MAKING BABIES: A FERTILITY PODCAST WITH ANDREA BYRNE Andrea Byrne

Trigger Warning - please read.  Hannah and Lewis Vaughan Jones spent many years living with infertility and all the challenges which come with it.  After six years, they were successful with IVF and they now have a son, Sonny.  I am mindful that not everyone's journeys end in this way and a heads up that the podcast starts talking about the wonder of Sonny.  Hannah & Lewis are friends, fellow newsreaders and also hail from Wales.  We went through treatments at a similar time and over a similar time frame and found ourselves forming a friendship over the experiences when they spoke publicly about the journey they were on.  If you are on a similar journey, or don't know what to say to someone who is, then I hope this podcast could be very relatable and helpful.  Thanks to Hannah and Lewis for being so open and also so patient with me getting this published!

Comedian and TV presenter Geoff Norcott speaks candidly about the stillbirth of his daughter Connie.  An important listen for anyone dealing with any kind of loss, especially men who might be struggling.  **This is an episode to listen to when you are confident you won't be triggered** Geoff decided to open up about losing Connie to try to help himself with his grieving process, but also to try to help other men trying to navigate loss and battling mental health issues.  He speaks to me about him and his wife Emma losing Connie at 34 weeks pregnant, about how grief often remains unspoken and unconfronted for men, and about how his family remember Connie.  Geoff has a refreshing, distinct way of tapping into men's psyche and making the issues around male grief and men's mental health more accessible.  We also discuss the fertility taboo that remains in society and how we could all handle conversations differently.  

Chief Exec of Hockey Wales Ria Burrage-Male and sports/business consultant Fern Burrage-Male chat to me about their rollercoaster of an IVF journey and explain how using a sperm donor works.  A really revealing conversation and something I knew little about, so I hope I have asked all the questions anyone listening might want to know! Ria & Fern speak openly about the challenges of a donor and what it's like now being mums to their gorgeous little boy.  Their journey had many ups and downs - losses and failures - it's incredibly relatable and they have some really good advice for coping with infertility and IVF as well.  

Including whether or not we should all be eating pineapple, this week we bust some nutrition myths with The Positive Birth Company, who you may have seen on Dragon's Den. It's a bit of a departure from my celebrity chats this series.  As a company, they started out pioneering for positive birth experiences - as the name suggests - but they have now ventured into helping people  who are embarking on a journey to try to conceive.  As part of a pack which they have created, specialists help with everything from mental health and nutrition to the effect on our sex lives and relationships.  On the podcast I'm chatting to founder Siobhan Miller and nutritionist Katherine Kimber - a 'non-diet' dietician.

Izzy Judd - author, violinist and wife of Harry Judd of McFly fame - opens up about the anxiety of trying to conceive, the pain of loss, how Harry managed and the methods she has developed to keep her mind healthy.  She has written about their struggles to start a family in 'Dare to Dream' and then since becoming a mum, she has written about mindfulness techniques in 'Mindfulness for Mums'.  So many of the wellbeing tips she has to offer can be applied as help on the trying to conceive journey.  

Former Good Morning Britain weather presenter, now with Channel 5 - Clare Nasir - talks to me about struggling for years with large 'alien' fibroids - one the size of rugby ball'.  Operations consumed her 30s followed by a harrowing IVF journey with her husband BBC DJ Chris Hawkins.  

I found talking to Clare really insightful & inspirational as she - like me - spent a very long time consumed by fertility issues.  She talks to me here candidly about how that affected her and how she coped with presenting daily network breakfast TV on GMB daily alongside IVF - plus she explains how she came very close to losing Sienna.  

Most importantly though,  her and her husband Chris - are just thriving - living life to the full with their daughter.