Podcasts about fertility fest

What an amazing discussion. It was such a pleasure to speak with Jessica Hepburn, one of the leading patient voices on fertility, infertility and assisted conception. Jessica has also just been named Woman of the Week in Stylist Magazines Visible Woman Series. A year long celebration of women who are making a difference to society. Jessica joined us live from London and shared her very personal journey through infertility, miscarriage and IVF to becoming an author and founder of the worlds first arts festival dedicated to fertility, infertility, modern families and the science of making babies, Fertility Fest. Fertility Fest is a week-long programme of events, entertainment, discussion, debate, support and solidarity from Tuesday 8th May to Sunday 13th of May at London's Bush Theatre. We also got a hint that Fertility Fest may be coming to Australia! Here's hoping! I hope you enjoy this inspiring discussion.

In this episode of the Conceive Baby Podcast we talk about fertility, as always, but from a different perspective. We discuss a wonderful, collaborative, celebratory event, which is on a mission to change the conversation around fertility and infertility. Fertility Fest. I speak with inspiring founder Jessica Hepburn who shares with us her personal journey, as well as insights into the evolution of Fertility Fest and what you can expect at this year's event. Jessica Hepburn is one of the leading patient voices on fertility, infertility and assisted conception. She is the author of two books The Pursuit of Motherhood (2014) and 21 Miles: Swimming in search of the meaning of motherhood which is launching in a few weeks. In 2016, following her ten year tenure as Executive Director of the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith in London she founded Fertility Fest, the world's first arts festival dedicated to fertility, infertility, modern families and the science of making babies. The third edition of the festival will be held in Barbican, London from 23rd April to 18th May 2018. For more information head to www.fertilityfest.com www.jessicahepburn.com

Justine Bold has worked as an academic in the UK at the University of Worcester since 2008. She is now also Program Director for CPD in the Medical School at Cardiff University. She has written articles on infertility, appeared in the media and coedited a book entitled ‘Integrated approaches to Infertility, IVF and Recurrent Miscarriage' that was published in 2016. She has published widely in academic journals on gluten and celiac disease and also on the integrative management of female reproductive health conditions. She is working towards PhD by publication having also co-authored a book on Mental Health in 2019 and recently contributed chapters to an upcoming text book ‘Gluten related disorders' to be published by Elsevier. Justine had a long personal journey to motherhood starting with a pregnancy loss in her early thirties finally becoming a mum in her forties. She is passionate about raising awareness about the infertility experience and in helping healthcare professionals to understand patients and clients to improve patient care and she is currently working on research projects in this area. She also appeared in the UK at Fertility Fest in 2018 and at the Fertility Show in Manchester in 2019. To learn more: https://www.worcester.ac.uk/about/profiles/justine-bold https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/people/view/1700118-bold-justine     For more information about Michelle, visit www.michelleoravitz.com The Wholesome Fertility facebook group is where you can find free resources and support: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2149554308396504/ Instagram: @thewholesomelotusfertility Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewholesomelotus/

Meet Rod Silvers, our latest guest on 'Talk Fertility' the show I'm co-hosting with Kate Davies for UK Health Radio. We caught up with Rod, Actor, and Writer about the impact of infertility on men, why medical professionals need to include men in the conversations, and the importance of getting men talking. Rod's film and play covering the topic of male fertility are England Expects and Terry and Jude. I've met Rod a couple of times and was struck by his cheeky chappy persona and have been keen to capture his story to share with you for a while. Rod has recently been on Radio 4 interviewing experts in the field of male fertility. Rob struggles to talk about his fertility journey but uses his voice and creativity to encourage other men to get talking. In our, chat Rod talks about how he feels that men are beginning to open up and talk more but states it's important not to make the assumption that all men will talk. Some men feel they can or shouldn't talk. It's not a weakness to talk but a strength. We discussed 'The Arc of Life' something that came out in a conversation Rod had with Dr. Robin Hadley about the differing ways infertility affect men throughout their life. You can hear a previous conversation I had with Robin https://www.thefertilitypodcast.com/ep63-how-men-deal-with-involuntary-childlessness/ (here) and you can search by Robin's name in the podcast section of this website, to find hear more of our conversations.  Rod talked about how he recently spoke to a gay man who talked about how he is finding it really hard to talk about fertility among the gay community. We also discussed how during Rod and his ex-wife's IVF treatment Rod felt that there was no involvement or inclusion for him as a man.  Apart from the first appointment he was never again involved in a conversation during their IVF treatment. This was something we certainly experienced during our treatment and it caused stress between the two of them. Rod talked about how all of his focus was on his wife and he wanted her to be happy and get what she wanted and therefore he didn't focus on himself or even considered talking. We spoke about Andrologists who are the experts in male fertility but men are infrequently referred. Jonathon Ramsey, a renowned urologist promotes the fact that all men should be examined as well as having a semen analysis and you hear a clip with Jonathan at Fertility Fest at the end of this episode.  Points discussed were how focusing more on men could, in some circumstances, avoid the invasive, expensive, and emotionally draining IVF treatment. We asked Rod his advice to his younger fertile self would be – talk. Tell someone how you feel and more importantly talk to your partner and tell them how you feel. It's a strength, not a weakness. Find out more about Rod http://rod-silvers.co.uk (here ) Listen to https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00066zc (‘My name is Rod Silvers' BBC Radio 4 show -) https://www.fertilityfest.com/more-to-life-barbican (Men Speak)  SOCIAL MEDIA: Natalie https://instagram.com/fertilitypoddy (@fertilitypoddy)  Kate Davies https://instagram.com/your_fertility_journey (@your_fertility_journey) Instagram – https://instagram.com/your_fertility_journey (https://instagram.com/your_fertility_journey)

Welcome to another guest-hosted episode. This time I've asked Cat Strawbridge to be my host and talk about her pregnancy after infertility. Cat has been a guest on this podcast before, we spoke about 'Relaxgate' which was a conversation following a conversation on This Morning about infertility, which Cat contributed to. You can listen to the episode here Cat has been doing amazing work on Instagram talking about infertility, sharing a lot of her journey and has hosted many fabulous Insta lives which I've also shared as podcast episodes as recently have started hosting events in person as well. You can follow her Insta @tryingyears here Cat is talking to Anna German who I've known for a couple of years, and she has also been a previous podcast guest talking about her beautifully illustrated book 'So When Are you Going to have Kids' which you can hear us talking about here Anna has spoken at Fertility Fest which where she also met Cat and Anna will be there again this year and you can follow her fab illustrations on her insta My original idea for this episode was for Cat to chat with midwife Katie Eaves who is a midwife dealing with her own infertility and help other midwives understand more about women pregnant after infertility. You can hear my chat with Katie here 11 years of trying to conceive We changed course however and I asked Cat to speak with Anna as I felt, having two women sharing their pregnancy experience after a combined 11 years of trying to conceive was going to be a conversation you needed to hear. Between Cat and Anna, they have been through numerous cycles of IVF and ICSI, pregnancy loss and donor conception. [caption id="attachment_3749" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Anna German[/caption] Within that sentence alone there is already so much to deal with and in this episode, the pair talk through the impact their treatments have had on their emotional wellbeing. Sadly - nobody prepares you for this and it's only on looking for support and hearing others share their experiences that you can find experiences you can relate to. Both ladies talk about how being pregnant is still part of the infertility journey. She explains how rather than hide away once pregnant and feel guilty she feels its good for us to continue to look for support Cat is also navigating her way through the fact that once she was pregnant, she and hubby Bob learnt they were expecting twins. What is unbelievably sad is that at 10 weeks, they learnt that one of their twins had stopped progressing. 'Dealing with a miscarriage inside you as well as the survivor.. totally an unexpected situation to be in' as Cat explains. She also says how rather than hide away and feel guilty she want to say that I think that its good for us to continue to look for support Anna and hubby Vinny found themselves in a bizarre situation at one point when they were on route to the hospital and had realised they'd not spoken about freezing embryos.. the point is they'd been previously so caught up with all the other things during their treatment that had gone wrong that they hadn't allowed themselves to think that far. Both ladies have been through so much, what has happened is that their pregnancies have been overshadowed, tinged with sadness that they have struggled to shake off. Doing Pregnant things Anna spoke about how the strangeness of talking about pregnancy and how where she works, which is in a new place, they don't know anything about her fertility struggles and that is where she feels the most normal. Cat shared a recent experience being at pregnancy yoga and how she could have been anyone, which she found quite emotional saying how she had to keep checking her bump and asking herself whether she belonged there in this 'normal pregnancy situation' I think there's so much to take on from what is discussed here from the emotional toll being pregnant still takes...

Childless not by choice Sadly, 1 in 5 women reach 45, childless and we need to understand more about how it makes that affected feel. With 1 in 3 pregnancies ending in miscarriage and there still not being adequate emotional support readily available for those unwilling to ask for it, more needs to be done to get online communities heard about. Fertility Fest 2018 I met Steph Phillips, founder of World Childless Week at Fertility Fest 2018 where she spoke about her experience of being childless not by choice on a panel called 'The Unborn Child' which you can hear. I was keen to talk more about what Steph has created, especially as in 2017 when she launched World Childless Week, the 100 blog posts she shared over a week in September were read 123,000 times and the hashtag #worldchildlessweek was retweeted over a 1.2million times. Growing Minority 48.5 million couples are childless, that is a lot of people! Steph spoke about being this growing minority and how 'We're still not understood by people and her mission is to change this. Having created four Facebook groups and a constantly growing worldwide community Steph shared some of the ways in which the groups help each other. For example, coping mechanisms such as how to refer to yourself when asked awkward questions, how to deal with holiday seasons, how Men need a voice too, and how the best support is from people who are going through what you are going through as they'll understand it 100% Of the four Facebook groups Steph has created two of them are - the main childless week one and this one. You can also follow Steph on Twitter or on Instagram Excited to think that #IamMe is all that we need to be. No label, not a #mother not a #father not #childless or #childfree just I AM ME https://t.co/H0juyQNxrg — Stephanie Phillips (@ChildlessWeek) July 25, 2018 Infertile Friendly My second guest is Emily Wardman, who has created Infertile Friendly. I also spoke to Emily Wardman who talked about her eight-year struggle with infertility and how she has had to sit in Wards and waiting rooms for hours watching the excited women who were pregnant with their partners. Emily's Goal 'Make our NHS hospital wards and waiting rooms across the UK infertile friendly' There are 3.5m people affected by infertility in the UK. Yet their experience of our hospitals & surgeries only adds to their grief and pain. Women who have suffered miscarriage, hysterectomies, gynae operations, etc are placed in maternity wards/waiting rooms surrounded by pregnant women & babies. CAMPAIGN AIMS: • Separate rooms where women can wait for appointments away from pregnant women, babies, and pregnancy poster campaigns • Separate wards for women miscarrying their babies away from pregnant women, babies and maternity wards • Separate rooms or wards for young women having had hysterectomies away from early pregnancy departments or maternity wards • New legislation that means all NHS departments and GP surgeries provide safe environments for the infertile Please support Emily's campaign and sign the petition here To follow Infertile Friendly on Twitter click here Just heard of a woman in her 30's due for a hysterectomy & my heart broke. Not only for her loss but also for the heartbreak she will have to endure on operation day. When she will end her chance of conceiving in a maternity ward next to pregnant women #infertilitysucks — Infertile Friendly (@IFPetition) August 7, 2018 You can email the campaign on infertilefriendly@gmail.com

The ‘M' Word. More common than you might think. Less talked about than it should be. In this session, miscarriage comes out of the shadows into the spotlight with a whole evening dedicated to what might have been.​ Julia Bueno reads from her new book, The Brink of Being, visual artist ​​Foz Foster is determined to challenge the perception that miscarriage only happens to women and talks about his extensive body of work Labour of Love, writer Lisle Turner and Claire Coache talk about their new Cold.   The panel discussion involved Ruth Bender Atick, National Director of The Miscarriage Association and David Ogutu Medical Director of Herts & Essex Fertility Clinic and was chaired by Kate Brian, Women's Voices Lead at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists To find out more about the session click https://www.fertilityfest.com/miscarriage-barbican (here )

Have you been told you need to consider an egg donor in order to get pregnant?I met Sarah Esdaile at Fertility Fest 2018 when she took part in the Fertility Fight club sharing her story and this is the video we shared via https://www.facebook.com/thefertilitypodcast/videos/2052335051705668/ ( Facebook live )for you to check out. You can hear Sarah at approx 36 minutes. Talking about egg donationSarah and I met in at Sarah's hotel in Manchester (where I live and she had visited for work ) and found quite a lot of comedy in the decor which you will hear us chatting about and Sarah shared her fertility journey, from having failed fertility treatment to being told that she would have to use a donor. Sarah's first attempt was with her sister's egg and she describes the complexities of this decision and then the impact when it didn't work. Sarah also spoke really honestly and frankly about how she had counseling from the first IVF appointment and how integral it was to her being able to deal with the emotional turmoil of what she was going through. Shady Grove FertilitySarah had her treatment with https://www.shadygrovefertility.co.uk/ (Shady Grove Fertility) and now works as a patient liaison, speaking to hundreds of women going through exactly what she did and helping them along the way. I think it's fair to say that when you are trying to navigate your way through something like egg donation or sperm donation you really need to have access to people who really understand what it feels like which is why I was so keen for Sarah to share her story. To follow Sarah on Twitter click https://twitter.com/SARAHESDAILE (here )

The first part of today's episode focuses on my guest Justine's fertility journey which culminated with her pregnancy at age 43 with twins. The second part focuses on Justine's professional work in the area of gluten sensitivity, Celiac, and fertility. Justine Bold has worked as an academic in the UK at the University of Worcester since 2008. She is now also Program Director for CPD in the Medical School at Cardiff University. She has written articles on infertility, appeared in the media and coedited a book entitled ‘Integrated approaches to Infertility, IVF and Recurrent Miscarriage' that was published in 2016. She has published widely in academic journals on gluten and celiac disease and also on the integrative management of female reproductive health conditions. She is working towards PhD by publication having also co-authored a book on Mental Health in 2019 and recently contributed chapters to an upcoming text book ‘Gluten related disorders' to be published by Elsevier. Justine had a long personal journey to motherhood starting with a pregnancy loss in her early thirties finally becoming a mum in her forties. She is passionate about raising awareness about the infertility experience and in helping healthcare professionals to understand patients and clients to improve patient care and she is currently working on research projects in this area. She also appeared in the UK at Fertility Fest in 2018 and at the Fertility Show in Manchester in 2019. To learn more: https://www.worcester.ac.uk/about/profiles/justine-bold https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/people/view/1700118-bold-justine Today's episode is sponsored by the Fertility Awareness Mastery Online Self Study Program! Today's episode is sponsored by the Fertility Awareness Mastery Online Self-Study Course. The most in-depth and comprehensive online fertility awareness self-study program available. Click here to join now! Today's episode is also sponsored by Saturee! Liver is one of the most nutrient dense foods available! Liver is rich in folate, choline, vitamin B12, iron, vitamin A, selenium, zinc, coenzyme Q10 and the list goes on, but unless you grew up eating it, you may have a hard time loving the taste. Saturee A+ liver capsules contain 100% Australian grass fed and finished beef liver with no fillers or preservatives. Click here to purchase today and enter coupon code FERTILITYFRIDAY for a 5% discount off your order! Topics discussed in today's episode: How gluten can impact fertility Justine's personal experience with fertility challenges and how it lead her into to become a nutritional practitioner How our culture addresses fertility Connection between endometriosis and fertility Justine's experience with endometriosis What is celiac disease and what is the difference between the disease and gluten sensitivity Connect with Justine: You can connect with Justine on her Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Resources mentioned: Her latest work (contribution to a book chapter): https://www.elsevier.com/books/gluten-related-disorders/rostami-nejad/978-0-12-821846-4 The paper referenced: Non-coeliac gluten sensitivity and reproductive disorders The Fifth Vital Sign: Master Your Cycles & Optimize Your Fertility (Book) | Lisa Hendrickson-Jack Fertility Awareness Mastery Charting Workbook Fertility Awareness Mastery Online Self-Study Program Related podcasts & blog posts: FFP 324 | Overcoming Fertility Challenges  |  Overcoming Miscarriage, Pregnancy Loss & Stillbirth | Christine McAlister FFP 177 | Wheat Belly | Gluten Sensitivity, IBS, and Inflammation | Dr. William Davis [On-Air Client Session] FFP 131 | Fertility Awareness Reality Series | Managing Hashimoto's Naturally | Going Gluten Free | Kelly & Lisa FFP 051 | The Impact of Sugar Consumption on Fertility and Health | Creating a Healthy Relationship with Food | Angelique Panagos FFP 049 | Improving Fertility Naturally by Optimizing Your Diet, Lifestyle, and Environment | Eleni Roumeliotou Join the community! Find us in the Fertility Friday Facebook Group. Subscribe to the Fertility Friday Podcast in Apple Podcasts! Music Credit: Intro/Outro music Produced by J-Gantic A Special Thank You to Our Show Sponsors: Fertility Friday | Fertility Awareness Programs This episode is sponsored by my Fertility Awareness Programs! Master Fertility Awareness and take a deep dive into your cycles and how they relate to your overall health! Click here to apply now! The Fertility Awareness Charting Workbook This episode is sponsored by my new book the Fertility Awareness Mastery Charting. Click here to buy now.

When Gabby Voutier got pregnant with twins following IVF and a five-year struggle for a baby, she felt "guilty". Her friend, Jessica Hepburn, had struggled to conceive for over a decade. In this episode, we talk to the Fertility Fest co-founders about navigating their friendship, with and without children. We also hear tips from femelanin.org founder Vanessa Haye, on how to support a friend who's on a different fertility journey to you. Join in the conversation on social media by using #AIMYU See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode we were joined by Victoria Firth and Meriel Whale as we continue to explore the unheard voices in our community. We wanted to learn about what it means to be LGBTQI+ and involuntarily childless. Please join Michael and Berenice on this powerful and moving episode with our two amazing guests. Trigger: This episode discusses alternative parenting including adoption and IVF. Victoria is a performer, theatre maker and director, born in Yorkshire in the UK. She makes plays that embrace the physical and playful. ‘How To Be Amazingly Happy' was shown at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2018 and an extract performed at Fertility Fest in 2019, and explores how you find a new ‘once upon a time' after the ‘happy ever after' never turned up. We were delighted to welcome Victoria to The Full Stop podcast! Meriel Whale is a counsellor and much welcomed return guest to the podcast. She works compassionately with people in great distress to help them to move forward with their lives and has a particular empathy with involuntary childless community.   Resources and reading Stonewall Galop Penguin Random House LGBTQIA and Pride reading list Book Riot Helpline details You can find lots of resources in our Toolkit here. UK: Contact the Samaritans on freephone 116 123, they're open 24 hours and are there to listen and Mind. USA: Suicide Prevention Canada: Canada Crisis Australia: Beyond Blue   Covid-19 resources European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (links to worldwide Government resources) The International Association of National Public Health Institutes The World Health Organisation

In this episode I chat to Professor Joyce Harper, Professor of Reproductive Science at the Institute for Women's Health, University College London. She is also Director of Education at the IfWH, Director of the Centre for Human Reproduction, co-founder of the UK Fertility Education Initiative and Founder of the International Fertility Education Initiative.    I met Joyce at the Fertility Fest last year and have been a fan of her work ever since. She has worked in the fields of fertility, genetics, reproductive health and women's health for over 30 years and shares so many interesting facts in this episode.    In this episode we discuss:  - Joyce's personal fertility journey to have her children - Fertility Education and the book Joyce is currently writing about The Fertile Years - The UK Fertility Education Initiative and getting fertility on the UK national curriculum  - The fact that we can no longer accurately use the term 2.4 children due to the change in the current statistics - Egg freezing, the legislation surrounding it and why you might want to consider embryo freezing as an alternative - Why you might not want to wait for the right man to come along after age 35 if you definitely want children - The 9 point fertility education poster being shared worldwide - The importance of understanding our menstrual cycle - Why women in the media getting pregnant in their late 40s and 50s can be quite misleading - The research that has been carried out on solo motherhood and how to share donor conception with donor conceived children   And lot's more!   I don't want the details shared to scare anyone, but feel it is important to get these fertility facts out there. If anyone feels anxious about what they have heard, please feel free to reach out to me.    You can find out more about Joyce and her work on her website.  You can also follow her on Instagram and Twitter   Be sure to subscribe on your favourite podcast player to ensure you don't miss an episode!  

I Absolutely thrilled to chat with Barbara Scott, founder of Reproflexology, a specific fertility reflexology protocol.  We covered so much, I would take a seat, and really absorb this.  We chatted about Male factor issues in fertility and the sadly overlooked impact in todays fertility model.  The podcast relating to the sperm decline can be found here We chatted about the decline in sperm numbers and normal from. Sperm morphology relates to how well the sperm are formed.  In the 1960's this was 80% normal forms, today 4% is considered the norm.  So 96% of sperm are not of healthy form.  So 4% of 30 million is perhaps OK, but 4% of 3 million, 15million,  or even 100 million is not so great. DNA fragmentation is not routinely tested.  DNA fragmentation s a huge huge issue. The video regarding Made in Chelsea Actor, Ollie Locke who underwent the sperm comet test and was surprised at how poor the results are can be found here Andrology is the study of sperm and detailed testing can be undertaken at Sheryl Homers clinic, Andrology Solutions, also  Brian Woodward at X and Y Fertility The examen clinic details regarding the DNA Frgamentaion can be found here Research looked at 239 couples experiencing Unexplained fertility found that 80% had sperm DNA fragmentation, and this is not something tested unless you specifically seek it.  Additional testing, and more specific lifestyle changes are imperitive and should be taken on board.  You can support for this: A reproductive refloxologist can be found here if you want to get in touch with Barbara or attend her clinic in Wales, you can find her here WE mentioned fertilise and Proceed.  There is an issue with availabliliy with Fertilix currently, but If you want to check out the DNA fragmentation risk factors, Fertilix do have a questionnaire you can fill in. We also discussed how men are treated within the Fertility system and mentioned Fertility Fest, you can check it out here Fertility Rewire Website If you would like to work with me, let's arrange a free 20 minute discovery call.   Fertility Rewire Facebook Fertility Rewire Instagram We mentioned fertilise and Proceed.  There is an issue with availabliliy with Fertilix currently, but If you want to check out the DNA fragmentation risk factors, Fertilix do have a questionnaire you can fill in. We also discussed how men are treated within the Fertility system and mentioned Fertility Fest, you can check it out here

I had an amazing time chatting to Sara from the brilliant IVF Babble; a leading online magazine which also runs a charity, Babble Giving. They do incredible work linking up with fertility clinics to organise free rounds of IVF; have an established, thriving online community as well as their IVF Stronger Together campaign (backed by the likes of Fearne Cotton and Holly Willoughby) this powerhouse team are making huge impact in the fertility world. Sara and I chat about everything from what it was like to meet Donald Trump (!), her own fertility journey, guardian angels and more. I also share one of the exercises from my mindset course and read out an email from a listener with a positive tale (not a BFP) which I hope will offer encouragement to you when it feels like nothing is going your way...there just might be something you can do to swing the pendulum back in your favour. If you want to get in touch with this listener, her Instagram is: https://www.instagram.com/tryingtomakeusthree/ We also reference Fertility Fest which you can find more out about here: https://www.fertilityfest.com/ IVF Babble can be found here https://www.ivfbabble.com/

Acclaimed Israeli-born, UK-based choreographer Hofesh Shechter brings his Grand Finale to the Melbourne Festival, we travel to the Brisbane Festival to experience three Australian works that question the ways in which we connect: From Darkness, Bitch on Heat and Communal Table, award-winning English actor Maxine Peake shares the Best Advice she was ever given, and Chicago returns to the Australian stage, bringing glitz, glamour, guile and all that jazz.

Acclaimed Israeli-born, UK-based choreographer Hofesh Shechter brings his Grand Finale to the Melbourne Festival, we travel to the Brisbane Festival to experience three Australian works that question the ways in which we connect: From Darkness, Bitch on Heat and Communal Table, award-winning English actor Maxine Peake shares the Best Advice she was ever given, and Chicago returns to the Australian stage, bringing glitz, glamour, guile and all that jazz.

This Full Stop podcast episode was almost called ‘how many Champions can you fit in a podcast'! We think we've done a cracking job of getting the words of World Childless Week founder Stephanie Phillips and her Champions including our own Michael and Berenice, into this hour-long episode. There's so much to talk about when it comes to World Childless Week. For those who don't know, Stephanie Phillips founded World Childless Week in 2017. It's an online event to raise awareness and support the childless not by choice community. In its initial week in September 2017 #worldchildlessweek was tweeted 1.2 million times (source: Twitter analytics). In 2018 World Childless Week reached 85 countries. Wow! This year World Childless Week will take place from 16-22nd September 2019. Each day explores a different element of being childless: our stories, letters about forgiveness, using art to release emotions, men matter too, how we have empathy, finding our worth in society and how to move forward. Stephanie is supported by the World Childless Week Champions who are all childless not by choice and share the same determination to grow the awareness week. The Champions are based from across the world and represent diverse ethnicities, disabilities, genders and sexual orientation. Sarah Lawrence hosted this episode and asked some amazing questions which inspired Steph, and Champions Jody Day, Robin Hadley, Rod Silvers, Vicky Page, Anne Barratt, Karin Enfield De Vries, Yvonne Maier, Bibi Lynch and Yvonne John to talk about what World Childless Week means to them and the community. We also lingered on the big issues that challenge us and themes to tackle for the future. We all came away from this interview feeling incredibly empowered. It was through community initiatives like World Childless Week and Fertility Fest that we three presenters met. Without these events, voices go unheard. We hope you'll be as moved by the words of the Champions and Steph as we were.

This episode is with Jessica Hepburn, author of ‘The Pursuit of Motherhood’ and ‘21 Miles: Swimming in the Search of the Meaning of Motherhood’. Jessica is the co-founder of Fertility Fest, the world’s first arts festival dedicated to fertility, infertility and the science of making babies. Jessica is also an ‘adventure activist’ and has run the London Marathon, swum the English Channel and will attempt to climb Mount Everest. In this episode we talked about: Enduring 11 rounds of IVF in a decade, including pregnancy losses and a late ectopic pregnancy.  Going through fertility challenges in secret whilst professional success as a theatre director Writing as a therapeutic process The creation and growth of Fertility Fest, www.fertilityfest.com Brene Brown on vulnerability and shame https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability?language=en Sharing and speaking your truth  Showcasing art made by artists who have personal experience of infertility and fertility treatment The reality that the success rates of IVF are not high and it doesn’t work for everyone, everytime Being inclusive in the voices in the infertility/ IVF conversation Fertility is not just about women, men are 50% of the equation Calling for better fertility education in schools Returning to a childhood dream of swimming the English Channel Attempting to become the first woman to complete the ‘Pond to Peak Challenge’ Parallels between endurance challenges and going through IVF The pleasure and joy of food   Jessica’s two books:  The Pursuit of Motherhood: https://amzn.com/1783061871 21 Miles:Swimming in the Search of the Meaning of Motherhood : https://amzn.com/1783528559  You can find out more about Jessica at www.jessicahepburn.com Fertilityfest.com   Let’s connect! Here’s where you can find me: https://instagram.com/avnitouch https://twitter.com/avnitouch https://www.facebook.com/avnitouch

The girls are still on their backup mic this week, so bear with them. Gabby's had a wobble - and so has Emma. Luckily, they're joined by Fertility Fest organiser, channel swimmer and all-round fertility superstar Jessica Hepburn to cheer them up. Meanwhile, Professor Tim Child tackles embryo glue - is it worth it?Pregnancy chat skippers - avoid 13:08 to 21:00. Some swears.Check out Fertility Fest and buy tickets here. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode of the Conceive Baby Podcast we talk about fertility, as always, but from a different perspective. We discuss a wonderful, collaborative, celebratory event, which is on a mission to change the conversation around fertility and infertility. Fertility Fest. I speak with inspiring founder Jessica Hepburn who shares with us her personal journey, as well as insights into the evolution of Fertility Fest and what you can expect at this year's event. Jessica Hepburn is one of the leading patient voices on fertility, infertility and assisted conception. She is the author of two books The Pursuit of Motherhood (2014) and 21 Miles: Swimming in search of the meaning of motherhood which is launching in a few weeks. In 2016, following her ten year tenure as Executive Director of the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith in London she founded Fertility Fest, the world's first arts festival dedicated to fertility, infertility, modern families and the science of making babies. The third edition of the festival will be held in Barbican, London from 23rd April to 18th May 2018. For more information head to www.fertilityfest.com www.jessicahepburn.com

Jessica is an Author, and  Adventure Activist. In her early forties after the eleventh round of unsuccessful IVF, she decided it was time to take on another adventure. It became the start of a journey in pursuit of the answer to the question: ‘Does motherhood make you happy or can you have a fulfilling life without children?’ What she’s learning is that there are many routes to creating a family if you want one but also that life is full of many different adventures. That’s what led her to dedicating the fourth decade of her life to taking on some of the world’s most iconic endurance challenges to raise awareness and money for both adults and children without the families they long for. In 2015, Jessica swam the English Channel in 17 hours, 44 minutes and 30 seconds, raising over £25,000 for adults and children without the families they long for. She said it was like her version of 'giving birth.' Read about it in her new book: 21 Miles: Swimming in search of the meaning of motherhood. In 2017, Jessica ran the London Marathon for Fertility Network UK, raising over £5,000 for the charity. In 2020, Jessica plans on summiting Mount Everest, which when she completed, will make her the first women to have ever completed these two challenges called  “Pond to Peak”. **Please note during this episode we do talk about fertility, IVF and miscarriages. If you are in a sensitive place right now regarding these issues, please make sure you feel strong enough to listen, and have support available. This episode will always be available for you to listen to at a later date.** Show Notes How Jessica would describe herself Coming from an arts family Running a theatre by her early 30s Not being sporty when she was younger Meeting the man she wanted to have a family with Trying to get pregnant A decade long struggle to conceive Her mission to become a mother and how it took over her life Wanting to take back control in her 40s How she got through it while living her life in limbo The shame around fertility problems for both men and women The impact on her marriage Turning 40 and starting to write her first book - The Pursuit of Motherhood 43 - and getting on with the rest of your life Exercise and the role it played during her quest for motherhood. Reaching 43 and deciding to stop IVF Deciding to swim the English Channel! All the reasons why she could not do this challenge Mental toughness and mental resilience What she thinks about while swimming Why the challenge is always going to be harder than the training The 7 & 6 in training (7 hours swimming on Saturday and 6 hour swimming on Sunday) Swimming in the dark  - getting sick while swimming - dealing with jelly fish!! Finishing the channel swim and reaching French soil Adventure Activism and doing challenges! Going back to her bucket list for her next challenge Her 3rd and Final challenge…. climbing Everest in 2020! The Pond to Peak Challenge! Fertility Fest Deciding to climb Mount Kilimanjaro at Christmas How’s she training for Mount Everest & why she knows herself Confidence after a challenge! Dealing with sadness in your life Dealing with people’s sympathy Grief   Social media Website  Twitter @JessicaPursuit Facebook - @thepursuitofmotherhood  Fertility Fest - http://www.fertilityfest.com

I met Jessica through the Fertility Fest; a festival for anyone exploring their fertility journeys. It is a place for both mothers in arms and mothers in their hearts and it is a space Jessica is hoping can be a nurturing environment for all women. We as women are stronger united than divided, and the “haves” and “have-nots” in the fertility community seem unavoidably separated, but they shouldn’t be. We discuss the philosophy behind the Fertility Fest but also Jessica’s endurance challenges, which have ended up being more symbolic of Jessica’s quest for motherhood than she had imagined.       Please e-mail with any comments, or if you have a story to tell yourself at reachhappilyeverafter@gmail.com. You can also find me on Patreon, Instagram, Facebook or Twitter if you search happilyeverafterpodcast. Here is a link to the Brene Brown TED talk about human connection that Jessica referenced in part one: https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability And some more helpful links: www.jessicahepburn.com www.fertilityfest.com

Welcome to today's episode of Unclassified Woman. As we conclude Season 3, it seems fitting to share this conversation with Jody Day, who was the first ever interviewee on Unclassified Woman a few years ago. How do you combat society’s ideology about those who are on the “outside”? It’s not an easy task, but one that a few brave people are called upon to challenge. Today’s show is all about how we approach taboo topics, the dominance of pro-natalistic thinking and current trends in the way families are formed. Don’t miss this eye-opening conversation!   "I found myself in midlife as part of the 'out' group because of something that was not of my choosing." Today, we’re catching up with Jody and finding out what’s been happening in her work in the past few years. Jody is the founder of Gateway Women, the global friendship and support network for childless women and the author of Living the Life Unexpected: 12 Weeks to Your Plan B for a Meaningful and Fulfilling Future Without Children.  Jody’s a thought leader on the topic of women's involuntary childlessness and a founding member and former board member of AWOC, Ageing Without Children. She’s a former Cambridge Business Fellow in Social Innovation, a TEDx speaker, and a psychotherapist-in-training. She’s a very busy lady who takes great pleasure in helping childless women get their groove back and find their tribe via the Gateway Women workshops’ online communities and social meet-ups that happen all around the globe.  What you’ll hear in this episode: The update on the last four years: Jody’s blog, the feedback from her work, and finding her tribe. In the UK, 1 in 5 women reach midlife without having children. The difference in the UK and the US as far as making an impact. How Jody developed and branded her blog so that women can identify with it and not feel alone in their experience. How the topic of childlessness is a combination of taboo, painful subjects like grief and infertility. How millennials view childlessness, both chosen and involuntary. The changing narrative around discussions about our bodies, sexuality, and childbearing. One area that still needs a dramatic shift in openness---menopause. Another taboo topic is abortion and its accompanying shame, guilt, and grief. Something we need to discuss more openly... Why Jody says she talks about her personal abortion experience at every opportunity--simply because it’s a taboo topic. Jody’s studies that are ongoing so she can graduate next Spring. In 2016, the 2nd edition of her book came out, with many interviews with childless women and men. The next stages of the social change that will take place and how legacy will play into the grieving process. Legacy can be a lifetime of moments of connection and empathy What “Plan B” looks like and why it doesn’t always mean something different than what you already have. Jody’s fantasy and what it meant about her value of motherhood and the validation of her mother’s heart. The compassion Jody feels for all disenfranchised groups of people. How her eyes have been opened to those who have been judged for something they couldn’t control. Jody’s Fertility Fight Club talk at Fertility Fest (find it at www.fertilityfest.com). The pro-natal ideology: the belief that you are a more important person because you’ve had children. The message is that if you are a parent, your life has more value. The prediction for Australia that by 2030 there will be more non-traditional family units without children than with children. 25% of the adult population will age without having children, but often this sector of the population are ignored. The huge need for reorganisation in our social systems. The future of Gateway Women as they tackle two main issues: pro-natalism in the workplace and getting stories of childlessness into the mainstream with humour. The difficulty in challenging and changing belief systems: how do we get the rest of the world to understand us and shift their thinking? Resources: www.gateway-women.com Find Jody on Instagram and Twitter: @GatewayWomen If you enjoyed this episode and would like to help more women access these stories, then please subscribe and leave us a review or rating on Itunes. For information about more episodes go to: michellemariemcgrath.com I would love to hear what you found most helpful about this interview. Thank you.

What an amazing discussion. It was such a pleasure to speak with Jessica Hepburn, one of the leading patient voices on fertility, infertility and assisted conception. Jessica has also just been named Woman of the Week in Stylist Magazines Visible Woman Series. A year long celebration of women who are making a difference to society. Jessica joined us live from London and shared her very personal journey through infertility, miscarriage and IVF to becoming an author and founder of the worlds first arts festival dedicated to fertility, infertility, modern families and the science of making babies, Fertility Fest. Fertility Fest is a week-long programme of events, entertainment, discussion, debate, support and solidarity from Tuesday 8th May to Sunday 13th of May at London's Bush Theatre. We also got a hint that Fertility Fest may be coming to Australia! Here's hoping! I hope you enjoy this inspiring discussion.