This is Infertility

A Podcast by Progyny
  • 4.8 (92)
  • HEALTH & FITNESS
  • UPDATED MONTHLY
This is Infertility

This is Infertility is a bi-weekly podcast where we fuse narrative storytelling with experience and science to give you a new perspective on what it’s really like to go through a family building journey. Each episode dives into the emotional, physical, and financial burdens carried by those who experience infertility on their path to parenthood. Be it IVF, IUI, egg freezing, surrogacy, adoption, etc., the path is never the same and it can be long, painful, and lonely. It’s our mission to give those struggling a platform to be heard, a community connection, and an opportunity to raise awareness of the 1 in 8 who, for many reasons, struggle with infertility.

  1. Reimagining LGBTQ+ Family Building: A Midwife’s Perspective

    JUN 2

    Reimagining LGBTQ+ Family Building: A Midwife’s Perspective

    Guest: Marea Goodman, Co-Founder of PregnantTogether  Host: Dan Bulger, Progyny   For LGBTQ+ individuals and couples going through their family building journeys, having a medical support system that truly understand their lived experience can make all the difference.  In this episode, we hear from Marea Goodman, a licensed midwife, parent of three, and co-author of Babymaking for Everybody about the role and importance of a midwife.   Marea explains how midwives operate across a wide range of settings, from hospitals and fertility clinics to birth centers and home births. While midwives often fly under the radar, they play a vital role in family building, especially in spaces where traditional care may feel less inclusive. Marea offers an in-depth look at the role of midwives, including how they complete years of clinical training to become licensed healthcare providers.   Today, Marea’s practice supports at-home births, where they connect with patients on a deeply personal level through shared identity, lived experience, and affirming care.  Over time, Marea noticed just how isolating this journey can be for queer and solo parents. That realization led them to co-create PregnantTogether, a virtual community designed to bring these families together. The platform supports people all over the world, offering both connection and logistical help in one beautiful space.  This episode is a reminder of the power of identity-informed care and how transformative it can be to feel seen and supported.  For more information, visit Progyny’s Podcast page and Progyny’s Education page for more resources. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, @ThisisInfertilityPodcast and use the #ThisisInfertility. Have a question, comment, or want to share your story? Email us at thisisinfertility@progyny.com.

    14 min
  2. Family Building Without Barriers: Maggie’s Reciprocal IVF Journey

    MAY 19

    Family Building Without Barriers: Maggie’s Reciprocal IVF Journey

    Guest: Maggie Garnsey, Progyny Member at Santander  Host: Dan Bulger, Progyny   For LGBTQ+ couples, traditional fertility coverage can leave them behind with little to no access to the actual coverage. Many are forced to undergo unnecessary, emotionally taxing procedures to meet outdated definitions of infertility. For Maggie and her wife, Alli, they thought they would need to pursue IUI, like many of their friends.   However, Maggie discovered that her employer, Santander Bank, offered inclusive fertility benefits through Progyny and that they had something rare: options.  In this episode, Maggie takes us through their family forming journey: from discovering the benefit, to forgoing healthcare through Alli’s role in the military in pursuit of the best family building option. The couple opted for a reciprocal IVF journey, where using a sperm donor, Alli would retrieve eggs, genetically test and freeze embryos, for Maggie to one day soon, take on the role of carrying the pregnancy.   Maggie also shares the importance of their village, showing up in ways that make the journey feel a little lighter, like hosting their friends to help choose a sperm donor and consulting couples they know have been in their shoes. Maggie shares her gratitude for how seamless their journey has been thus far, and when Alli returns from her upcoming deployment, their dreams of family will soon become a reality.  For more information, visit Progyny’s Podcast page and Progyny’s Education page for more resources. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, @ThisisInfertilityPodcast and use the #ThisisInfertility. Have a question, comment, or want to share your story? Email us at thisisinfertility@progyny.com.   https://youtu.be/GyHdAkXq1KoWatch this episode on YouTube:     Music: HA2XAHY5DVIOKQVA

    16 min
  3. From Struggle to Storybook: The Journey Behind Cupcakes Everywhere

    MAY 5

    From Struggle to Storybook: The Journey Behind Cupcakes Everywhere

    Guest: Erin Sarris, Progyny Member  Host: Dan Bulger, Progyny   When Erin Sarris and her husband first visited a fertility clinic, they were hit with unexpected news: severe male factor infertility and an immediate recommendation to pursue IVF. What followed was a long, winding, and often painful journey filled with setbacks, from failed cycles to loss and emotional isolation.     Now a mother of three and author of Cupcakes Everywhere: One Sweet Tale of Overcoming Infertility, Erin shares how infertility reshaped her view and inspired a metaphorical children's book that captures the bittersweet reality of struggling to grow a family. This conversation is raw, vulnerable, and ultimately a reminder that even when the path to parenthood is anything but straightforward    For more information, visit Progyny’s Podcast page and Progyny’s Education page for more resources. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, @ThisisInfertilityPodcast and use the #ThisisInfertility. Have a question, comment, or want to share your story? Email us at thisisinfertility@progyny.com.     Watch this episode on YouTube:  https://youtu.be/VRuXbZ4g460     Music Code: HA2XAHY5DVIOKQVA

    16 min
  4. Building Better Benefits—for Bread Financial and Herself

    APR 21

    Building Better Benefits—for Bread Financial and Herself

    In this episode, we hear a deeply personal and professional journey. As a benefit’s leader, Deanna Allison was on a mission to bring better fertility and family building benefits to her company, Bread Financial. Simultaneously, Deanna had also just set out on her own path to parenthood, realizing she would likely need support to build a family.  Deanna shares how her team's search for better benefits led them to adopt Progyny, a decision driven by lived experience, better outcomes, and the desire to truly meet their associates' needs.   Deanna was able to utilize Progyny, navigating unsuccessful egg retrievals, and ultimately choosing to use donor eggs to have her beautiful baby girl. Through it all, Deanna's personal experience and professional purpose were aligned — knowing she had done right by Bread Financial Associates through the lens of her own experience.  Tune in to explore what it means to build inclusive benefits and how validating it can be when those benefits end up supporting you, too.  Guests: Deanna Allison, Director, Benefits, Well-Being, and Financial Programs, Bread Financial  Host: Dan Bulger, Progyny  For more information, visit Progyny’s Podcast page and Progyny’s Education page for more resources. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, @ThisisInfertilityPodcast and use the #ThisisInfertility. Have a question, comment, or want to share your story? Email us at thisisinfertility@progyny.com.

    14 min
  5. Love & Surrogacy: A Broken Brown Egg AHA Grant Winner's Story

    APR 7

    Love & Surrogacy: A Broken Brown Egg AHA Grant Winner's Story

    When Kristina and Lorenzo set out to build their family, they knew their path wouldn’t be traditional. Kristina’s complex medical history including epilepsy, endometriosis, and thalassemia made pregnancy unsafe, but that didn’t stop them from pursuing their dream of having a child.   In this episode, they share their deeply personal journey of sacrifice in pursuit of a surrogate—highlighting the emotional highs and lows along the way, from downsizing their apartment to postponing their wedding. They open up about the importance of trust in the surrogacy process and the unwavering love and support they’ve found in each other; Kristina and Lorenzo remind us there is more than one way to build a family.  Thanks to the AHA Grant from The Broken Brown Egg and Progyny, they are one step closer to making their dream a reality. They offer heartfelt advice for others navigating the complexities of infertility, emphasizing the power of advocacy, community, and perseverance.   Applications for the latest cycle of AHA Grants can be found at www.thebrokenbrownegg.org, starting April 8th!  Guests: Kristina King and Lorenzo Bellard, AHA Grant Recipients   Host: Dan Bulger, Progyny  For more information, visit Progyny’s Podcast page and Progyny’s Education page for more resources. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, @ThisisInfertilityPodcast and use the #ThisisInfertility. Have a question, comment, or want to share your story? Email us at thisisinfertility@progyny.com.

    15 min
  6. Healing Through Song: Nelly Joy’s Journey Through Endometriosis, IVF, and Grief

    MAR 24

    Healing Through Song: Nelly Joy’s Journey Through Endometriosis, IVF, and Grief

    Infertility is a deeply personal and often isolating experience, but for singer-songwriter Nelly Joy, music became both an outlet and a source of connection. In this episode, Nelly shares her raw and emotional journey with endometriosis and the struggles she faced while trying to conceive, which pushed her limits physically and emotionally. From touring with country music legends to navigating the complexities of infertility, Nelly’s story is one of physical resilience, partner support, and using art to heal. Listen to her song Baby Showers to discover how Nelly Joy is turning her experiences into then reminder that we are not alone. Guest: Nelly Joy, Musician Host: Dan Bulger, Progyny For more information, visit Progyny’s Podcast page and Progyny’s Education page for more resources. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, @ThisisInfertilityPodcast and use the #ThisisInfertility. Have a question, comment, or want to share your story? Email us at thisisinfertility@progyny.com. You can find this episode at youtube.com/progyny Music:

    1h 11m
  7. Secondary Infertility, Surrogacy, Surprise!

    MAR 10

    Secondary Infertility, Surrogacy, Surprise!

    For Alex Kornswiet, the path to parenthood started with unexpected ease, having her first son after one round of IVF, following a blocked fallopian tube diagnosis. Trying to have their second child wasn’t as smooth sailing. Alex and her husband experienced secondary infertility and a frustrating path including canceled cycles, recurrent pregnancy loss, and emotional isolation.  As challenges continued to mount and her doctor recommended the couple pursue surrogacy. Amid the challenges of the pandemic, Alex and her husband welcomed their second son with the help of a selfless surrogate that they could not be more thankful for.   And just when they thought their long path to parenthood had finally come to a close... they encountered one more beautiful yet unexpected surprise! Listen to the episode and see more about Alex’s story on her viral Instagram.  Guest: Alex Kornswiet, Progyny Member and Infertility Advocate  Host: Dan Bulger, Progyny   For more information, visit Progyny’s Podcast page and Progyny’s Education page for more resources. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, @ThisisInfertilityPodcast and use the #ThisisInfertility. Have a question, comment, or want to share your story? Email us at thisisinfertility@progyny.com.     Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/47ZVW2abFb0

    22 min
  8. AMH, IVF, OMG: How an At-Home Fertility Test Fast-Tracked Erin’s Path to Motherhood

    FEB 24

    AMH, IVF, OMG: How an At-Home Fertility Test Fast-Tracked Erin’s Path to Motherhood

    Newly engaged and nearing her thirties, today’s guest knew she wanted children in the future, so she opted for an at-home fertility test. The results shocked her, revealing something that changed everything - her biological clock was ticking faster than she had expected. What started as curiosity quickly became a call to action.  In this episode, Erin Antoniak takes us along her journey of preserving her fertility as a back-up plan, which then evolved into a complex path to parenthood.   She explains how Progyny’s family building coverage through her husband’s employer, Salesforce, gave her the freedom to pursue treatment without financial barriers. She also shares how documenting the journey, from the hardest days to the happiest moments, connected her with a growing Instagram audience and impacted her community.    Watch Erin’s story through her own eyes on Instagram.  Guest: Erin Antoniak, Salesforce Progyny Member  Host: Dan Bulger, Progyny   For more information, visit Progyny’s Podcast page and Progyny’s Education page for more resources. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, @ThisisInfertilityPodcast and use the #ThisisInfertility. Have a question, comment, or want to share your story? Email us at thisisinfertility@progyny.com.

    20 min
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4.8
out of 5
92 Ratings

About

This is Infertility is a bi-weekly podcast where we fuse narrative storytelling with experience and science to give you a new perspective on what it’s really like to go through a family building journey. Each episode dives into the emotional, physical, and financial burdens carried by those who experience infertility on their path to parenthood. Be it IVF, IUI, egg freezing, surrogacy, adoption, etc., the path is never the same and it can be long, painful, and lonely. It’s our mission to give those struggling a platform to be heard, a community connection, and an opportunity to raise awareness of the 1 in 8 who, for many reasons, struggle with infertility.

Information

  • Creator
    A Podcast by Progyny
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2025
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    This is Infertility

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