surrogacy Journey and the Modern Family Show and Laura-Rose Thorogood, founder of LGBT Mummies  

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As we get just over halfway through our series focused on Fertility Matters at Work, we’re pleased to be able to share a great example of how beneficial implementing training and support around fertility issues in the workplace can be and how it not only benefits a workplace from a cultural point of view, it impacts productivity, staff retention, and attraction.

During the time Fertility Matters at Work has been developing its e-learning and training and policy package, Kate has very been working directly with a number of organizations, providing training and a clear understanding of what needs to be done to better support employers and one of those organizations is The Bank of England.

In this conversation, we are joined by Anastasia Vinnikova Wellbeing Lead who talked about how the project came about as the bank already had a good foundation within the wellbeing space and a good level of education in core principles in wellbeing and life events, that impacted their workforce. 

In the conversations that came up, it was clear that colleagues felt empowered from the support being provided and the culture shift had created openness and honesty amongst colleagues.

Peer Support

Annastasia explained the existing peer support network which shares experiences with others to offer support. It aims to equip peer supporters with the next steps and onward support. The bank had experienced momentum in their journey of infertility and pregnancy loss as a result of conversation and so had set up a community and resources, along with making policy changes surrounding pay and leave. They had also been sharing experiences through blogs and podcasts 

Line Manager training: 

When talking about the role of Managers, Anastasia talked about the difficulties they can experience and acknowledged the bank still has more work to do on how they educate managers. One measure is to ensure a Manager has supported through other avenues and that employers know that their Manager isn’t the only place they can go to for support, hence the importance of the peer support network. 

Next steps. 

Whist a lot has already taken place the Bank of England are still keen to gain an understanding of why people haven’t engaged with the topic as yet and are looking into further education to help challenge the stigma and taboo around the topic of infertility as you never know how close you are to those going through these challenges?

What challenges needed to be overcome and advice for other organizations: 

When it comes to Well-being challenges, it’s important to understand that they don’t stop the minute you walk into the office. Organizations need to understand that it is important to get past the stigma and put actions in place to get over this. Companies have a moral responsibility and should make it an imperative. Anastasia also talked about how as an organization you don’t get the same out of employees if they don’t feel supported. We also discussed the importance of intersectionality and its impact on mental health. Whilst there might be discomfort initially the fertility conversation inevitably builds momentum. 

From what the Bank of England has implemented to date, they have had positive feedback from individuals which will help inform and guide, however, it’s important to remember, that no one size fits all. 

To find out more about how your workplace can become fertility-friendly and how you can join our brand new membership visit 

www.fertilitymattersatwork.com

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Welcome to episode 2 in our current series discussing the intricacies of fertility in the workplace. In this week’s episode, we’re joined by 4 teachers to find out just what it’s like to navigate a fertility journey whilst juggling the demands of a teaching job.

We welcome Caroline Biddle who worked as a secondary school drama teacher for 9 years. Caroline is no longer in a teaching role but is committed to changing the way fertility issues in teaching are managed and as a result, set up her organization – Fertility Issues in Teaching. Fertility issues in teaching Fertility Issues in Teaching are the first and only organisation to deliver specialist consultancy and training exclusively for schools to raise awareness around the impact on staff experiencing infertility and pregnancy loss and to support schools to recruit and retain the best staff by becoming inclusive, flexible, and equitable, as they move towards fertility-friendly workplaces. Claire Walker and Nic Jessop are both teachers currently working in education and Claire Stewart-Hall, who, like Caroline is no longer a teacher, is a coach who coaches people around race, adoption, and LGBTQ in the workplace.

Having to move schools

Caroline starts off by telling us about her experience of going through fertility treatment in the workplace and how She moved schools between treatment and experienced two very different styles of support. Neither school had a fertility policy in place which left her feeling both vulnerable and frustrated. In one school she had to explain every appointment for the headteacher to approve and this was far from satisfactory. It was then that she started researching fertility awareness in the workplace.

Getting your Union involved

Claire Walker explains her experiences of going through fertility treatment with her partner who was transitioning from female-male and how she was told by her employer that ‘IVF is elective like cosmetic surgery’ without any understanding of her individual circumstance. Claire explains how she has always been, as many teachers are, totally dedicated to her job and this comment felt her feeling undervalued.

Quitting your job

Claire Stewart-Hall shares with us a very harrowing experience where she experienced a missed miscarriage after being punched in the stomach by a pupil. Claire also talks about the difficulties of trying to conceive whilst juggling a busy role as a vice-principal and the taboos she felt being in a same-sex relationship and how ‘hidden’ she found fertility in general.

 In stark contrast, Nic has a positive story to share about the support from her workplace during her recent successful IVF treatment and frozen embryo transfer, where she says her work environment was so supportive with her employers having a good understanding of what’s involved in infertility treatments and a leader who actively tries to understand what her employees are going through. Nic feels that her experience is an example that other schools should aim to follow.

On Caroline’s Instagram feed and her blog, she regularly talks about the need for schools to strive for compassion and thoughtfulness when discussing infertility. She shares examples with us where thoughtless comments have been made such as headteachers demanding that ‘scans are done on a Wednesday or at a specific time’. Leaders said that they ‘will offer paid leave for 1 treatment but not more, and even examples of where people have offered advice when they don’t have any understanding about fertility. 

Claire Stewart-Hall is currently undertaking a doctorate on race and policy in schools and talks about how policy can be interpreted differently by individual schools, and that leaders will often ‘cherry pick’ what they want out of the policy or interpret...

In this week’s episode, we’re talking all about testing your fertility at home. You’ll hear a snippet of a previous chat we had with Exseed Health founder Morten Ulsted. Exseed is a male fertility test to be done at home and you can hear the full conversation here

We welcome, to the podcast, Dr. Helen O’Neill – a lecturer in Molecular genetics and co-founder of Hertility. Hertility is an at-home hormone testing service for your fertility journey, which includes support from trusted fertility experts.

Helen’s motivation for starting Hertility was to provide women with a holistic expert service that takes into consideration all aspects of their reproductive health. Hertility considers 9 of the most common reproductive conditions such as thyroid, PCOS, and endometriosis, to mention just three. Hertility combines answers from a pre-testing questionnaire, that takes into account any symptom in isolation or collection of symptoms among other aspects to decide on which hormones to check you for and then using this test information, along with your questionnaire, provides you with either a concrete diagnosis or a suspicion of a diagnosis for anyone of the 9 reproductive conditions.

Hertility doesn’t just give you your result and leave you high and dry. They then provide support in understanding what your results mean for you and your pathway to care through interaction with fertility counselors or their team of clinical experts. You can clearly choose to take your results and share these with your GP to help move you forward on your fertility journey.

Helen also chats about the concerns surrounding young women over-exercising and how this can impact significantly their reproductive health. Over-exercising can, in some circumstances, lead to a condition called Hypothalamic Amenorrhoea (HA). With HA, women can experience the complete loss of a menstrual cycle and Helen discusses how often the lack of periods can be dismissed by a doctor when they’re not trying to conceive yet, but this delay can have a devastating impact on their future fertility. Knowledge is power when it comes to fertility and making the decision to do home testing can be a liberating, empowering, and immensely reassuring experience.

You can find out more about Hertility and home testing here:

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OK, we're trying something a little different in 2022 and we'll be sharing bite-size chunks of useful information with you every Friday. We'd love to know if you like them so do come and say hello on insta

It was a bleak and dreary day.. .Kate and I connected with Eleanor Stevenson, Professor of Nursing from Duke University, North Carolina USA and Kevin McEleny, Consultant Urologist at Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust to discuss a brilliant new initiative to support men struggling with infertility.

Together Kevin and Eleanor have created All about fertility an evidence-based resource providing couples with up to date articles, webinars and videos created by experts from the field of fertility. But they didn’t want to just stop there. From their research Kevin and Eleanor identified that men didn’t want to engage with support from counsellors and so they created a support forum just for men to access support in a way that was accessible to them and on their terms.

Peer Support 

In the future, Kevin and Eleanor hope to roll out other versions of this platform to include support forums for same-sex couples and women. In the US, Eleanor is seeing that professionals are becoming more aware of male fertility but as yet, US men aren’t opening up. Whereas conversely, in the UK men are beginning to talk and there are a number of men that are leading the way, some of who have been recent guests on the podcast.

Educating medical professionals

Kevin talks about the need for greater awareness and sensitivity among professionals. The evidence that has come out of their research shows that what men are told at the very start can have enormous consequences on their emotional wellbeing. Eleanor tells us that while men continue to feel that their problems are not real. It reinforces stigma and men get further silenced.

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Eleanor on twitter 

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Kevin’s previous episode on The Fertility Podcast 

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In this episode, we’re talking about donor sperm and treatment abroad. We have discussed donor conception on the podcast before and refer throughout the episode to previous chats we’re had as we’ve spoken to egg donors, as well as organizations that help match you with donors both in the UK and abroad and we’ve heard your stories about having treatment abroad with a donor egg or sperm, for a multitude of reasons. 

The idea of using a donor to make your baby can take a lot of time to get your head around and it's so important to get support and there are brilliant organizations to guide you. We’ve chatted with the Donor Conception Network who have been around for a long time, working on the narrative about how we talk about this with our loved ones. 

More recently, the brilliant Becky Kearns who is @defiingmum on Instagram has launched her Paths to Parents hub which is to support people looking at donor conception and Becky is working tirelessly to provide webinars and an amazing support network to help answer the many questions that come with donor conception. 

Our first guest is JR Silver who has created a wonderful children's book called Sharing Seeds.

JR was diagnosed with the BRCA1 and sadly lost his sister to breast cancer 9 months later. The family had realized there was a line of females that had passed away young

Sister died 9 months later. It was when he went to find out about PGD testing to see whether they could take sperm and have it analyzed to see if they would only put forward healthy sperm

What is Non‐obstructive azoospermia (NOA)

Ended up having fertility tests - he found out that he had zero sperm which is defined as Non‐obstructive azoospermia (NOA) Definition - no sperm in the ejaculate due to failure of spermatogenesis and is the most severe form of male infertility. The etiology of NOA is either intrinsic testicular impairment or inadequate gonadotropin production.

JR went on to have more tests to confirm the condition and then went on to see a Urologist and had two operations to try and retrieve sperm over the coming year. He and his wife had a strong support network and also gained more support and also funding from the Jewish infertility charity Chana  

Chana is close to my heart as they also supported me in the early stages of our decision to donate our frozen embryo You can learn more about them

What’s it like choosing a sperm donor for a guy and what advice do you have for other men? 

JR explained how he was on a light dose of anti-depressants felt that might have taken the edge off the choosing a sperm donor. Once the pair had got their head around it, they found it quite good fun. 

JR talked about how his wife didn’t want to see pictures, but it was one of his requirements. The pair are fair in the background and they wanted someone close to his aesthetic and he said that enabled them to pick the donors based on the pictures available. The donor was from Canada and the US from Xytex

JR says to be wary of all the advice offered and encourages Men to work with their partner and look at if they can deal with the setbacks of how it feels, see it as a joint project.

How do you talk about using a sperm donor - with your friends and family? 

This is such an important conversation and once we’ve also discussed on the podcast with Jana Rupnow... 

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This week we’re talking about the drugs teach, which in normal terms means - how the hell do you do your injections when going through IVF, especially if you’re scared of needles. 

We’re joined by Kate Pleace who is a lovely lady and part of Kate’s team of nurses at Your Fertility Journey. 

Kate talks us through how it all works when it comes to taking your drugs for IVF. Unfortunately, the majority are injections and you following a plan and dosages. Kate explained how important it was to talk through the different injections how they work when you need to do them, how to draw them up and prepare them, and they have mock ones to practice with 

How it all works? 

You get to practice with a fake skin pin cushion which is good to know if you have a fear of needles, you get to feel more and get to see the needle, which is tiny. 

If you’re scared, it’s important to spend time with your fertility nurse, have a look ad practice and find out what works, you can get your partner and have them shown. Kate mentioned breathing techniques and meditations. 

It may sound terrifying for people but you soon get the hang of it, Natalie certainly did after being so worried on day 1, by day 3 she was in the loo doing it, as she was hosting an event!

Where should you inject? 

In your tummy, where your trousers sit - either side of your belly button. 

It’s really important to rotate around your tummy, to give the areas a break, you will get brushing as it’s a side effect of the treatment, which is why it’s good to rotate the area you inject. 

What about if you miss your injection? 

If it’s a few hours, Kate advises you do it, if it’s the next day, Kate advises you to call your clinic. 

What about air bubbles? 

There is a little air bubble on the pen ( there’s minimal evidence it will make any damage ) always give a little tap before injection, make sure fluid is at the top, pre-loaded pens are ready to go. 

Ways to help partners feel more involved? 

Natalie talked about how she and hubby named the two injections after film/cartoon characters 

What about nose sprays? 

There is a nose spray for the down-regulation, but they are mainly injectables, depending on your protocol. Your clinic can reduce the time you have to take them. 

Side effects of drugs? 

Depends - long protocol and down-regulation, can put you into temp menopause, people may report headaches, night sweats, difficulty sleeping, but these pass when on stimulation drugs. 

Stimulation drugs - These can make you feel bloated and fatigued

Cetrotide - can make you feel like there is a bee sting when you do the injection but it disappears in about 30 min.. 

Natalie mentioned her own experience. You will need to listen to the bizarre side effect Natalie experienced… if you had the same experience, do let Natalie know. 

Kate says if you do have any weird sound effects, do let your clinic know. 

Kate talks about ways to tick off the injections on the calendar, Natalie talked about treating it like a science experiment. Think about how it’s not forever… Kate talks about how she helps patients celebrate their last injection with patients. 

The Trigger Injection - what if you can’t do it in time? 

If you’re having any problems or struggling to take it, use the videos - talk to the nurse at your scan before it. If it comes to trigger time and there is a problem, contact your clinic as soon as you can, and they can advise you on what to do... 

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*Just a little trigger warning, this episode mentions miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy. If today is a day you’re not feeling too strong, perhaps leave this episode for another day. We have a HUGE back catalog to dive into, so there may be something else you fancy instead. *

Joining Kate on The Fertility Podcast this week is Jade. In this episode, Jade talks about her traumatic and life-changing experiences with ectopic pregnancy. For those who don’t know, an ectopic pregnancy is a pregnancy that is outside of the uterus. Unfortunately, an ectopic pregnancy isn’t viable and is not able to continue. 

Jade’s story begins back in January 2022, when she first became pregnant. Unfortunately, this first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. Later on, Jade fell pregnant again, however, this time, it was an ectopic pregnancy. Ectopic pregnancies can cause pain and in some circumstances, bleeding, however, Jade didn’t have any symptoms. It wasn’t until after a few trips to the doctor, that she was told she had an ectopic pregnancy. 

Jade eventually had surgery to remove the ectopic pregnancy. She was advised by her doctor that she had an increased risk of having another ectopic, and unfortunately, this happened to Jade again in 2023. However, this time around, Jade knew something was wrong. Jade talks about how hard it was to advocate for herself. Regrettably, this pregnancy ruptured her fallopian tube. An ectopic pregnancy is a serious medical condition which can become a medical emergency. 

Jade talks about how her experiences have left both her and her body scarred. She explains she is scared to get pregnant and risk going through it all again. However Jade is a fabulous example of the importance of being your own fertility advocate and being persistent if you think something is wrong. In Jade’s words “We do always have more strength than we think we have”.

We are delighted that this episode is sponsored by two friends of the podcast - One Day Tests and Bud Nutrtion. One Day Tests  is your one stop shop for ‘at home’ fertility blood tests and more. The lovely people at One Day Tests are offering The Fertility Podcast listeners 10% discount with TFP10.

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Read Endometriosis time to diagnosis report

This week we have a bumper episode and have not one guest, but three! Our episode is all about the fact that infertility knows no colour, meaning that infertility doesn’t care about the colour of your skin – it impacts us all regardless but there are very unique challenges, and some similarities faced by differing communities.

First up we chat to Vanessa Hay

Talking about the issue of infertility within Black communities. Vanessa described how multi-layered up fertility issues were with other social-cultural things like faith

“When you are trying to build a family, you feel like everyone else is affected. Your whole family are invested and I felt it was too much pressure to go through, so it took me a while to talk about it. Then you have to deal with comments such as ‘Why you going through IVF it’s not something that we do’

Vanessa chose to only share her experience after she was pregnant, she was 27 when they were trying..

She spoke about how Infertility has no boundaries in terms of what you go through and how it feels and how she felt she couldn’t get anything from her community as she wasn’t sharing so she needs to go elsewhere. She went on chat rooms… and realising there was the Instagram community… However the nuances in her journey -such as how to approach nosey aunties and uncles / the faith-based / they weren’t being covered in this predominantly white community.

Vanessa spoke to Metro about her experience of going through IVF as a black woman had so much traction. People thanking her for sharing it. People saying they were also going through it.

Women were saying this is something I’m going through but don’t feel comfortable talking to my friends as it’s not something that happens with Black women - started the conversation to help us feel less alone.

Vanessa said how people talking back to her and she then seeing other black women bloggers starting the conversation helped her feel less alone. It was reciprocal and reassuring. She explained how ‘If there is already a perception in a community and you aren’t seeing people that look like you talking about it further breeds the idea that this isn’t the type of thing you might go through. ‘

There is still shame within Black communities assumption of virility

Vanessa spoke about Noni Martens who has been talking about how black women are raised to be Mother - which s something we spoke more with Christine about later in the episode. There is an assumption that black women are apparently ‘hyper fertile’ Vanessa also explained her concerns about celebrity - saying how ‘There is also the perception of IVF is also that people are choosing what babies they have due to the celebrity association. As people don’t understand it. If someone is choosing it they are guaranteed to get pregnant, that she has decided to now get pregnant… like you are trying to take matters into your own hands

She is now focusing more on Reproductive and Gynacolgical - having lost babies she has realised she still has work to do in the education she is sharing.

Next, we welcome back a friend of the podcast Dr Christine Ekechi. Christine is a consultant gynaecologist at Imperial College NHS Trust and a spokesperson for Racial Equality at the RCOG. Christine is passionate about tackling the healthcare inequalities of women. We last saw, and interviewed, Christine in a very busy and noisy British Library in London, just before lockdown.

We wanted to chat with Christine about the recent paper, shared by the HFEA, on the ethnic diversity infertility treatment and how using the term BAME is no longer acceptable.

Welcome to The F Word at Work - we share highligts of another epic week the night before we are attending the Northern Power Women awards ( fingers crossed by the time you hear this we've won!) We also mention the This Can Happen conference we're speaking at this week.

So we've got a few remaining episodes to share in this series, so we're going to be focusing on best practices from our clients. We're having more and more conversations with companies keen to offer training to their people leaders and ensure those going through fertility issues are better supported, which is so exciting for us as a start-up. Today we're delighted to share this conversation with Jo Riddell of Selfridges, Head of ER, Policy and Wellbeing.

Did you know that Selfridges is actually the first company that Fertility Matters at Work signed? Jo explains how she first heard about us and the amazing feedback Selfridges is getting as a result of the work they are doing.

We're delighted to share that Selfridges are now a fertility friendly accredited ™️ employer ( updated 12/3/2024 )

 What we discussed: 

• What led the drive for Selfridges to become fertility-friendly
• How Selfridges launched it's fertility friendly activity with a launch panel with a senior lead, talking about her expereince of pregnancy loss.
• The feedback they have been receiving since working with Fertility Matters at Work
• The impact of this education and how it is created an more supportive environment for colleagues.
• Selfridges plans for further awareness raising events.
• How representation is important
• How Selfridges have used surveys to gain employee feedback
• How employees and team members tend to share their feedback privately. 
• Selfridges relaunched its internal support network called, Family Matters to encourage people to share their stories. 
• Use of the Yama app to help them communicate and support each other despite the diversity and size of their organization. 
• How they ensure people feel comfortable and safe and that they are not judged regardless of what they are going through. 
• How Selfridges evaluated its policies to meet the different needs of its team members. 
• How using their social media to highlight this work has benefited their attraction and retention
• Selfridges aim to become fertility accredited this year. 
• How Selfridges wants to continue the conversation and to keep on looking for what’s next they can offer and how they’d be able to give support to their teams. 
• Have a look @fertilit_arty on insta

 WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT FERTILITY ISSUES FOR YOUR ORGANISATION? 

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Welcome to another episode of The Fertility Podcast bitesize, with The Centre for Reproductive and Genetic Health (CRGH) in this snippet, we’re going to be hearing from Xavier Brunetti, Deputy Head of Embryology to talk you through the lab set-up at CRGH. It’s fascinating getting to understand more about what happens post egg collection in the lab and how the Emrbyologists work and how they feel about sharing the news of what is going on with your precious embryos. So have a listen to Xavi explain more about the process. 

We discuss: 

• What happens after egg collection 
• How they are prepared for IVF or ICSI
• What ICSI is, how it is prepared for treatment 
• How the embryos start to divide over 5-6 days
• What the embryologist is looking for and what it looks like when an embryo develops abnormally
• The speed at which the embryo divides and what it shows
• When a biopsy happens
• Egg freezing 
• What happens during embryo transfer and what the patient is told
• What happens when it is a frozen embryo transfer 
• Embryologists contact patients and how they are always happy to explain things as much as the patient needs
• What it feels like when a patient names their baby after the embryologist 

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Welcome to the latest episode of The F Word at Work, where you'll be hearing some throughts from our members, as in July 2023, we held of first in person round table event to bring together our members to share what they had been doing to implement the support from us here at Fertility Matters at Work.

We had three presentations from some of our accredited members, Cadent Gas - who received their Fertility Friendly accreditation in March 2023, the first utilites company to do so, Burgess Mee Family Law, who were the very first of our members to gain their Fertility Friendly Accreditation and the first law firm to do so and Cornwall Council, the first local authority to receive a Fertility Friendly Accreditation so as you see there are companies making waves within their sector with this type of wellbeing activity.

What was discussed:

• Awareness raising
• Training
• Implementing policy and guidance
• Building internal peer-to-peer support
• How having the different insights from the different sectors is really helpful

Have a read of the blog post we shared about the event here

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Do you work for an organization that offers fertility benefits? Do you actually know what employee fertility benefits can offer you?

The umbrella of fertility benefits may encompass anything from consultations to obtaining a diagnosis, medication, and treatments such as IUI and IVF. More expansive plans might include egg freezing, donor eggs or embryos, and/or gestational surrogacy. However, in the UK, fertility benefits are less commonplace compared to the US.

In this episode continuing the fertility matters at work series, we’re joined by Jenny Saft, co-founder of Apryl, an organization that provides fertility benefits to companies in Europe to help overcome inequalities by supporting employees to thrive in their careers. Natalie came across Apryl in a report discussing the future of fertility and was intrigued to find out more about their comprehensive fertility benefits platform.

Jenny shares her own experience of working in San Francisco and making the decision to look into egg freezing. Shortly after making this decision, she returned to Germany and was struck by the negativity surrounding egg freezing. She also found the egg freezing process really confusing and Apryl was born (excuse the pun) to help women fill in the gaps.

Following on from the US trend, Apryl offers a 3 step approach for employees – know your options, find the right clinic for you, and let Apryl take over the discussions with your employer. They’re able to offer a personalized service, initial consultations and testing, treatment, and if needed adoption guidance and reimbursement of fees.

Getting Apryl out there has been far from plain sailing. Jenny has heard employers having fears based on the very initially, large companies such as Facebook and Google offering egg freezing and the way in which this was viewed to keep women in employment. Unlike the US where 30% of companies with more than 500 employees offer fertility benefits, progress is slower in Europe. In the main due to the very different health care system in the US compared to the UK and many European countries.

We talk about the benefits to organizations to show that they are fertility-friendly and ask Jenny if she feels that companies have a good understanding of these benefits such as retention and attracting talent? She feels that some companies, such as tech organizations, financial services, and law firms are ahead of the game compared to others.

Jenny hopes that more companies will come to realize the benefits of supporting their employees financially when it comes to fertility in the future. She is already noticing that those organizations that are serious about doing so, are the ones who are ready to have these conversations. Perhaps more pressure from you, the employee, is what’s needed to make this change?

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In this week’s episode, I’m joined by Andreia Trigo @andreiatrigorn, a fellow nurse and the CEO and founder of Enhanced Fertility. We’re talking all about Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser also known as MRKH. 

Yep, you can be forgiven for not knowing much, if anything about this rare condition that severely impacts your fertility potential. Essentially if you have MRKH you’re born without a womb. Can you imagine how devastating that diagnosis would be and how it would impact you? Imagine finding this all out as a teenager and then in later years realising how this would impact your ability to create a family! Andreia talks about her diagnosis, what she experienced to even get diagnosed in the first place, the accessibility for those who are diagnosed with MRKH, and the first UK uterine transplant.

Andreia’s fertility journey began when she was 17. She was concerned that she hadn't yet had her first period. After being told to come back after a year, she eventually had tests and scans done and one of the scans reported that a uterus was seen on the scan. It wasn’t until later that it turned out to not be the case and Andreia had been incorrectly diagnosed.

A year later, when Andreia was 18, she was diagnosed with MRKH. The process that she went through to get that diagnosis took just over 3 years. This involved invasive and painful investigations and procedures to reach a diagnosis. Something that still haunts Andreia to this day. We talked about whether there has been a change in the way that MRKH is diagnosed in the UK. Andreia tells us how it has and now there is a lot more support and tests that are available to be able to effectively diagnose MRKH promptly. Incredibly, 1 in 5000 women are diagnosed with MRKH. Later on, we talked about the first UK uterine transplant and what this means for women like Andreia. 

Andreia is passionate about improving access and decreasing the time to diagnosis and helps women find their way through diagnosis and the next steps. Andreia’s advice to anyone on a fertility journey is, if you feel there is something wrong be persistent and feel empowered to investigate why.

Find out more about Andreia at - https://efp.clinic/

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Welcome back to the Fertility Podcast, after our summer break we return with Fertility Coach Sarah Banks to talk about support (or sadly the lack of) in IVF clinics. Both Sarah and I hear frequently, from the people we support, that there is just not enough emotional support in clinics. Sarah is working hard to raise awareness of this with fertility clinics, and has recently completed a survey with her support communities to assess the degree of emotional support provided in clinics.

This is what we discussed:

• Sarah explains the results of her survey. From a total of 200 responses so far, respondents rated the level of support as 4.9 out of 10. 
• 8.4% reported having zero support in their clinic and 60% felt that their clinic did not have a culture of support. Many respondents felt that the degree of support had lessened since the Pandemic, with patients feeling more like a number than an individual.
• We talked about how there is an expectation of support and that it is now greater than it has ever been. Sarah explained why this might be the case.
• Sarah talked about how clinics have received her data and that she is finding that they are more open to understanding what patients need but we still have a long way to go.
• Sarah offered suggestions for the types of support that clinics should be offering. Counseling in clinics is often limited to one session, and counseling is not for everyone. Sarah discusses the benefit of a support group to find commonality and to feel validated, reading materials, signposting to reputable social media accounts, Apps etc
• Sarah highlights that there needs to be a culture change among staff and the importance of receiving training to better understand the emotional needs of patients. Understandably, staff in clinics are very busy but they need to be empathetic to patients so that they feel fully supported.
• Sarah shares her fertility journey of 6 years and two cycles of IVF to conceive her son. This led her to retrain to be a fertility coach, and set up support groups locally and internationally. 
• Sarah later developed the IVF Positivity Planner which is a fabulous resource to support you on your fertility journey. The planner is a coaching book combined with a 12 week journal to help you focus on the things you can control, from self care to action plans and goal setting to help you move forward. We totally recommend it!
• Finally Sarah’s advice if you feel you're not getting support from you clinic is to speak to them and tell them how you're feeling. Clinics do want to support you, so feed this back to them and get your voice heard. You can also look for professional support via BICA (British Infertility Counseling Association) or you may prefer a fertility coach to support you.
• We would love to hear your experiences of the support you received at your clinic. Check out Sarah’s survey via the link in her instagram bio (see below)

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BICA - https://www.bica.net/

Fertility Coaching with Kate and

In what is the last episode of this series, Kate is joined by the podcast’s editor, Ella to ask some quick-fire fertility questions.

This episode packs a variety of information, from male factor infertility, ovulation induction medication, irregular periods and what this might mean for you to what to consider when choosing your fertility clinic. Ella asks a range of different questions about topics that may peak your interest.

Kate and Ella also talk about advocating for yourself and having the confidence to do so. They also discuss the education of fertility in schools, and Kate explains how she believes that students should be taught about other fertility issues and not just how to avoid getting pregnant, which can often be the subject of most sex-ed lessons. Things like the menstrual cycle and what may affect your fertility for both females and males.

So settle down, grab a notepad, and get ready for an adventure through fertility topics as Ella racks Kate’s brain for answers!

Thank you for listening to this series of the podcast, see you in September!

SPONSORS

We are delighted that this episode is sponsored by two friends of the podcast - One Day Tests and @budfertility. One Day Tests  is your one stop shop for ‘at home’ fertility blood tests and more. The lovely people at One Day Tests are offering The Fertility Podcast listeners 10% discount with TFP10. Bud make super male and female fertility supplements which we absolutely LOVE. You can use the code FP20 for a 20% discount off your order.

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This episode of the Fertility Podcast, Zoe is joining me as we talk about the importance of feeling empowered on your fertility journey and being able to advocate for yourself. Zoe talks about her infertility and how it led her to using donor eggs and the obstacles that she and her partner faced in order to create their family.

What we discussed:

• Her diagnosis of childhood cancer and how this impacted her fertility for the future
• How Zoe dealt with her infertility and how it she had to have a difficult conversation with her husband, early on in their relationship
• The options they had to consider when trying for a baby
• Talking about Zoe’s journey with donor conception and her decision to choose an anonymous donor
• Being told by her clinic in Spain that her first donor cycle would definitely be successful and then the shock of a negative pregnancy test
• How Zoe was able to positively advocate for herself
• How it is important to go out and do your own research and be prepared to have an honest conversation with your consultants
• Learn to cherry pick what you need and to take control and ownership of your fertility journey

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Mitochondrial Donation Treatment - https://www.hfea.gov.uk/treatments/embryo-testing-and-treatments-for-disease/mitochondrial-donation-treatment/

In this week’s episode of The Fertility Podcast, Kate is joined by the Ro Huntriss - fertility dietitian to answer some quick fire nutrition FAQ’s. Ro shares lots of interesting evidence based facts and little tips. So buckle up for a speedy episode and don’t forget to grab a note pad!

During this episode, Ro and Kate cover topics such as whether you should stop drinking alcohol when trying to conceive, and if diet can help to improve sperm DNA fragmentation. Ro breaks down some myths and drops in little pieces of advice and information on how to optimise your fertility through diet and good nutrition.

One of the big questions was, whether the craze of having a Big Mac and Fries after IVF, is a good idea or not and is there really a best way to eat when TTC? Tune in to listen to Ro’s answer on these and many more fertility nutrition questions.

We are delighted that this episode is sponsored by two friends of the podcast - @onedaytests and @budfertility. One Day Tests  is your one stop shop for ‘at home’ fertility blood tests and more. The lovely people at One Day Tests are offering The Fertility Podcast listeners 10% discount with TFP10. Bud make a Vitamin D which we absolutely LOVE. You can use the code FP20 for a 20% discount off your order.

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Ro’s book - Deliciously healthy fertility is available on Amazon

 We can’t believe it’s episode 3 already! Where has the time gone? We’re loving all your messages since we’ve been back – so keep them coming.

So, in this episode, we’re still chatting about preconceptual care. All you need to know is to help you conceive naturally. We start off by talking in more detail about the methods that can help you….

Have you heard of Mosie Baby? Mosie Baby is basically artificial insemination at home and can be useful when traditional methods may not be working or are simply not an option – for example for same-sex couples, women trying to conceive alone, and couples who are finding it difficult to perform on demand. Find out more about Mosie Baby below and listen to our previous conversation with founders Marc and Maureen here

Next up conception caps. Kate shares her view of FERTILILY – a hormone-free conception end that is clinically proven to increase the chance of pregnancy by 48%. It’s made of soft medical-grade silicone and is easy to insert after intercourse and is designed to push the sperm toward the cervix, increasing the chances of more sperm cells making their way into the uterus. You can read more about FERTILITY below.

On to this week’s guest - Laura Robson from The Body Literacy Collective and co-founder of the Read Your Body App. Kate and Laura met through training in Fertility Awareness with Fertilityuk and as a result of her training and previous personal experience of using fertility awareness to avoid pregnancy. The idea for creating the App was born out of a desire to offer her clients a reliable and effective app without hesitation and to have no concerns over data privacy or ineffective app features.

Over the last year and a half, Laura has been on a mammoth journey to get the app released through crowdfunding, app development, and testing to 100 beta users. The app has now been live for 8 months and is available in different languages with lots of new features. Laura recommends that women use the app alongside an educator to help them understand how to chart their fertility effectively, and if trying to conceive, help reduce the time it takes you. Read Your Body has many different features that set it apart from other apps, to name just two - It is totally customizable, and importantly users have total data privacy. Check out the app and how it could help you along your fertility journey below. Here are some details of other fertility educators Laura wanted us to share with you.

In Ask The Expert this week we’re talking about the contentious issue of IVF Add Ons and the HFEA traffic light system with Dr. James Nicopoullos. James tells us that there is no evidence to support the use of assisted hatching for IVF making it a red traffic light. The HFEA highlights endometrial scratch and embryo glue as amber meaning that there is limited evidence and is down to individual clinics as to whether they offer this.

And finally…..we have a little offer for you. Kate is offering one lucky listener the opportunity for a complimentary 20-minute cycle interpretation chat.

To be in with a chance to win email Kate at kate@yourfertilityjourney.com with the email header ‘Fertility Pod’.

The first person that emails will win…..GO!

Don’t forget to join us every Thursday at 2 pm on Instagram and The Fertility Podcast Facebook group for #brewattwo

We spoke about a previous episode with Toni Weschler which you can

This week, on the pod, we’re talking about that conversation with your GP. It can be difficult to make this first step when trying to conceive and you often don’t know when you should go and what to ask. Plus we often hear from you that you don't feel heard or taken seriously when having these initial conversations.

When you’re struggling to conceive there is no reason why you can’t access your GP as soon as you wish. If you’re lucky, your GP may suggest some blood tests and, if you’re in a heterosexual relationship, a semen analysis for your partner. When it comes to a referral to fertility doctors. This is done at the 12-month point if you’re under the age of 35 or at 6 months if you’re over the age of 35.

So, what do you need to ask? Kate recommends writing down all your questions, so you make sure you remember everything you want to ask. You may like to ask for some blood tests and a sperm test. Results are generally back pretty quickly. A semen analysis may take a little longer. You can also look at home testing for both blood tests and semen analysis.

Hopefully, your results will be absolutely normal but common abnormalities could be with your hormones, your thyroid, and progesterone. It’s worth noting that sometimes the incorrect timing of progesterone can result in an abnormal result – so make sure it’s done 7 days before your next period (difficult without a crystal ball we know!).

Be prepared if you are either overweight or underweight, this might form part of the conversation with your GP. We know that it’s not always easy to hear that your weight is not in the ideal range but hopefully your GP will offer you some guidance on how you can either gain weight or lose weight to optimize your fertility.

If you’ve had a previous pregnancy, then don’t be scared to still approach your GP for these initial tests. You are still entitled to these and as secondary infertility is really common, it’s important not to delay.

Sadly, when it comes to fertility, we often need to advocate for ourselves.

Sometimes it can take a long time for women to receive a diagnosis of conditions such as endometriosis and PCOS.

So be empowered and persistent and feel confident to ask for what you need.

Come and join our closed Facebook group and let us know more about your experience

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In this week’s episode we are discussing miscarriage and loss,so before we go any further we are putting a trigger warning firmly in place here.

If you’re not feeling strong today, then maybe wait and listen another day, or make sure you have lots of support around you as our guest does go into detail of her own loss. Please know, you can always reach out to us on our socials if you need a bit of extra support and please do also have a look at our previous miscarriage series on The Fertility Podcast website where we detail more information about the support available.

We start off by chatting about the developments around the world when it comes to miscarriage policy. New Zealand is the second country in the world to provide women and their partners with 3 days of paid leave following a miscarriage or stillbirth, which is amazing! Interestingly, India was the first country to support couples in this way. Let’s hope this is the start of more countries following suit!

You may well have seen that Tommy’s have published the results of their survey with fascinating and shocking stats including the link between depression and miscarriage.

Our episode starts with a snippet from a previous conversation we had previously with Dr. Ingrid Granne – researcher and associate professor in reproductive medicine at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

We asked Ingrid why miscarriage happens. She tells us that the most common cause of miscarriage is due to chromosomal problems in the early days and weeks following conception. Chromosome issues are heavily correlated with maternal age. If you’re in your 20’s you have a 1:10 chance of miscarriage but by 45yrs it's 1:2 risk of a miscarriage. Other causes are medical conditions such as uncontrolled diabetes and thyroid issues. Being overweight increases your risk but we don’t really understand why. There also seem to be some genetic factors that may predispose some women to miscarriage. There are also implantation factors, possibly related to hormones and immune factors. 

Natalie asks Ingrid about malefactors. She says that paternal age can impact miscarriage risk but not to the same extent as maternal age. She goes on to explain that the DNA of the sperm can also impact. There is more and more information and research coming out with regards to male factors and DNA fragmentation.

Next up we chat to Jessica Zucker – a psychologist who specializes in reproductive and maternal mental health. She is the founder of ‘I had a miscarriage campaign’ and has just released a book too. Welcome to Jessica! 

Jessica focuses on the mental health impact of suffering from a miscarriage. Jessica shares her experience of miscarrying at 16 weeks. A traumatic experience that occurred whilst alone at home and transformed both her professional and personal life. She talks about her ‘failure to allow herself to fall apart. She miscarried on a Thursday and assumed that she would be right back at work on Monday. Jessica says that the failure to allow yourself to fall apart is, in part, survival instinct. Just to keep going. She says she at that time, she couldn’t allow herself to slow down as this would mean being closer to her pain.

Professionally, having her miscarriage, showed Jessica just how much she didn’t understand about the emotions her patients would be going through and that this was incredibly enlightening.

Next, we talk about sex and miscarriage. Sex can be the last thing you want to think about following a miscarriage. How do you regain that intimacy with your partner? Jessica has interviewed people about returning to... 

See

This week it’s both International Women's Day and Endometriosis Awareness Week. To mark the two events, we're in conversation Sophie Richardson, aka theendospectrum who explains her journey to a diganosis of the condition, which took over 5 years from aged 16 to when she went to University. Sophie underwent surgery due to having severe symptoms putting her in bed for a week during her period. She is passionate about awareness raising and along with her blog she is speaking more frequently within the corporate setting to help more people understand this complicated condition which can take up to 7 years for a diganosis.

What we discussed:

• How despite Endometriosis Awareness and campaigns are increasing over the years there are still lots of misconceptions regarding the issue. it still It affects 10% of women 
• Sophie’s symptoms and experiences prior to her diagnosis, that she’d never heard about it, It took over 5 years to diagnose and she was struggling from 16-18
• Sophie’s struggle to open up her symptoms to her peers - she didn’t know what was her being dramatic and until it caused her to pass out that she realised how severe there were 
• Her symptoms were a month long and she had to have surgery for cysts on her Ovaries 
• Why Sophie is passionately talking about endometriosis, especially in the workplace
• How endometriosis affects Sophie in her day-to-day experience - her skin has suffered for over a decade, despite spending a lot of money on skincare and makeup. 
• Impact on her confidence, people looking at her skin and how it makes her feel unprofessional at work, confidence issues when meant more people 
• Swollen belly and how it can impact your wardrobe at work and how virtual working has helped and why it’s important for employers to understand 
• What is Endometriosis
• Misconceptions around Endometriosis and what it is
• How it can be found everywhere in the body
• The Endometriosis Spectrum is so different for everyone and it can change month by month. For Sophie, it’s in her bowl and in her chest.
• How it impacts internal organs 
• How she’s much better now but previously, she was unable to leave the house for over a week, couldn’t eat or drink 
• How employers need to understand how varied it can be and need to treat it with respect 
• What kind of things do employers need to think about period policy
• Why it's important to have external voices talking about these topics, how to think about time off, being adaptable, open stream of communication 
• Key things for women who have endometriosis in the workplace
• Reasons why Sophie decided to freeze her eggs recently

WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT FERTILITY ISSUES FOR YOUR ORGANISATION?

We have a few remaining places for our workshop on March 28th here.

You can also book a call to speak with us here.

Watch our FMAW 30-minute demo on our services to find out exactly how we'd support your organisation with our training and membership

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Meet Janet Murray. Janet is a digital content expert, author, and fellow podcaster. Earlier in the year Janet shared an article about secondary infertility and we wanted to talk to her about this and her experiences of miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy.

Fertility Struggle

Janet struggled with infertility and after routine tests, she was diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis. Treatment ensued and shortly after her diagnosis, Janet fell pregnant. Sadly this pregnancy ended in a miscarriage, and Janet, who is normally a very pragmatic person, felt completely floored. However, she did fall pregnant again but this pregnancy was thwarted by anxiety and at 29 weeks Janet went into early labor. Luckily after time in neonatal intensive care, Janet was able to bring home her daughter Katie. Very soon after, Janet was surprised to find she was pregnant again. Unfortunately, this pregnancy ended in an ectopic pregnancy and Janet was told that she would be unlikely to conceive again.

The loneliness of the first 12 weeks

Janet shares her thoughts on how difficult it is to reach out for support for after an early miscarriage, as it’s almost taboo to talk about your pregnancy until after the 12-week point.

I have an excuse to talk

Secondary infertility is frequently dismissed by society. Over the last 5 years, Janet has run five London Marathons to raise money for The Miscarriage Association and the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust and she feels this has given her an excuse to talk about miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy in a public space.

"At least you have one

Janet felt that friends didn’t understand her desire to have another child and a sibling for her daughter. Because she was career-focused people always assumed that Janet only wanted to have one child out of choice. In her article (above) Janet talks about the agony of not being able to have a sibling for Katie.

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We're back with Series 2 of The F Word at Work from Fertility Matters (FMAW) at Work and we're launching into our new season discussing the changes to the Surrogacy reform bill in conversation Mike Johnson-Ellis.

If you have been following us and FMAW for a while, you know that Mike is our good friend and are working closely with My Surrogacy Journey supporting intended parents with workplace issues. If you don't know Mike he is a prominent advocate for surrogacy and fertility treatments and along with his partner Wes, is the founder of Two Dads UK with his partner Wes and the pair have founded My Surrogacy Journey (MSJ) and the Modern Family Show.

You can hear our previous conversation with Mike where he talks through his personal experience at work, and what it was like as a gay man in a toxic male environment where he was told that becoming a parent was 'committing career suicide'!!

Mike and Wes have immense passion in the work they do and we're proud to partner with them as they raising awareness about the significance of surrogacy for LGBT+ couples. Mike has been recognized as a pioneering figure within the LGBT+ community and honored with The Surrogacy Professional of the Year Award and is in high demand as a speaker for various LGBT-themed events, so we're delighted to have him on the pod again.

What we discussed:

• Mike's work with TwoDadsUK.com and My Surrogacy Journey and the conversations they have around gay parenting and diversity to fertility treatment and the journey to parenthood through surrogacy, all with a focus on LGBTQ+ parenting.
• The Modern Family Show, a family-building event happening on 23.09.23 - tickets are still available
• The recent legislative changes related to surrogacy and their impact on intended parents, what Mike considers to be a win, and what still needs to happen
• What organisations need to consider in terms of raising awareness around surrogacy, such as it being separate from adoption leave, how language needs to be more inclusive
• What not to say to people who are embarking on surrogacy - comments such as 'you're buying a baby' or 'just adopt' are ill-informed and offensive
• The importance of inviting men in to talk about their health, especially their fertility, and how gay men in particular have a lack of education about their fertile health
• How awareness-raising webinars with men is a powerful way to validate the conversation
• Mike's plans for further family building through surrogacy in Mexico City as My Surrogacy Journey are now supporting a pathway in Mexico.

Have a listen to our past conservation with Mike Ellis about Surrogacy here.

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Brought to you by Fertility Matters at Work CIC this conversation hopes to offer you an insight into the many challenges people face when trying to manage the day to do of working life, whilst trying to start or complete their family.

With 1 in 6 couples and 1 in 7 people dealing with fertility issues, the impact of fertility challenges is vast and the people who might be struggling are diverse.

At Fertility Matters at Work we strive to guide the workplace into better supporting people going through this, by ensuring all managers, HR and well-being leads understand the complexity of this issue.

We want to make sure people feel confident having these sensitive conversations with those going through this and that the people affected feel safe enough to disclose what is happening to them. Equally, by raising awareness internally with our range of live discussions and training we aim to achieve a cultural shift where fertility issues are recognised. We help colleagues feel able to support one another and collectively make the workplace a great place to be.

Do you have a question you'd like us to answer in our next episode? If so email us at info@fertilitymattersatwork.com. Please put 'F Word at Work' in the subject header.

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Morven is an independent fertility nurse specialist living in rural Scotland, and also a nurse working in cancer care within the NHS. She joins the podcast to talk about the difficulties faced by women and couples accessing fertility treatments in Scotland and the general lack of provision across the country.  

What we discussed: 

• The difficulties faced by those accessing treatment in rural areas of Scotland and other areas of the UK
• How traveling long distances for fertility treatment can add to the emotional burden experienced when accessing fertility treatments
• Unlike England, Scotland does not have the IVF postcode lottery and therefore all people requiring fertility treatments are entitled to 3 rounds of IVF on the NHS, but with very few private clinics in Scotland, what happens when those 3 rounds fail?
• The importance of being able to advocate for yourself, particularly when your rural location means there is a lack of choice.
• Disparity of fertility and women’s health in Scotland and why this needs to change
• Why men in Scotland are disproportionately impacted with mental health issues and how fertility adds to this burden.

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Follow Morven RN BSc | Independent Fertility Nurse Specialist (@wildraefertility) | Instagram on Instagram

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Mikeysline - mental health support

The Women’s Health Strategy

Earlier in this series, we spoke about the Corporate world of IVF and how clinics around the world were consolidating, and what that meant for you the patient. In this episode, we’re looking at the future of IVF and our first conversation is with Stuart Lavery, a senior consultant gynaecologist, a well-respected member of the global human fertility community, and a founding director of Aria Fertility, our second guest is Professor Nick Macklon, Medical Director of The London Women’s clinic and Medical Advisor at Verso. 

What we discussed: 

• IVF Changed over the last 10 years
• The biggest provider of IVF in the UK is a private equity 
• What we can learn from the US
• Fertility is an illness becoming demedicalised 
• How his clinic Aria - competes with the big chains
• Most of the big groups had the same success rates, same treatments - but mediocre customer experiences
• Using technology to enhance the patient experience. 
• How important it is for a patient to feel confident and comfortable 
• Tech changes that are here now and a huge amount coming tomorrow
• Tech companies who believe tech will trump biology
• Developments in the lab are around automation and minimization 
• IVF at Home - saliva test at home replacing coming into the clinic for blood, e- consenting, and home ultrasound 
• Important not to exacerbate inequalities in access to treatment
• There’s no reason that the NHS can’t be at cutting edge of technology given the patient volume it has coming through. 
• NHS clinics shouldn’t access less, it should be the same standard whether you pay or access the NHS. 
• The decline in ‘Gentle IVF’
• Automated robotic ICSI
• The decline of IUI  - need to make sure the right treatment goes to the right patient
• Professor Nick Macklon explains how the incubator or the Uterine environment hasn’t really been studied until now
• What is device monitoring?
• How research shows how much it fluctuates between women
• How does it impact embryo transfer
• How oxygen levels can change which can affect implantation
• How Secretions can also affect implantation
• What this means for the future of IVF treatment 

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Male Fertility is something we have talked about on The Fertility Podcast a lot in the past and you can hear more of our conversations here

All too often Men are overlooked when having conversations with healthcare and medical professionals about this topic and as you will hear, they often don't want to speak to anyone about what is going on.

This bonus episode being shared to support National Fertility Awareness Day and its focus on male fertility is called 'MAN UP' - an ethnodrama written from empirical research date from interviews with people experiencing complex fertility journeys by Manchester Metropolitan University.

It has been written and produced by www.jennyberry.co.uk 

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In this episode of the Fertility Podcast, I am joined by Mike Johnson-Ellis who is here to talk all about surrogacy. We talked about the ins and outs of surrogacy, his own surrogacy journey and how that led to the launching of TwoDadsUK and Your Surrogacy Journey. Mike and his partner Wez aim to support couples who are starting their own surrogacy journey, and are passionate about paving the way for a better future for surrogacy. 

What we discussed:

• Mike shares his surrogacy journey which resulted in two beautiful children.
• We talked about TwoDadsUk which launched back in 2016 and the success of the company, then the decision to launch a new non profit surrogacy organisation called My Surrogacy Journey in Feburary of 2021. 
• Mike shared why many women choose to become a surrogate - the ultimate altruistic act.
• We talked about the feeling of empowerment and accomplishment that surrogates feel.
• We then discussed what it is like from the other side, for those who make the decision to have a family via surrogacy and the apprehensions of doing so.
• Mike highlighted the importance of building a relationship with the surrogate and their partner if they have one, and developing a friendship with them.
• Mike and I talked about where to start, what the options are for those who are looking into surrogacy, for both heterosexual couples, gay couples and single parents.
• We talked about the recent changes in surrogacy law. However, please note that since the recording of this episode there have been further changes not discussed here.

Mike’s 3 top tips for those considering surrogacy are: 

1. Do your research - don’t rush into surrogacy, do your research on the organisation or the country your doing your journey in.
2. Always get legal advice - just in case.
3. Understanding that like everything, surrogacy has its highs and its lows.

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Find Best Surrogacy Agency in UK for Surrogacy Support in UK and US (mysurrogacyjourney.com)  

Find My Surrogacy Journey - Season 1 | Podcast on Spotify on Spotify

Hope.. and what it means to you

This week’s podcast episode is a little different as it’s Kate and I sharing our thoughts on what we’re doing for the rest of the year. 

We relaunched this podcast in February as we were really keen to try and map out what we thought you would want to know if you were just starting to try for a baby. 

I felt quite strongly that the podcast lacked a bit of structure and wanted to revisit topics. We also knew the by going over this information and signposting you to other episodes we’d already shared, it would be really useful if you were already trying and at different stages as we’ve shared updated info as well as recapping things that might help. 

So now we’ve reached the point in our content where we are about to head through the clinic door and it felt right to stop and reflect. 

Our aim with The Fertility Podcast is to educate, empower and support you at every stage and if we can help you to conceive naturally by sharing the insights of our experts, which may then to you asking more questions to your medical professionals, then we’ve done what we set out to do.. to help. 

Alongside the education, Kate and I are both dedicated to supporting your mental health. 

I feel like my own personal journey with infertility has affected my life much more than I realised or admitted and have done a lot of self-development ( and continue to ) to discover ways to work through certain feeling and understand myself better. 

 We want to create something really special and powerful for you over the coming months and talk about Hope. 

What we hope to do, is to share with you some fascinating ways in which we feel you can find hope alongside you. We'd love to hear your ways to find it and how to hold on to it as we know how much it helps for everyone who listens to this pod, to hear relatable stories. 

So if you would like to share what hope looks like in your life and pay it forward to anyone coming into this TTC space, who needs to find a way to find hope, please do get in touch. 

Just email and use the subject matter: Hope

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In this episode, we are joined by Madeleine Macy, formerly the Marketing Director at Liberty and currently the Chief Executive Officer at SkyDiamond, and Brendan Boucher, Group Treasurer at The Compass Group. Please note the sensitive content within this episode as there is talk of pregnancy loss and failed IVF and you will hear about Madeline and Brendan's alternative routes to parenthood through Surrogacy.

What we discussed:

Madeleine describes her fertility journey, spanning almost a decade and involving various treatments, including alternative medicine, medication, artificial insemination, and in vitro fertilization (IVF).

The difficulties of managing fertility treatments while working, especially in a demanding career. Madeline discusses experiencing multiple miscarriages, including one during her early days at a new job. She shares that she initially chose not to disclose her pregnancy losses at work, fearing it might affect how she was perceived professionally.

The toll fertility struggles took on her mental health, leading to periods of depression and personal challenges and how Madeleine eventually opened up about her experiences at work, receiving support from her boss and HR director.

The importance of creating a supportive work environment for those facing fertility challenges and the impact of colleagues' pregnancies on people's emotional well-being, highlighting the difficulty of seeing others go through pregnancy while dealing with loss

IVF during the pandemic and the advantages of remote work for those undergoing fertility treatments.

Exploring surrogacy as the next step in their journey after facing challenges with IVF.

The grief associated with another miscarriage during the surrogacy process and the emotional toll it takes and the importance of taking time off when needed and the need for workplaces to recognize miscarriage as a form of bereavement.

The male experience of fertility journey, including experiences of loss, challenges, and different stages of treatment.

The impact of changing jobs whilst still going through different stages of treatment including egg donation and IVF cycles, and challenges faced during the process.

How a a chance encounter with a couple on a boat in Thailand led to finding a surrogate.

Emotional impact, resilience, and the importance of support during the fertility journey.

The challenges of balancing fertility treatments with work responsibilities and the need for awareness, education, and support networks within organizations.

Conscious quitting and the changing expectations of employees regarding ethical and supportive workplaces and why organisations need to be inclusive.

Consideration of individual circumstances in workplace policies and the possibility of offering paid leave per fertility cycle.

Thank you to Apricity who are sponsoring this series of The F Word at Work. To find out about more about  how they can support your employees with inclusive fertility care please get in touch with its expert corporate team here. We'd love your support and feedback so please do hit follow and if possible leave a review in the app you are listening to.

Follow FMAW and access our free resources: 

• Make sure you download our guidance here 
• You can book a call to speak with us here.
• Find out more about our services and sign up for our newsletter

Welcome to another episode of The F Word at Work where we're sharing one of our original zoom conversations broadcast in 2022. An enlightening conversation with Mike Johnson-Ellis one half of Two Dads UK with his partner Wes and the pair have founded My Surrogacy Journey (MSJ) and the Modern Family Show. At Fertility Matters at Work we're delighted to be working in partnership with MSJ and you can find out more about what that looks like by having a listen.

What was discussed:

The lack of empathy that Mike expereinced when he talked to his work about his plans.

How they had no understanding of infertility or why he would want to attend appointments with his Surrogate

How Mike had no emotional support, nobody asked him what he needed or what he was going through

His colleagues were far to afraid of saying the wrong thing so they said nothing resulting in Mike not getting any support and feeling the pressure of doing his job as he was distracted by what he was going through. t

How everyone in his work environment couldn't believe he wanted a baby

The Toxic masculinity

Lack of awareness in organisations - 10 years on from when same sex marriages became legal. At that point in time businesses should have started thinking about what that would mean and what people would need and they didn't.

How a basic employment skill is knowing your business and your people and the importance of how we learn by our curiosity - asking people within an organisation what they need support with

Why surrogacy fills people with fear -it's not just for same-sex couples it is for women who can't carry

Explaination of Intended Parents (IP's)

How organisations who proudly say they support LBGT communications - need to ask themselves has the conversation has gone deep enough to find out what they really need

Lack of people talking about policies so we need there to be more conversations

Use staff networks, ideas captures, and forums involving different groups. to raise awareness of this and get the conversation started, you can do it anonymously

The issue with the use of word adoption being used when people are going through surrogacy, you aren't adopting it you are having a biological child

Policies are very heteronormative

Why surrogacy fills people with fear -it's not just for same-sex couples it is for women who can't carry

Thanks once again to our series sponsor Apricity.

Book a call to speak with us here 

Watch our FMAW 30-minute demo on our services to find out exactly how we'd support your organisation with our training and membership  

Find out more about our services here  

Follow us on Insta and hear what our community has to say  

Join us on Linked In  

Find us on Twitter 

Welcome to episode 3 of The F Word at Work from Fertility Matters at Work ( FMAW) which we are sharing with you one week after the three of us, Natalie, Becky and Claire went to Parliament to join our guest Nickie Aiken as she launched the Fertility Workplace Pledge. Nickie is the Conservative MP for the Cities of London and Westminster and along with the pledge, is bringing forward a private members bill for people undergoing fertility treatment.

The episode was recorded in the summer following the first reading of Fertility Treatment (Employment rights ) bill and was a conversation between Nickie, Natalie ( FMAW) and Kate Davies who is our medical advisor at FMAW. Thanks once again to our series sponsor Apricity.

 What was discussed:

• How Nickie learnt of this issue from one of her constituents who was forced out of a job and had to agree on a NDA which left a nasty taste in her mouth and she came to Nickie as she didn’t want anyone else going through it.  
• How it’s the last taboo when it comes to maternal services 
• The misconception is that IVF is needed solely by career women in their 40s who have had their careers and now want a career, but it also affects women in their 20s and 30s.  
• How she hopes to ensure colleagues can support others who might be going through it
• How Nickie was surprised to be talking to a big company who she spoke to about the Bill and they were surprised they didn’t have a policy  
• Whilst there isn’t an employment bill that this can slot into and whilst ideally we shouldn’t need a law, Nickie highlights why we need a law in order for people to be better supported.  
• Following the first reading of the Bill has happened Nicky did a speech in Parliament which you can read here
• Within the Women’s Health Strategy launched earlier in the summer, Nickie made sure IVF and fertility treatment was included and she believes this means the argument about women’s health is a priority has been won.  
• Baroness Anne Jenkins made a speech listing every medical situation a girl goes through.  
• Launch of the Fertility Workplace Pledge  
• What Nickie thinks the impact of the Write to your MP campaign  will be

Write to your MP - here's how

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This week Kate is joined by Clinical Embryologist Victoria Wigley a.k.a @allaboutembryology, to take you on a whirlwind of an episode on, what is quite a confusing topic, Pre-implantation Genetic Testing for Aneuploidy (PGT-A). 

PGT-A was first used for those who had a family history of a condition, such as cystic fibrosis. PGT-A takes a look at the chromosomes that are in the cells of the embryo. Since we all have a set amount, PGT-A makes sure that there are no aneuploidies, or in other words - an abnormal amount of chromosomes.

Victoria talks about why clinics started using PGT-A testing and she goes into detail on what’s involved with this testing and how it is done. 

Kate and Victoria discuss the HFEA grading system, which currently grades PGT-A testing as ‘red’, meaning that ‘there are potential safety concerns and/or, on balance, the findings from moderate/high quality evidence shows that PGT-A testing may reduce treatment effectiveness’. 

Victoria also discusses her concerns that patients are being offered PGT-A when they do not need it. Victoria tells Kate how she believes that all patients should know everything about what they are being offered, including the risks and hidden costs. She goes on to explain how many of her patients struggle to find the confidence to say ‘no’ to their clinics, when being offered treatment that they don’t necessarily think they need. 

Lastly, Victoria and Kate talk about the cost of PGT-A, what you need to consider and managing patients expectations.

We are delighted that this episode is sponsored by a friend of the podcast - @onedaytests. One Day Tests  is your one stop shop for ‘at home’ fertility blood tests and more. 

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You can find Victoria on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok at All about Embryology (@allaboutembryology) • Instagram photos and videos 

And you check out her website Home | All About Embryology | Independent Advice and Support | UK

You can also listen back to a previous episode of the podcast all about the darker side of fertility treatments here - Navigating Private IVF & The Darker Side Of Fertility "Treatments" (thefertilitypodcast.com)

Welcome to the first episode of The F Word at Work for 2023, where all three co-founders Natalie, Becky and Claire have come together to reflect on what was an epic 2022, and to tell you bit about what is in store in 2023 and why becoming fertility friendly should be a key part of your wellbeing strategy with good reason. 

What was discussed

• Going to Parliament for the launch of Nickie Aiken’s Fertility Workplace pledge and to further discuss the work we have done to support the Parliamentary Bill for paid time off for it to become a statutory right for paid time of fertility treatment appointments 
• How our business has grown in it’s first year
• The impact we’ve been having and the many thank you’s we’ve been receiving
• Our nomination for the New Statesman Positive Impact award and meeting Joeli Brearly from Pregnant then Screwed
• Why focusing on this area of well-being will benefit your organisation and the ROI will be that good people want to come and work for you and stay working for you as they are properly supported by you as you can empathise with them due to having a better understanding of the impact of fertility treatment on all people needing it to grow their families. 
• When we’re talking about paid time off and people needing to go to appointments, we’re not asking for days and days meaning an organisation isn’t going to be able to function, we’re talking about flexibility.
• There’s already a cost to business as if people are going to go through it whether they can get paid time off or not. It’s much easier to manage planned time off rather than someone just going off sick.
• Important to understand that with fertility rates declining this issue of people needing help to have a baby isn’t going away
• The ongoing issue of Intended Parents not being included in workplace policies.
• How different generations of workforce need different things
• Our exciting press coverage in ITV News and Red Magazine
• How we’re going to be working with Liberty’s
• The issue for Intended Parents not being included in workplace policies.
• Northern Power Women Awards nomination for Small Organisation category

Are you ready to discuss your plans for 2023, even if you’re not quite ready to start, lets talk about how you can move forward in helping those going through it and uphill your managers, Mental Health first aiders, ensure your HR team fully understand and the right kind of language is being used in policies and guidance. 

Thanks once again to our series sponsor Apricity.

Book a call to speak with us here 

Watch our FMAW 30-minute demo on our services to find out exactly how we'd support your organisation with our training and membership  

Find out more about our services here  

Follow us on Insta and hear what our community has to say  

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In this episode, we are joined by Sabine Hutchison, the dynamic CEO and Co-Founder of Seuss+ and Vice President of the HBA EMEA region. Sabine renowned for her trailblazing spirit in entrepreneurship. With a knack for innovation, Sabine has spearheaded multiple ventures across diverse sectors, showcasing her prowess as a serial entrepreneur and Natalie met her in Basel, after Becky and her had presented our Fertility Matters at Work and here's why, flagship session as part of the inagural HBA Gender Summit. The chat begins with Claire and Natalie from FMAW discussing the importance of cross-industry awareness raising activity, which we facilitate.

What we discussed:

• Significance of cross-industry conversations in the workplace.
• Overview of an upcoming women's health webinar in collaboration with CIPD.
• The need for culture change through continuous conversations across industries.
• The importance of removing taboos around women's health in the workplace.
• Challenges faced by women in leadership roles related to menopause discussions.
• Considerations for discussing taboo topics in gender-specific and male-dominated environments.
• Challenges of maintaining focus on important well-being topics amidst distractions.
• Importance of diverse perspectives and storytelling in addressing workplace challenges.
• Encouraging open conversations to normalize discussions on personal experiences in the workplace.
• Exploring the emotional, psychological, and financial impact of workplace well-being.
• Objectives for encouraging HBA members to prioritize well-being discussions in 2024.
• The significance of taking action and initiating conversations on crucial topics.
• Reflecting on the insightful panel discussions and the importance of actionable steps.
• Acknowledgment of ongoing conversations and the value of addressing challenging topics in the workplace.

Thank you to Apricity who are sponsoring this series of The F Word at Work. To find out about more about  how they can support your employees with inclusive fertility care please get in touch with its expert corporate team here.  We'd love your support and feedback so please do hit follow and if possible leave a review in the app you are listening to.

Follow FMAW and access our free resources: 

• Make sure you download our guidance here 
• You can book a call to speak with us here.
• Find out more about our services and sign up for our newsletter here.
• Follow us on Insta and find out what our community has to say.
• Join us on LinkedIn.
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This episode of The Fertility Podcast I am joined by Gemma. Gemma is going to be sharing her IVF journey with us as she goes through the process and on to the next step of donor conception. From this episode onwards, we are going to be keeping up to date with Gemma, so tune in each episode to hear a little update from Gemma.

In this episode, however, Gemma starts from the beginning. After going through many tests and everything coming back as normal, they decided to take matters into their own hands and started using the cycle and ovulation monitor -  OvuSense. 

As time went by Gemma started NHS funded IVF and sadly had two unsuccessful cycles. At this point Gemma started to look at accessing IVF abroad. Overall, Gemma went through 6 rounds of IVF in a year, unfortunately, all of them unsuccessful and this led Gemma to the prospect of using donor conception to create her family. Gemma shares how, initially, this prospect took a toll on her mental health. 

However, Gemma has now come to terms with her decision, has had all the tests required and is now waiting for a donor match. Keep tuned as we’ll be hearing from Gemma again in the next episode. 

If you are thinking about the next steps in your fertility journey and are perhaps considering donor conception, Gemma has found 2 places that she has found to be really helpful - The Donor Conception Network and Becky Kearn’s Paths to Parenthub.

This episode is sponsored by our friends at  OneDayTests.  One Day Tests  is your one stop shop for ‘at home’ fertility blood tests and more. The lovely people at One Day Tests are offering The Fertility Podcast listeners 10% discount with TFP10.

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Find Paths to Parenthub - Support and Connection for Donor Conception for more information on Donor Conception

Find Donor Conception Network | Supporting families through donor conception (dcnetwork.org) for more information on Donor Conception

This is a timely episode as the HFEA has just announced a change in the law for the storage of our frozen eggs, embryos, and sperms. From 1 July 2022, all patients can store their eggs, sperm, and embryos for their own treatment for up to 55 years, you just must make sure you provide consent every 10 years. Frozen Embryos are a topic that I do find quite triggering to be honest, as we didn’t go on to use ours. We donated them to science which is something I have spoken about on this podcast before.  Frozen embryos cause a lot of anguish to fertility patients when they don’t know if they can handle more treatment or if they can’t afford it, but it feels so unfair not to hold on to this precious material. But then as the popularity of IVF continues to grow and become more aware of it and have more access to it and sadly need it, there ultimately becomes more and more embryos in storage. We speak to embryologist Giles Palmer about this issue 

What was discussed: 

• The anguish having frozen embryos has on people 
• How it feels 
• Reference to paper Giles wrote 
• How each country has its own laws on the storage of embryos 
• The growing inventory of eggs and sperm around the world and every clinic is talking about 
• Storage fee that is attached  -how that is communicated with the patient 
• Compassionate transfer 
• Single embryo transfer, fertility preservation - all leading to a growing inventory
• 300% increase in embryos stored over 5 years 
• If you weren’t pregnant 75% of patients go back for the embryos
• If they were pregnant to live birth 16% go back 
• Giles spoke about how a new Dewer bought every year  - to store the embryos and he had to kn0ck down a wall to store them. The problem for many clinics - problem do they store in-house or off-site at a bio depositary 
• How to deal with issues when storage time is up
• Can’t store samples after consent is up
• Paper said 25% of samples - never be used 
• Embryos are yours to take elsewhere if you want to move them from your clinic 
• Seed Ships 

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HFEA press release