Fertility: Let's Be Honest Calisse Cryer

We're so excited to share with you our latest episode featuring Karen Jeffries of Hilariously Infertile. Karen is a dual language teacher outside of New York City and author of Hilariously Infertile: One Woman's Inappropriate Quest to Help Women Laugh Through Infertility. Listen along as Calisse and Karen discuss Karen's infertility journey and thoughts, including how the process can open up barriers with your partner, the irony of a fertility clinic feeling like a funeral home, and the importance of maintaining a sense of humor during a difficult situation.

Visit hilariouslyinfertile.com and find Karen on social media by searching Hilariously Infertile

Thank you to our sponsor, Cannon Fertility Supplements. Get 10% off your order with code HILARIOUS at cannoncollc.com

We’re back with our first remote interview since lockdown! Calisse joined Dr. Vuk Jovanovic for a coast-to-coast interview to discuss his practice and how they’ve adapted during COVID, why fertility practices and insurance coverage vary between countries, and how frozen embryos are like frozen pizzas—ready to go! 
Dr. Vuk Jovanovic ranks among the top fertility doctors in Los Angeles. He completed his fellowship training in Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility at Columbia University in 2010 and residency training in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Duke University in 2007. During his fellowship in New York, Dr. Jovanovic also attended the Mailman School of Public Health. Dr. Jovanovic completed his medical school in Germany at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz in 2003. He was an exchange student with Harvard University, University of Texas, Baylor College of Medicine, and University of California San Diego. Dr. Jovanovic is double board-certified in Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Endocrinology by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Also, he is double board-certified in Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Endocrinology in Germany. He is a multinational physician that has trained and worked in several countries and has treated patients from all over the world, and is fluent in German, Serbian and Russian.

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Kimberly LaRocque, PhD, is the IVF laboratory director of a large fertility clinic in Colorado. Kimberly got her start in the surprising field of equine reproduction at Colorado State University before shifting to human embryology. Calisse asks Kimberly about the stresses of creating embryos with sometimes sub-optimal eggs or sperm, and Kimberly discusses the importance of putting her best efforts into each process every time. Kimberly details her work in horse embryology (including how to collect semen from a stallion!), and shares her thoughts on an Ohio clinic that lost thousands of embryos due to storage failures. Calisse asks Kimberly about the pressure of creating embryos for royal families, and Kimberly discusses her own fertility journey and explains why she gives a little tap on the incubator after storing the embryos she created.

Paul Wexler, M.D., is hesitant to say when he went to medical school, but he will tell you that he began before the correct number of chromosomes had been discovered in humans. Through his illustrious career, Dr. Wexler has performed tens of thousands of abdominal diagnostic procedures and expanded the application of ultrasound technology in obstetrics. In 1980, he opened the Rose Medical Center Prenatal Diagnosis Program in Denver, CO. In this episode, Calisse and Dr. Wexler discuss DNA storage, "ethnic screening," the use of genetics in cancer detection, and genetic deficiencies or disorders that can be eradicated from one's future lineage by testing embryos. Dr. Wexler explains why CRISPR is exciting for the possibilities it holds, while admitting that many people in the scientific community often get too excited about "what's possible rather than what we should do." You'll also hear from Dr. Wexler's son and CFO of Genassist, Keith Wexler, who joins the conversation to discuss insurance coverage, eases the eugenics fears depicted in films like Gattaca, and explains why it's important to know and document your family's genetic history.

Dr. Wexler is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and a Clinical Professor in the Division of Genetics/The Department of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and The Children's Hospital. Dr. Wexler is also the Medical Director of the first female-owned genetics company, Genassist, founded by Dr. Wexler's wife, Hildegarde. 

In this episode, Kimberly Walker, MSN, WHNP-BC speaks to Calisse about her PCOS journey through 7 failed IUIs, miscarriage, adoption and her faith-based decisions regarding her fertility. Kimberly discusses how people of faith often struggle through moral dilemmas regarding IVF, including discarding abnormal embryos, as well as compassionate transfers, embryo donation, and indefinite freezing. Calisse asks Kimberly about her journey adopting her son, and Kimberly shares details of the process such as meeting the biological mom and extended family, home studies, preparing for a child who does not have a genetic link, and skin to skin contact in the earliest days of a baby's life. Please enjoy our episode with Kimberly (recorded pre-social distancing)!

Amanda Bird, MPAS, PA-C, is a Physician Assistant who is passionate about women's health and giving her patients the best care and reassurance in their journeys. Calisse invited Amanda (pre-social distancing) to discuss newly adopted telemedicine practices, reducing pain during hysteroscopies, azoospermia, crying with patients, the varied circumstances requiring sperm donations, and more. In this episode we find out more about the evolving role a PA plays during patients' cycles and procedures, and why Amanda's empathy and love for her job makes her such a special member of the fertility team.