IVF BFF

In this episode, Catherine chats to the wonderful Alice Rose, founder of Fertility Life Raft. Alice is a coach and mentor and offers a plethora of support for those going through the struggles of infertility. We chatted about her own journey to create her family and the incredible mindset work she discovered along the way which gave her better tools to cope with an incredibly stressful time dealing with infertility. Alice offers various coaching courses, the next one being her brilliant Reclaim six week programme, which is open for enrolment until midnight UK time on 2nd November.You can find Alice on Instagram at @fertilityliferaft, and her next course can be found at fertilityliferaft.com/reclaim. We hope this is a helpful and soothing listen!

We are deep in the two week wait! In this episode, Catherine and her husband Carl talk through their recent transfer and share their feelings from the middle of the dreaded two week wait. We also discuss how recent events impacted Carl, and the perspective of the partner through treatment and miscarriage, especially as a male partner. TW: We discuss pregnancy loss in this episode. See you on the other side!Follow us on Instagram @ivfbffpodEmail us at [email protected] us to be added to our Whatsapp support community.

In this episode, we speak to the wonderful Becky Kearns, who goes by Defining Mum on Instagram. Becky talks about her journey to having her children via donor egg conception, and her work to advocate for those going through or considering donor conception. This is a heartwarming chat about Becky, her family and the route she took, and the incredible advocacy work she continues to do. We hope it will resonate with those in a similar situation and maybe educate others. TW: We briefly mention pregnancy loss as part of Becky's story. We also briefly catch up on Catherine's next round of IVF and how the injections are going. Follow us on Instagram @ivfbffpodEmail us at [email protected]

TW: This episode contains discussion of a positive pregnancy test after a successful frozen embryo transfer. In this episode, Sian and Catherine discuss Catherine's BFP after her recent embryo transfer. We discuss the various feelings involved in early pregnancy after IVF and the future of the podcast (don't worry, it will NOT become a pregnancy pod!)To anyone struggling and still waiting for their good news, we are sending you so much love.Follow us on Instagram @ivfbffpodEmail us at [email protected]

In this episode we speak to Jennifer Edmonds, founder of Element Pilates & Yoga all the way in Australia! Jen shares her own fertility journey, whilst telling us about her background in exercise science, and how yoga was a game changer for her own fertility story, Her free fertility yoga guide can be found here:https://jennifer-edmonds.mykajabi.com/fertilityyogaguideWe also catch up with Catherine's transfer prep and hear how her pre-transfer scan went.

TW: This episode contains discussion of secondary infertility and dealing with trauma.In this episode, Catherine and Sian chat to the brilliant Dr Grace Lee-Brindle, aka. The Not So Fertile Psychologist on Instagram. Grace talks us through her own journey navigating secondary infertility, and also about her work as a clinical psychologist specialising in fertility support.Grace's own practice, Hope In Mind Psychology can be found at glbpsychology.co.uk. On Instagram you can find her as @thenotsofertilepsychologist.Follow us on Instagram: @ivfbffpodEmail us: [email protected]

We are back for a second series! In this episode, Catherine and Sian discuss Catherine's prep for a natural frozen embryo transfer, although it isn't as plain sailing as we'd have hoped. Sian has had a recent trip to the breast clinic (all fine, luckily) - another unwanted side effect of IVF! Follow us on Instagram @ivfbffpodEmail us at [email protected]

TW: This episode contains discussion of a positive pregnancy test. In this episode, Catherine and Sian discuss the outcome of Sian's first round of IVF, which has been successful. We talk about Sian's news and how to delicately and sensitively handle this going forward within the infertility community. We also discuss how news like this can impact a friendship when one person has good news whilst the other is struggling. We give some advice as to how we are handling it, and things that might help listeners cope with friends' pregnancy announcements. It is important for us to say that this remains a TTC and infertility podcast, and we will now not be mentioning Sian's pregnancy as a rule. We will focus on Catherine's continued IVF treatment and the stories of the wider infertility community, and we are dedicated to this remaining a safe and comforting space to those struggling. We will always use trigger warnings when needed too if any discussion of pregnancy needs to be had.

It's been a mammoth week for Catherine and Sian!Catherine has had her embryo transfer, plus found out how many blastocysts she and Carl ended up with from this round, and Sian had her egg collection on her 36th birthday. We discuss what happened in both the transfer and egg collection, and the danger of comparisons when going through IVF, or even just TTC alongside close friends also in the same boat. Follow us on instagram @ivfbffpodEmail us at [email protected]

In this episode, Sian and Catherine have a round up of their weeks, and their treatment plans so far. Catherine is willing her follicles to grow between scans, and Sian had a curveball thrown at her during a scan which threatened to derail treatment. We then chat to Catherine's husband Carl, who takes the time to talk all things male factor infertility, and how he has dealt with his diagnosis of a male factor fertility issue. We also discuss the perspective of a partner supporting with the physical aspect of treatment, and how to support each other when going through it.Follow us on instagram @ivfbffpodEmail us at [email protected]

Happy New Year! In this episode, recorded on New Years Eve 2024, we discuss our progress so far leading up to our IVF treatment and how we are getting ready to start treatment. Sian is gearing up for her first scan and injection in two days, and Catherine still has a week or so to wait. We also discuss New Year and how it can leave us feeling. Get in touch, follow us on Instagram at @ivfbffpod or email us at [email protected].

In this episode, Sian and Catherine have a catch up on their weeks, chat about the reaction to the first ever episode and then discuss all things to do with the first year of trying to conceive.