Love and Science Fertility

Erica Bove, MD

At Love and Science, we discuss all things fertility! We empower physicians and other high achieving women to build their families with confidence and self compassion. 

  1. 5d ago

    The Messy Middle: A Therapist’s Journey Through Infertility and Loss with Danielle Ireland

    Danielle Ireland is a licensed therapist, social worker, author, speaker, and host of the podcast Don’t Cut Your Own Bangs. She is also a mother after a long fertility journey that included months of trying, a miscarriage at 12 weeks, ovulation induction, and finally — a pregnancy that began just as the world shut down in March 2020. This episode is for anyone who has carried the grief, the pressure, and the uncertainty of this journey and wondered when it would be their turn. In this episode: The noise that lives in the mind before you even start trying — fear of losing identity, career, and selfWhy “ready” is such a loaded word, and what Danielle wishes she had known about what was actually comingThe microdose of grief that arrives with every period and why nobody prepares you for itWhat it felt like to finally get pregnant and still feel detached, and what that was telling herThe nurses and doctors who met her with grace at every turn, and why she never forgot themThe three to four days of silence after the miscarriage that clarified everything: she absolutely wanted to be a motherChronic busyness as numbing and what changed when she stopped bulldozing past what her body was telling herWhy she asked her husband to witness every single appointment from that point forwardIntimacy after loss: what reconnecting actually felt like, and why it was so loadedPostpartum depression as a mental health professional — and the humbling reality of not recognizing it in herselfWhat it means to let your head, heart, and body all have a seat at the table at the same timeThe thing her husband said in couples therapy that neither of them will forgetDanielle also recorded a solo episode on her own podcast shortly after her miscarriage — raw, honest, and worth every minute. Listen to it here. Find Danielle Ireland: Podcast: Don’t Cut Your Own BangsWebsite: danielleireland.comWith Love and Science, 💜 Dr. Erica Support the show As always, please keep in mind that this is my perspective and nothing in this podcast is medical advice. If you found this conversation valuable, book a consult call with me using this link: https://www.loveandsciencefertility.com/private-fertility-consult Follow us on social media: IG: www.instagram.com/loveandsciencefertility FB: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553692167183 Please don’t let infertility have the final word. We are here to take the burden from you so that you can achieve your goal of building your family with confidence and compassion. I’m rooting for you always. In Gratitude, Dr. Erica Bove

  2. Oct 22

    Wired and Exhausted: Sleep Strategies on the Fertility Journey with Dr. Funke Afolabi-Brown

    Dr. Funke Afolabi-Brown is back. She is a triple board-certified sleep physician, founder of Restful Sleep MD, bestselling author, and coach for high-achieving women who want to prioritize sleep, optimize their health, and live to their fullest potential.  In this follow-up conversation, she and Dr. Erica go deeper into the hormonal roller coaster of fertility treatment, the particular challenges of shift work and call schedules, and what it actually takes to surrender to sleep the same way we surrender to the journey. This episode is for the female physician who is bone tired and still can’t turn off her brain at night. Dr. Funke has joined us before — catch her first conversation on the podcast here. In this episode: What restorative sleep actually means — and why your Oura ring doesn’t get to decideWhy waking up feeling like singing is the goal, and how to observe (not obsess over) what made it happenThe bedtime routine as sacred time: what to do in those 15-20 minutes before you ease into bedWhy the to-do list is not an emergency at 9 p.m. and how to actually give yourself permission to leave the dishes in the sinkHow hormonal shifts across the menstrual cycle affect sleep, and why some women are more sensitive than othersThe fertility treatment hormone roller coaster: sky-high estrogen, the progesterone crash, and what that does to sleepConditioned arousal: when the bed becomes a place the brain associates with wakefulness, and what to do about itWhen to get evaluated: snoring, teeth grinding, drowsy driving, and chronic insomnia that doesn’t respond to lifestyle changesPMOS and sleep apnea — and what Dr. Erica sometimes notices during egg retrievalsCognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBTI): the five pillars, stimulus control, and why thought detective work sounds a lot like what happens at Love & ScienceSurrender and sleep: why the harder you hustle toward sleep, the more it eludes youShift work sleep disorder — yes, it’s a real ICD diagnosis — and practical strategies for physicians who work nightsPre-shift naps, sunglasses on the drive home, and why melatonin is actually indicated for circadian rhythm disruptionThe melatonin dose most people get wrong (hint: lower is better)Supplements with actual data behind them: magnesium glycinate, ferritin, vitamin D, and the ones withoutMelatonin in the ovarian follicles: yes, reallyHow one OBGYN client realized she didn’t actually have to do 24-hour shifts, and what happened when she switched to twelvesFind Dr. Funke Afolabi-Brown: Website: therestfulsleepplace.comInstagram & Facebook: @restfulsleepmdCourse: The Sleep Recovery Method™With Love and Science, 💜 Dr. Erica Support the show As always, please keep in mind that this is my perspective and nothing in this podcast is medical advice. If you found this conversation valuable, book a consult call with me using this link: https://www.loveandsciencefertility.com/private-fertility-consult Follow us on social media: IG: www.instagram.com/loveandsciencefertility FB: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553692167183 Please don’t let infertility have the final word. We are here to take the burden from you so that you can achieve your goal of building your family with confidence and compassion. I’m rooting for you always. In Gratitude, Dr. Erica Bove

  3. Oct 15

    Can't Turn Off The Anxious Brain: Nervous System Practices That Actually Work for Female Physicians with Infertility

    This episode is for the female physician who knows her nervous system is on overdrive, has tried everything, and still hasn't found anything that actually works. Dr. Erica gets specific about what actually moves the needle on nervous system regulation, why it matters for fertility outcomes, and how to build a toolkit that works for your particular brain, body, and life. In this episode: Why Dr. Erica started Love & Science: what she saw in her patients, cycle after cycle, that made her realize the science alone wasn't enoughInner resources vs. outer resources — and why the inner ones are what matter the most on the fertility journeyWhy Dr. Erica will not do an embryo transfer on a dysregulated patient, and what she said to the one who told her it wasn't going to workThe thoughts running under the surface that are keeping the nervous system stuck in hypervigilance, and how to shine a light on themSelf-compassion as a nervous system tool: self-kindness, mindfulness, and common humanity — and The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook by Dr. Kristin Neff as a starting pointWhy yoga might be the prescription you've been dismissingFeeling your feelings as medicine: the journaling practice, the How We Feel app, and why "name it to tame it" is more than a coaching maximSensory restoration: flowers, weighted blankets, eye masks, soft things, and why the Danes were onto somethingThe voice of a loved one as a nervous system regulator, and why we don't get enough hugs as adultsPhysical self-soothing: hand on heart, rocking, tapping (EFT), and other tools from the Mindful Self-Compassion WorkbookThe 30-second physiological reset: three deep breaths, exhale longer than inhale, before the patient room or the fertility clinic doorWhy bubble baths are not going to save us, and what actually willWith Love and Science, 💜 Dr. Erica Support the show As always, please keep in mind that this is my perspective and nothing in this podcast is medical advice. If you found this conversation valuable, book a consult call with me using this link: https://www.loveandsciencefertility.com/private-fertility-consult Follow us on social media: IG: www.instagram.com/loveandsciencefertility FB: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553692167183 Please don’t let infertility have the final word. We are here to take the burden from you so that you can achieve your goal of building your family with confidence and compassion. I’m rooting for you always. In Gratitude, Dr. Erica Bove

  4. Oct 8

    All the Tools, None of the Answers: The Psychiatrist on the Fertility Journey

    This episode is part of the series on why certain specialties make the fertility journey uniquely painful. Today Dr. Erica turns her attention to psychiatrists and the particular sting of having every cognitive tool in the toolkit and still feeling like none of them are working. This episode is for the psychiatrist who is used to helping everyone else regulate and is exhausted by what it feels like when she can't do it for herself. In this episode: The disconnect between knowing all the right tools and still feeling completely dysregulated on the fertility journeyThe "I should be handling this better" trap and why having the tools doesn't mean you're immune to the journeyThe hormonal reality of fertility treatment and why even the most skilled clinicians are not immune to what it does to the body and brainExcuse me over here — "I'm just a human humaning": why embracing our humanity is the first and most important stepTrue self-care vs. what we tell ourselves self-care is, and what actually moves the needle on nervous system regulationWhy yoga might be the thing you've been dismissing that your nervous system actually needsGetting your own mental health support — therapy, coaching, or both, and why psychiatrists are not exempt from needing itNavigating privacy when seeking mental health care inside a system where you also workSelf-compassion as a tool: mindfulness, self-kindness, and common humanity — and one resource Dr. Erica highly recommends: The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook by Kristen Neff Why healing happens best in community, especially with other female physicians who are walking the same roadIf you are a psychiatrist on this journey, Dr. Erica sees you. With Love and Science, 💜 Dr. Erica Support the show As always, please keep in mind that this is my perspective and nothing in this podcast is medical advice. If you found this conversation valuable, book a consult call with me using this link: https://www.loveandsciencefertility.com/private-fertility-consult Follow us on social media: IG: www.instagram.com/loveandsciencefertility FB: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553692167183 Please don’t let infertility have the final word. We are here to take the burden from you so that you can achieve your goal of building your family with confidence and compassion. I’m rooting for you always. In Gratitude, Dr. Erica Bove

  5. Oct 1

    Surrounded by Everyone Else's Children: The Pediatrician on the Fertility Journey

    This episode is part of the series on why certain specialties make the fertility journey uniquely painful. Today Dr. Erica turns her attention to pediatricians — and the particular combination of triggers, professional identity questions, revolving door infections, and financial pressures that make this specialty its own kind of hard. This episode is for the pediatrician who has dedicated her career to children and is waiting, longer than anyone should have to, for one of her own. In this episode: Why being surrounded by children and babies all day is deeply triggering, from the clinic to the newborn serviceThe question that lands like a dagger: "Do you have kids?" and the moral hierarchy patients place on pediatricians who are parents versus those who aren'tWhy being a parent and being a good pediatrician are not the same thing and how to reconnect with that truth on hard daysThe revolving door of infections: how pediatricians get sick at higher rates and what that means for canceled cycles and setbacksThe financial reality: pediatricians are among the lowest-paid physicians, and fertility treatment is expensive, and how to start thinking about that differentlyMantras that help: "my time is coming" and why it works as more than just a feel-good phraseHaving a snappy, authentic answer ready for the kids question so it doesn't derail your whole dayMindful self-compassion as a daily practice: common humanity, self-kindness, and remembering that every family in your clinic has their own hidden strugglesWhy when the mind and body are connected, Dr. Erica sees things she can't fully explain: better egg retrievals, frozen embryos, even improved sperm countsHow to find your A team, arm yourself with knowledge, and stop carrying this aloneMentioned in this Episode: Getting Through the Day: The Emotional Toolkit for Female Physicians with Dr. Shivana Naidoo  Support the show As always, please keep in mind that this is my perspective and nothing in this podcast is medical advice. If you found this conversation valuable, book a consult call with me using this link: https://www.loveandsciencefertility.com/private-fertility-consult Follow us on social media: IG: www.instagram.com/loveandsciencefertility FB: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553692167183 Please don’t let infertility have the final word. We are here to take the burden from you so that you can achieve your goal of building your family with confidence and compassion. I’m rooting for you always. In Gratitude, Dr. Erica Bove

  6. Sep 24

    Part Two: The Emotional Side of Intimacy on the Fertility Journey with Dr. Alexandra Stockwell

    Dr. Alexandra Stockwell is back. In Part One, she and Dr. Erica tackled physical intimacy on the fertility journey. This conversation goes deeper — into the emotional disconnection that quietly builds when two people are navigating one of the hardest experiences of their lives together, but not quite together enough. This episode is for the couple who still loves each other and is struggling to find their way back to each other in the middle of all of this. In this episode: Why major stressors, and the fertility journey especially, bring the foundation of a relationship to the surfaceThe pain of not feeling seen by the one person who is supposed to get it mostWhy men and women are culturally conditioned to feel different emotions and what that means for how couples navigate this togetherUnfelt emotions as energetic cysts: what happens when we lance themA simple exercise for reconnecting with your own emotional landscape, bonus points if TID (three times daily)The most consistently problematic thing in committed relationships: when two people think they're having different conversationsHow to name the kind of fertility conversation you want to have before you have it, and why that one shift changes everythingWhat to do when you're on completely different pages about treatment: another cycle, donor egg, stopping altogetherThe practice of temporarily parking your own position and trying on your partner's perspective, and why it doesn't mean giving up your groundWhy curiosity is the opposite of certainty, and how it opens doors that defensiveness keeps shutZooming out to the shared vision: remembering what brought you here together before the fertility journey took overAppreciating who your partner is, not just what they do, and why that distinction matters more than you'd thinkFind Part One HERE. Find Dr. Alexandra Stockwell: Website: alexandrastockwell.comInstagram: @intimacydoctorBook: Uncompromising IntimacyPodcast: The Intimate Marriage PodcastApp: Intimate Connection Support the show As always, please keep in mind that this is my perspective and nothing in this podcast is medical advice. If you found this conversation valuable, book a consult call with me using this link: https://www.loveandsciencefertility.com/private-fertility-consult Follow us on social media: IG: www.instagram.com/loveandsciencefertility FB: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553692167183 Please don’t let infertility have the final word. We are here to take the burden from you so that you can achieve your goal of building your family with confidence and compassion. I’m rooting for you always. In Gratitude, Dr. Erica Bove

  7. Sep 17

    Why Can't I Stop Ruminating? The Hospital-Based Internist on the Fertility Journey

    This episode is part of the series on why certain specialties make the fertility journey uniquely painful. Today Dr. Erica turns her attention to ICU physicians and hospitalists, and the particular combination of analytical thinking, altered sleep, hospital environments, and rumination loops that makes this specialty uniquely challenging. This episode is for the physician who can solve almost any clinical problem and is struggling with the fact that this one doesn't have a clear algorithm. In this episode: Why the well-oiled analytical brain that excels in critical care can become its own worst enemy on the fertility journeyThe difference between internal medicine's relatively clear algorithms and the data-free zones of REI, and why that gap is so disorientingAnalysis paralysis on the fertility journey: going down the PubMed rabbit hole at midnight and why it makes things worse, not betterThe hospital environment itself — fluorescent lights, altered sleep, limited food options, and a schedule that is hard on the bodyHow altered Circadian rhythms increase cortisol, inflammation, and sympathetic tone, and what that means for fertility outcomesThe hospitalist schedule: clustering appointments during off weeks, arranging call swaps, and what actually helpsWhy having a trusted REI and coach who can distill the science is the antidote to rumination, so you don't have to carry that mental load aloneEmbodiment as a tool, why some of the best thinkers have the hardest time dropping into their bodies, and why that matters for fertilitySmall acts of restoration in a hospital environment: finding a patch of sun, stepping outside, smelling the flowers by the cafeteria gardenFood as medicine: why investing in healthy meals delivered to your door is not indulgent, it's strategicTurning the inner critic into an inner coach, and why self-compassion actually improves performance, not just wellbeingTrusting the process when the algorithm is infinite and how to make an empowered, values-based plan. Than, how to let goWith Love and Science, 💜 Dr. Erica Support the show As always, please keep in mind that this is my perspective and nothing in this podcast is medical advice. If you found this conversation valuable, book a consult call with me using this link: https://www.loveandsciencefertility.com/private-fertility-consult Follow us on social media: IG: www.instagram.com/loveandsciencefertility FB: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553692167183 Please don’t let infertility have the final word. We are here to take the burden from you so that you can achieve your goal of building your family with confidence and compassion. I’m rooting for you always. In Gratitude, Dr. Erica Bove

  8. Sep 10

    The Cost of Becoming a Surgeon: Why 1 in 3 Female Surgeons Faces Infertility

    One in four female physicians has infertility. One in three female surgeons does. And when you control for age, female surgeons still have worse fertility outcomes than their age-matched peers. This episode is part of the series on why certain specialties make the fertility journey uniquely painful, and today Dr. Erica discusses why female surgeons tend to have the worst statistics when it comes to fertility outcomes. This episode is for the female surgeon who has proven she can handle anything and is exhausted by what that costs her body. In this episode: The statistic that makes Dr. Erica want to punch a wall — and what the research actually shows about female surgeons and fertilityWhy age alone doesn't explain the gap: what else is going on physiologicallySleep dysregulation, long OR days, and call schedules that run through the night — and how that keeps the body in a constant state of stressWhy the body may interpret a 16-hour surgical day as a famine and what that means for the reproductive axisThe pattern Dr. Erica sees in surgeons: excessive exercise, often (but not always) low BMI, skipped meals, and a martyr complex that has become normalizedWhat one client learned when she finally scrubbed out at regular intervals and what happened nextTrauma from the job: why female surgeons carry a graveyard within them, and why that trauma has to go somewhereWhy endometriosis may have a deeper connection to unprocessed trauma than we realizeTrying to get pregnant like a man: the masculine energy that serves you in the OR and works against you in the fertility journeyConceiving is receiving — and what it actually takes to shift into a more receptive state without losing yourselfSelf-compassion as a clinical tool: why Dr. Erica will not do an embryo transfer until her patient is emotionally regulatedPractical strategies: negotiating call schedules, protecting the two-week wait, going per diem, and preserving the assetComing home to yourself: what it means to ask your body what it needs and actually listenOne in three is not acceptable. Dr. Erica is here to change it. Support the show As always, please keep in mind that this is my perspective and nothing in this podcast is medical advice. If you found this conversation valuable, book a consult call with me using this link: https://www.loveandsciencefertility.com/private-fertility-consult Follow us on social media: IG: www.instagram.com/loveandsciencefertility FB: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553692167183 Please don’t let infertility have the final word. We are here to take the burden from you so that you can achieve your goal of building your family with confidence and compassion. I’m rooting for you always. In Gratitude, Dr. Erica Bove

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5
out of 5
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About

At Love and Science, we discuss all things fertility! We empower physicians and other high achieving women to build their families with confidence and self compassion. 

Information

  • Creator
    Erica Bove, MD
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    155
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Love and Science Fertility
  • Show Website
    Love and Science Fertility

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