Big Fat Negative: TTC, fertility, infertility and IVF

Cathy Adams is the travel news features editor for The Times and Sunday Times -- and also a person who has spent years trying to conceive her second child. Now, she's at a crossroads: give up IVF and reconcile herself to having one child, or keep adding to the £40,000 it's already cost her? Secondary infertility has never felt so difficult. Meanwhile, Emma provides an update on her endometriosis story, as Ed Coats, medical director at The Evewell West London, addresses the treatment options for endometriosis patients who are trying to conceive. Is IVF the only answer? You can find out more about the baby loss and miscarriage charity Gabby mentions, Chasing Rainbows, at https://www.chasingrainbowscharity.com/. You can find Hannah Vaughan-Jones' Substack at https://hannahvaughanjones.substack.com/.--Hi, we're Emma and Gabby from BFN, the UK's biggest podcast about infertility and IVF. We're on our eighth series now, but at the beginning we shared our own IVF journeys. If you'd like to hear about them, go back to the first series of the podcast. You'll get to know us better that way, too. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we're talking to Aisha Balesaria, aka Mind Body Revival Coach, about childlessness not by choice. She discusses her chronic endometriosis and adenomyosis, and explains why having a strong idea of why you want a baby in the first place can be a great first step to deciding when to give up IVF treatment. You can find Aisha's book, We Are One in Eight, at Amazon here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/We-Are-One-Eight-infertility/dp/B092H9TMT8No Prof Tim this week! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last time we spoke to the author, adventurer and arts producer Jessica Hepburn was way back in 2019, when we talked about how she swam the English channel. Now she's back, to talk about her climb up Mount Everest - and why she listened to the entire back catalogue of Desert Island Discs while she did it.Meanwhile, Professor Tim is talking sperm cups: do they work?The link to the Guardian piece Emma read is here: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/nov/16/friendship-after-motherhoodSwears throughout. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the second of our duo of episodes on surrogacy, Ariel Taylor, the founder of fertility and surrogacy organisation Carried With Love, talks about being a gestational carrier five times - and how it felt when she lost one of those pregnancies.Meanwhile, Prof T talks beta tests - why do some clinics do them and others don't?Scroll to 53:21 to hear Gabby's absolute banger. And if you want to check out Emma's interview with Jessica Valenti, you can read it here: https://www.thepersistent.com/us-presidential-election-abortion-voter-issues-jessica-valenti-interview/.Swears throughout. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The poet Harry Baker went viral this summer for his poem Trying, a heart-rending description of the anguish of infertility (/ode to German linguistic precision).He joins us today to talk about his creative process and why putting into words what you are going through is so important.Meanwhile Prof (or is it Dr?) Tim talks about antibiotics: can you have them during pregnancy?Find Harry merch (and his books) at www.harrybaker.co. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.