Podcasts about Fertility preservation

Fertility & Sterility on Air brings you a panel discussion from Best of ASRM and ESHRE 2025. Join our host, Dr. Eve Feinberg and the following panelists:  Aleks Rajkovic - 01:04 Henriette Nielsen - 10:09 Thomas Ebner/Sangita Jindal - 20:20 Angela Lawson - 29:24 Antonio Capalbo/Catherine Racowsky - 46:24 Herman Tournaye - 01:02:00

Podcast Alert!

In this episode of the Onc Now Podcast, host Jonathan Sackier is joined by Janice Walshe, Consultant Medical Oncologist at St Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland. They explore the economic realities of cancer diagnostics, fertility preservation in patients with breast cancer, and the impact of international collaboration on the future of clinical trials.  Timestamps:    00:00 – Introduction  03:25 – Economic disparities and oncology care in Ireland  07:20 – Neoadjuvant therapy for HER2-positive breast cancer  10:13 – Spotlight on invasive lobular carcinoma  12:36 – Fertility preservation in breast cancer  15:20 – Menopause after cancer  19:09 – The latest clinical trials in Ireland  21:50 – International trials and research projects  23:50 – Walshe's three wishes for healthcare 

Show Notes: Alison Wakoff Loren went to St Louis to medical school at Washington University. She specialized in internal medicine and later completed a subspecialty fellowship in hematology oncology at the University of Pennsylvania. She met her husband in medical school and they have three children all in their early twenties. Alison  is now the chief of the Division of Hematology Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania, specializing in bone marrow transplantation, a curative therapy for blood cancer. Taking Care of Patients Alison finds the best part of her job to be taking care of patients, especially those who have just been diagnosed with leukemia. She gets to know people when they are in a vulnerable place and understand their lives, which is a privilege. She also does a lot of administrative work, mentoring trainees and faculty, helping them understand their passions and connecting them with opportunities. Alison is proud of her mentoring success stories. She encourages everyone to show gratitude and warmth, as the world is not always generous, and it is important to show that we can make a difference for each other by showing warmth and gratitude. She also shares a story of mentoring a talented MD and PhD candidate who was unhappy in her research role.  Helping Patients with Leukemia Alison discusses the fear and uncertainty people face when discovering they have leukemia. She shares her experiences in delivering sad news to a patient who had been a high school history teacher and had leukemia come back. She mentions that people have incredibly generous spirits and sometimes don't behave their best when they're scared. She also shares examples of people making decisions that matter to their loved ones, such as stopping treatment or continuing treatment when they don't want to. Alison also discusses the range of responses people have when they have to deliver sad news. She explains that most people know they're in for an uphill climb, and it's rare to be surprised. Alison specializes in bone marrow transplants, which are intensive but curative intent therapies, and she emphasizes the importance of laying groundwork ahead of time to make difficult conversations less shocking and offering hope while grounding the conversation. She also stresses the importance of being honest and respectful in her interactions with patients. Fertility Preservation in  Cancer Treatment The conversation turns to Alison's research and the importance of fertility preservation in cancer treatment, which can harm reproductive capacity and lead to infertility. Oncology teams often don't discuss this topic, partly because they are focused on cancer and not reproductive endocrinologists. However, there is a focus on making sure all patients are counseled about the reproductive impact of their treatments and reproductive options to engage in fertility preservation before starting cancer treatments. Alison explains what is recommended for women. She mentions that it is important to discuss these options before starting cancer treatment, as it reduces distress and decision regret for people after treatment. Alison is fortunate to be able to speak and advocate for fertility preservation for people with blood cancers, which represents a special population in oncology care. She has been fortunate to co-chair an effort to develop guidelines for fertility preservation from a large cancer organization. She explains that  colleagues in reproductive science are doing amazing research to extend options for reproductive care before and after cancer treatment, which is exciting to inform oncology clinicians and advocate for insurance coverage for these treatments. Family Life, Running, and Circadian Rhythms Alison shares her experiences with her children, including a daughter who works at the Amherst College Library, an older son considering medical school, and a younger son at Bates College in Maine. Her daughter has inspired her to think about women in the workplace, as she was criticized for not valuing women in her division and for hiring women because they are cheaper. Alison also shares her experience with running, which she enjoys but has to get up early to get in before work. She talks about the concept of morning and night people, stating that people have their own internal clocks. She also mentions that research into the biology of the circadian clock is still in its early stages.  Influential Harvard Courses and Professors Alison shares her experiences at Harvard, including taking courses with Stephen Jay Gould and Dick Lewontin, who were incredibly intelligent and insightful. She also took Act 10 as a senior, which was an unexpected experience that helped her learn different ways of thinking about the subject. Alison  volunteered at the Mission Hill after-school program, which allowed her to get to know the kids and families there. She tried out for various extracurriculars, such as singing and photography, but found it intimidating. She also mentions the training program for photographers. Timestamps: 01:51: Alison Wakoff Loren's Medical Journey  04:12: Motivations and Rewards in Patient Care  22:20: Mentoring Success Stories  22:36: Challenges and Insights in Patient Care  24:17: Balancing Professional and Personal Life  24:32: Research and Advocacy in Fertility Preservation  28:54: Influences and Reflections on Harvard Education  37:25: Extracurricular Activities and Personal Growth  Links: Penn Medicine Website: https://www.pennmedicine.org/providers/profile/alison-loren American Society of Clinical Oncology: https://www.asco.org/ Leukemia and Lymphoma Society: https://www.lls.org/ Featured Non-profit: The featured non-profit of this episode of The 92 Report is recommended by Ming Chen who reports: “ One nonprofit that I've been involved in is the Keswick Foundation, which funds pilot programs in Hong Kong and mainland China to help the community serve needs that are not being met by the government. So we work with family and vulnerable populations. We work with the elderly, and we work with things like helping promote social work in China, as well as clinical psychologists in different NGOs around the region. The other nonprofit that I am on the Advisory Council of is the Asian American foundation, TAF for short, T, A, A, F, F. The Asian American foundation, basically, is a platform that gets together different organizations around anti hate, changing the narrative education, helping to advocate for Asian American history taught in public schools, as well as narrative change representation in Hollywood and beyond. And again, it was founded around the 2020, around the growing disturbing rhetoric against Asians with the rise of COVID So yeah, those are two nonprofit organizations that I'm involved with. So again, one nonprofit that's been on the board for for many, many years is called the Keswick Foundation, and it funds pilot programs in Hong Kong as well as Mainland China. And then the Asian American foundation. If you want to learn more about the Asian American foundation, it's www dot T, A, A, f.org, check it out.” To learn more about their work, visit:  The Asian American Foundation: https://www.taaf.org/ The Keswick Foundation: https://www.keswickfoundation.org.hk/    

Are you wondering whether freezing eggs or embryos is the better choice for fertility preservation? How has freezing technology changed and advanced? What are the ethical, financial, and emotional factors behind this important decision? In this episode of Brave and Curious, host Dr. Lora Shahine takes a deep dive into the complex and personal decision of egg vs. embryo freezing. With a thoughtful look at the evolution of fertility preservation, she compares past practices with today's cutting-edge technologies, helping listeners understand how far the field has come and what options are now available. You'll gain a better understanding of the pros and cons of freezing eggs versus embryos, including important medical, ethical, and legal factors. Dr. Shahine also explores possible future challenges—like legal disputes over embryo use—and breaks down the financial costs and access issues involved. You may be surprised by some of the tips and will finish the episode better informed about your choices. In this episode you'll hear: [0:16] Eggs vs. Embryos [1:11] Advancements in freezing technology [4:33] Egg freezing: pros & cons [9:08] Embryo freezing: pros & cons [11:19] Final thoughts   Dr. Shahine's Weekly Newsletter on Fertility News and Recommendations Follow @drlorashahine Instagram | YouTube | Tiktok | Her Books

There is a California law requiring most health insurers to cover fertility preservation before medical treatments that can cause infertility. Unfortunately learning about coverage is not a guarantee. SB 600

In this episode,Abby Eblen MD from Nashville Fertility Center, Susan Hudson MD from Texas Fertility Center, and Carrie Bedient MD from the Fertility Center of Las Vegas talk with Lauren Roth, MD who is the Medical Director of the Shady Grove Rockville Fertility Center. During the podcast we discuss the benefits of egg freezing. We explore who might consider freezing their eggs, the ovarian stimulation process, and how frozen eggs can be used in the future. Our conversation covers ovarian reserve, the advantages of freezing eggs at a younger age versus after 35, and the monitoring process before egg retrieval, including AMH, antral follicle count, FSH, and estrogen levels. We also walk through what happens when a woman returns to use her frozen eggs to create embryos for conception. Tune in for an informative discussion on this important fertility option!This episode was brought to you from ReceptivaDx and Shady Grove Fertility.

Dr. Irene Su and Dr. Alison Loren present the latest evidence-based recommendations on fertility preservation for people with cancer. They discuss established, emerging, and investigational methods of fertility preservation for adults and children, and the role of clinicians including discussing the risk of infertility with all patients. Dr. Su and Dr. Loren also touch on other important aspects of fertility preservation, including the logistics of referral to reproductive specialists, navigating health insurance, and costs. They also discuss ongoing research and future areas to explore, including risk stratification, implementing screening, referral, and navigation processes in lower resource settings, fertility measurements, and health care policy impacts. Read the full guideline update, “Fertility Preservation in People with Cancer: ASCO Guideline Update” at www.asco.org/survivorship-guidelines." TRANSCRIPT This guideline, clinical tools, and resources are available at http://www.asco.org/survivorship-guidelines. Read the full text of the guideline and review authors' disclosures of potential conflicts of interest in the Journal of Clinical Oncology,  https://ascopubs.org/doi/10.1200/JCO-24-02782   In this guideline, the terms "male" and "female" were defined based on biological sex, specifically focusing on reproductive anatomy at birth. "Male" refers to individuals born with testes, while "female" refers to those born with ovaries. The guideline, and this podcast episode, we will refer to individuals as "males" or "females" based on this definition. Brittany Harvey Hello and welcome to the ASCO Guidelines podcast, one of ASCO's podcasts delivering timely information to keep you up to date on the latest changes, challenges, and advances in oncology. You can find all the shows, including this one at asco.org/podcasts. My name is Brittany Harvey and today I'm interviewing Dr. Irene Su from the University of California, San Diego, and Dr. Alison Loren from the University of Pennsylvania, co-chairs on “Fertility Preservation in People With Cancer: ASCO Guideline Update.” Thank you for being here today, Dr. Su and Dr. Loren. Dr. Irene Su: Thanks for having us. Dr. Alison Loren: Thanks for having us. Brittany Harvey: Then before we discuss this guideline, I'd like to note that ASCO takes great care in the development of its guidelines and ensuring that the ASCO Conflict of Interest Policy is followed for each guideline. The disclosures of potential conflicts of interest for the guideline panel, including Dr. Su and Dr. Loren, who have joined us here today, are available online with the publication of the guideline in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, which is linked in the show notes. So then, to jump into the content here, Dr. Loren, this is an update of a previous ASCO guideline. So what prompted this update to the 2018 guideline on fertility preservation? And what is the scope of this particular update? Dr. Alison Loren: Yeah, thanks, Brittany. So, yeah, a couple of things, actually. I would say the biggest motivation was the recognition that the field was really moving forward in several different directions. And we felt that the previous guidelines really hadn't adequately covered the need for ongoing reproductive health care in survivorship, including the fact that fertility preservation methods can be engaged in even after treatment is finished. And then also recognizing that there is increasing data supporting various novel forms of fertility preservation in both male and female patients. And we wanted to be able to educate the community about the wide array of options that are available to people with cancer, because it really has changed quite a bit even in the last six years. And then lastly, as I'm sure this audience, and you definitely know, ASCO tries to update the guidelines periodically to make sure that they're current. So it sort of is due anyhow, but I would say motivated largely by those changes in the field. Brittany Harvey: Great. I appreciate that background information. So then I'd like to dive a little bit more into those updates that you discussed. So, Dr. Su, I'd like to review the key recommendations across the main topics of this guideline. So starting with what are the recommendations regarding discussing the risk of infertility with patients undergoing cancer treatment? Dr. Irene Su: Thanks, Brittany. So for every child, adolescent, and adult of reproductive age who's been diagnosed with cancer, the recommendation remains that healthcare clinicians should discuss this possibility of infertility as early as possible before treatment starts, because that allows us, as reproductive endocrinologists and fertility specialists, to preserve the full range of options for fertility preservation for these young people. Where it's possible, I think risk stratification should be a part of the clinical infertility risk counseling and then the decision making. And then for patients and families who have an expressed interest in fertility preservation, and for those who are uncertain, the recommendation is to refer these individuals to reproductive specialists. And it turns out this is because fertility preservation treatments are medically effective for improving post-treatment fertility and counseling can ultimately reduce stress and improve quality of life, even for those who don't undergo fertility preservation. And as Dr. Loren said, a change in the guideline is specifically about continuing these discussions post-treatment yearly or when cancer treatments change because that changes their infertility risk or when pregnancy is being considered. Brittany Harvey: Absolutely. Discussing that risk of infertility at the beginning, before any treatment is initiated, and when treatment changes, is key. So then talking about the options for patients, Dr. Loren, what are the recommended fertility preservation options for males? Dr. Alison Loren: There has been a little bit of an evolution in options for male patients. The standard of care option which is always recommended is cryopreservation of sperm, or otherwise known as sperm banking. And this is something that should be offered ideally prior to initiating cancer directed therapy. The guideline does reflect the fact that we're starting to understand in a little bit more depth the impact of cancer-directed treatments on the health and quantity of sperm. And so trying to understand when, if ever, it's appropriate to collect sperm after initiation of treatment, but before completion of treatment remains an area of active research. But the current understanding of the data and the evidence is that sperm banking should be offered prior to initiating cancer-directed therapy. And all healthcare clinicians should feel empowered to discuss this option with all pubertal and post-pubertal male patients prior to receiving their treatment. We do offer a little bit more information about the ideal circumstances around sperm banking, including a minimum of three ejaculates of sufficient quality, if possible, but that any collections are better than no collections. We also talk about the fact that there is a relatively new procedure known as testicular sperm extraction, which can be offered to pubertal and post-pubertal males who can't produce a semen sample before cancer treatment begins. There remains no evidence for hormonal protection of testicular function - that has been a long-standing statement of fact and that remains the case. And then we also begin to address some of the potential risk of genetic damage in sperm that are collected soon after initiation of cancer-directed therapy. We are starting to understand that there is a degradation in the number and DNA integrity of sperm that can occur even after a single treatment. And so, really highlighting the fact that collecting samples, again, to Dr. Su's point, as early as possible and as many as possible to try to optimize biological parenthood after treatment. Brittany Harvey: Yes. Thank you for reviewing those options and what is both recommended and not recommended in this scenario. So then, following those recommendations, Dr. Su, what are the recommended fertility preservation options for female patients? Dr. Irene Su: There are a number of established and effective methods for fertility preservation for people with ovaries, and this includes freezing embryos, freezing oocytes, freezing ovarian tissue. For some patients, it may be appropriate to do ovarian transposition, which is to surgically move ovaries out of the field of radiation in a conservative gynecologic surgery, for example, preserving ovaries or preserving the uterus in people with gynecologic cancers. We do recommend that the choice between embryo and oocyte cryopreservation should be guided by patient preference and clinical considerations, their individual circumstances, including future flexibility, the success rates of embryo versus egg freezing that we detail more in the guideline, and legal considerations. And what is new in this guideline, as Dr. Loren alluded to earlier, is consideration of post-treatment fertility preservation for oocyte and embryo freezing. And this is going to be because, for some females, there's going to be a shortened but residual window of ovarian function that may not match when they are in their life ready to complete their families. And so for those individuals, there may be an indication to consider post-treatment fertility preservation. We clarify that gonadotropin releasing hormone agonists, GNRH agonists, while they shouldn't be used in the place of established fertility preservation methods, e.g., oocyte and embryo freezing, they can definitely be offered as an adjunct to females with breast cancer. Beyond breast cancer, we don't really understand the benefits and risks of GNRH agonists and feel that clinical trials in this area are highly encouraged. And also, that for patients who have oncologic emergencies that require urgent chemotherapy, these agonists can be offered because they can provide additional benefits like menstrual suppression. What's emerging is in vitro maturation of oocytes. It's feasible in specialized labs. It may take a little bit shorter time to retrieve these oocytes. There are cases of live births following IVM, in vitro maturation, that have been reported. But these processes remain inefficient compared to standard controlled ovarian stimulation. And therefore, it's really being treated as an emerging method. Finally, uterine transposition. It's experimental, but it's a novel technique for us. It's really moving the uterus out of the field of radiation surgically. We recommend that this is done under research protocols. So taken together, there are improvements in fertility preservation technology, and consideration of which of any of these methods really depends on tailoring to what is that patient's risk, what is the time that they have, what is feasible for them, and what is the effectiveness comparatively among these methods for them. Brittany Harvey: I appreciate you reviewing those recommendations and considerations of patient preferences, the clarification on GNRH agonists, and then those emerging and experimental methods as well. So then the next category of recommendations, Dr. Loren, what are the recommended fertility preservation options for children? Dr. Alison Loren: Thanks, Brittany. This remains a very challenging area. Certainly for older children and adolescents who have begun to initiate puberty changes, we support proceeding with previously outlined standard methods of either sperm or oocyte collection and cryopreservation. For younger children who are felt to be at substantial risk for harm to fertility, the really only options available to them are gonadal tissue cryopreservation, so ovarian tissue or testicular tissue cryopreservation. As Dr. Su mentioned, the ovarian tissue cryopreservation methods are quite effective and well established. There's less data in children, but we know that in adults and older adolescents that this is an effective method. Testicular cryopreservation remains experimental, and we suggest that if it is performed, that strong consideration should be given to doing this as an investigational research protocol. However, because these are the only options available to children, we understand there may be reasons why there might need to be some flexibility around this in the proper setting of informed consent and ascent when appropriate for children. Brittany Harvey: Absolutely. And so we've discussed a lot of recommendations on fertility preservation options. So, Dr. Loren, what is recommended regarding the role of clinicians in advising people about these fertility preservation options? Dr. Alison Loren: Yeah, this is a really important question, Brittany, and I think that we really hope to empower the entire oncology clinical team to bring these issues to the forefront for patients. We know from qualitative studies that oncology providers sometimes feel uncomfortable bringing these issues up because they feel inexpert in dealing with them or because it's so overwhelming. Obviously, these are usually younger patients who are not expecting a cancer diagnosis, and there can be quite a lot of distress, understandably, around the diagnosis itself and the treatment plan, and it can be sometimes overwhelming to also bring up fertility as a potential risk of therapy. We are seeing that as patients are becoming more familiar and comfortable kind of speaking up, I think, social media and lots of sort of online communities have raised this issue, that we're seeing that young people with cancer do spontaneously bring this up in their visits, which we really appreciate and encourage. But I think sometimes clinicians feel it's sometimes described as a dual crisis of both the cancer diagnosis and a risk to future fertility and it can be a really challenging conversation to initiate. I feel, and we hope that the guidelines convey, that the whole point is just to bring it up. We do not expect an oncology clinician of any kind, including social workers, nurses, to be able to outline all of the very complex options that are articulated in this guideline. And in fact, the reason that the co-chairs include myself, a hematologist oncologist, and Dr. Su, who's a reproductive specialist, is because we understand that the complex reproductive options for our patients with cancer require expert conversations. So we do not expect the oncology team to go into all the guideline options with their patients. We really just want to empower everyone on the team to bring up the issue so that we can then get them the care that they need from our colleagues in reproductive endocrinology so that they can be fully apprised of all of their options with enough time before initiation of treatment to be able to embark on whichever therapies they feel are most suited to their family planning wishes. Brittany Harvey: Absolutely. And then jumping off of that, as a reproductive endocrinologist, Dr. Su, what do you think clinicians should know as they implement these updated recommendations? Dr. Irene Su: I wholly echo what Dr. Loren has said about- this is a team effort and it's been really fun to work as a team of various specialties on this guideline, so we hope that the guideline really reflects all of the partnerships that have occurred. I think that what clinicians should know is it may be well worth spending some time in identifying a pathway for our patients. So that starts off with the oncology team. How are we going to screen? How are we going to screen with fidelity? And then from the time of screening, really anybody who has an interest or potentially is unsure about their future fertility needs, who are the reproductive specialists, male and female, that you are in the community with to refer to? What is that referral process going to be like? Is it emails? Is it a phone? Is it a best practice advisory in your electronic health record system? From our standpoint as fertility specialists, we need to spend some time implementing in this system a way to receive these referrals urgently and also be able to support insurance navigation. Because actually, what is really exciting in this field is for the purpose of equitable access, there is increasing insurance coverage, whether it is because employers feel that this is the right thing to do to offer, or 17 states and the District of Columbia also have state mandates requiring fertility preservation coverage by many insurances, as well as, for example, federal employees and active military members. So more than ever, there is a decreased cost barrier for patients and still early days, so navigating health insurance is a little bit challenging. And that is the role, in part, of navigators and fertility clinic teams to help support these patients to do that. Dr. Alison Loren: Forming these relationships and reinforcing them so early and often is really key. Because although these patients come up with some infrequency, when they occur, they're really emergencies and we want to make sure that there's a well-established path for these patients to get from their oncology clinicians to the reproductive specialists. And as Dr. Su said, whatever works best for your system - there's a lot of different ways that people have tackled these challenging referrals - but it is really important to have an expedited path and for the receiving reproductive specialist office to understand that these are urgent patients that need to be expedited and that the oncology clinician's responsibility is to make sure that that's communicated appropriately. Brittany Harvey: Definitely. Thinking in advance about those logistics of referral and navigating health insurance and cost is key to making sure that patients receive the care that they want and that they'd like to discuss with clinicians. So then, Dr. Loren, you touched on this a little bit earlier in talking about the dual crisis, but how does this guideline impact people diagnosed with cancer? Dr. Alison Loren: Well, what we're hoping is that this is sort of a refresher. I think that many or hopefully most or all oncology clinicians are aware that this is a potential concern. And so part of our hope is that, as this guideline rolls out, it'll sort of bring to the top of people's memories and action items that this is an important part of oncology care is the reproductive health care of our patients. And it's a critical component of survivorship care as well. We want to remind people that the field continues to advance and progress. In oncology, we're very aware of oncologic progress, but we may not be so aware of reproductive healthcare progress. And so letting people know, “Hey, there's all these new cool things we can do for people that open up options, even in situations where we might have thought there were no options before.” It's a reminder to refer, because we're not going to be able to keep up with all the advances in the field. But Dr. Su and her colleagues will be able to know what might be an option for patients. I want to highlight that communication piece again because our reproductive colleagues need to know what treatments are going to be given, what the urgency is, what the risks are. And so part of our responsibility as part of the team is to make sure that it's clear to both our patients and our reproductive specialist colleagues what the risks are. And Dr. Su mentioned this earlier, but one really important open question is risk stratification. We know that not all cancer treatments are created equal. There are some treatments, such as high dose alkylating agents, such as cyclophosphamide or busulfan, or high doses of radiation directly to the gonadal tissue, that are extremely high risk for causing permanent gonadal harm very immediately after exposure. And there are other therapies, particularly emerging or novel therapies, that we really just have no idea what the reproductive impact will be. And in particular, as patients are living longer, which is wonderful for our patients, how do we integrate reproductive care and family building into the management of perhaps a younger person who's on some chronic maintenance therapies, some of which we know can harm either the developing fetus or reproductive health, and some of which we really don't know at all. And so there's a very large open question around emerging therapies and how to counsel our patients. And so we hope that this guideline will also raise to the forefront the importance of addressing these questions moving forward and helping our patients to understand that we don't necessarily have all the answers either, which we hope will enrich the discussion and really have it be a good example of shared decision making between the clinical teams and the patient, so that ultimately the patients are able to make decisions that make the most sense for them and reduce the potential for decision regret in the future. Dr. Su, I know you have spent a lot of time thinking about this. Dr. Irene Su: Yeah. I really echo this notion that not all cancer treatments are going to be toxic to future reproductive function. And as clinicians, I and colleagues know that patients want to know as much when there is no effect on their fertility, because that feels reassuring in that that prevents them from having to go through the many hoops that sometimes it can be to undergo fertility preservation, as it is to know high risk, as it is to know we don't know. This is key and central, and we need more data. So, for example, we often chat about, wouldn't it be great if from the time of preclinical drug development all the way to clinical trials, that reproductive health in terms of ovarian function, testicular function, fertility potential, is measured regularly so that we are not having to look back 30, 40, 50 years later to understand what happened. And so this is one of our key research questions that we hope the field takes note of going forward. Dr. Alison Loren: This is an important point. We focus greatly, as we should, on potential harms to fertility, making sure that there's access to all the reproductive options for young people with cancer. But to Dr. Su's point, not all therapies are created equal, and there are some therapies that are somewhat lower risk or even much lower risk, including, I'm a blood cancer specialist and so certainly in the patients that I take care of, the treatments related to AML, ALL, and some lymphomas are actually fairly low risk, which is why the post-treatment fertility preservation options are so important. And particularly for patients who potentially present acutely ill with acute leukemia do not have the time or the ability to engage in fertility preservation because of their medical circumstances, it's important to have that conversation. I want to emphasize to oncology clinicians that even if you know medically that this patient is unable to undergo fertility preservation techniques at the time of diagnosis of their cancer, that it's still appropriate to talk about it and to say, “We're going to keep talking about this, this is something that we're going to raise again once you're through this initial therapy. I'm not forgetting about this. It may not be something we can engage in now, but it's a future conversation that's important in your ongoing care.” And then to think about pursuing options when possible, particularly for patients who may require a bone marrow transplant in their future, either due to higher risk disease at presentation or in the event of a relapse, we know that generally bone marrow transplants, because of the high intensity conditioning that they require for most patients who are young, that permanent gonadal insufficiency will be a fixture. And so there can be a window of time in between initial therapy and transplant where a referral might be appropriate. So my public service announcement is that it's never the wrong time to refer to a reproductive specialist. And sometimes people make assumptions about chemotherapy that, “Oh, they've already been treated, so there's nothing we can do,” and I want to make sure that people know that that's not true and that it's always appropriate to explore options. Dr. Irene Su: I think we talk a lot about how important screening and referral is and I can imagine that it's hard to actually know how to implement that. One of our other research questions to look out for is that we see a lot of tertiary care centers that have put together big teams, big resources, and that's not always feasible to scale out to all kinds of settings. And so what's emerging is: What are the key processes that have to happen and how can we adapt this screening, referral, financial navigation process from larger centers to smaller centers to less resource settings. So I guess my public service announcement is there's research in this area, there's focus in this area, so keep an eye out because there will be hopefully better tools to be able to fit in different types of settings. And more research is actually needed to be able to trial these different screening, referral, navigation processes in lower resource settings as well. Brittany Harvey: Absolutely. It's important to think about the research questions on how to improve both the delivery of fertility preservation options and the discussion of it, and it's important to recognize, as you mentioned, the different fertility risks of different cancer directed treatment options and the importance to have the conversations around this. So then just to expand on this notion a little bit, Dr. Su, we've touched on the research needed here in terms of discussing fertility options with patients and referring and then also in some of the experimental and emerging treatment options. So, what are the other outstanding research questions regarding fertility preservation for people with cancer? Dr. Irene Su: A couple others I'd like to add and then have Dr. Loren chime in in case I missed anything in all of our discussions, there's so many wants. So head to head comparisons of which method is best for which patient and what the long term outcomes are: How many kiddos? Do we complete family building? That is still missing. Being able to invest in novel methods from - there's fertoprotective agents that are being tested, potentially spermatogonial stem cell transplant. These are closer to clinical trials to really early research on ovarian, testicular, uterine biology. This is needed in order to inform downstream interventions. One of the questions that is unanswered is: After treatment starts, when is it safe to retrieve oocytes? And so this is a question because, for example, for our leukemia patients who are in the middle of treatment, when is it safe to retrieve eggs? And we don't know. And then post-treatment, for people who have a reduced window, when do you optimally have the most number of eggs or embryos that you can cryopreserve? That's unknown. But I think the question around once treatment has started, is recent exposure of anti-cancer treatments somehow mutagenic or somehow toxic to the oocytes with regard to long term offspring health? That is unanswered. I'm going to scope out a little bit and maybe policy nerd this a little bit. It's been very exciting to see advocacy, advocacy from our patients, from our clinicians on trying to improve health care policy. Like how can we use mandates to improve this delivery? But we actually don't know because actually the mandates from states that require health insurance coverage for fertility preservation, they vary. And so actually what are the key ingredients and policies that will ultimately get the most patients to the care they need? That is in question and would be really interesting. And so what is a part of this guideline which is not often seen in clinical guidelines, is a call for what we think are best practices for health insurance plans to help patients be able to access. And so this means that we recommend being specific and comprehensive in the coverage of these established fertility preservation services that have been recommended. And this means, for example, an egg freezing covering the whole process from consultation to office visits, to ultrasounds and laboratories, to medicines, to the retrieval, and then to long term storage. Because particularly for the youngest of our patients, these gametes could be frozen for a number of years and may not always be so affordable without health insurance coverage. We think that fertility preservation benefits really should be at parity, that you should not be having more cost sharing on the patient compared to other medical services that are covered. This is an inequity and where possible we should eliminate prior authorization because that timing is so short between diagnosis and needing to start anti-cancer treatment. And so prior authorization having to go through multiple layers of health insurance is really a key barrier because we all know that health insurance literacy is limited for all of us. And so whatever we can do to support our patient for the intent of these benefits would be recommended. Dr. Alison Loren: That was so well said, Dr. Su. I'll take the oncology perspective and say that from our side, really being able to understand the risks of infertility and understanding better measurements of fertility capacity, understanding where our patients are - every patient is different. These conversations are very different for a 37-year-old than they are for a 17-year-old. And so what we haven't really talked about is the fact that certainly at least female patients, as they age, their reproductive potential declines naturally. And so their infertility trajectory may be accelerated, they may have a shorter timeline or have less reserve than younger patients. And so being able to tailor our risk discussions not just based on the specific treatments, but on the reproductive age of the patient sitting in front of us and really being able to tailor those to very personalized risks would be really helpful. Because, as Dr. Su mentioned, and I think, as many people know, undergoing fertility preservation techniques can be really arduous. Even if they're covered and paid for, and all of those logistics are easy, which they seldom are, the physical drain of having to do injections, go for labs, all of the parts of those therapies can be really difficult for patients. And so being able to really understand who needs to have these interventions and who could pass, and understanding what the risks are, as I mentioned earlier, for these novel and emerging therapies would be really helpful. Another really important aspect of future research questions is we would like to encourage all clinicians, both reproductive specialists and oncology clinicians, and also our young people with cancer, to participate in clinical studies pertaining to fertility measurements and preservation. We also exhort our industry colleagues to consider including important reproductive endpoints, including biomarkers of ovarian and testicular reserve, if possible, in clinical trials. It will enhance our ability to provide counseling and support for these therapies in the future to be able to understand what the true impact of infertility, family building and health of offspring to be able to include these data in prospective databases and trials. Brittany Harvey: Definitely. And I want to thank you both for raising those really important points. So we'll look forward to this ongoing research and optimizing policies for covering fertility preservation benefits for all patients with cancer. I want to thank you both so much for your work to update this critical guideline and talk about these important needs of people with cancer. And thank you for your time today, Dr. Su and Dr. Loren. Dr. Alison Loren: Thanks so much for having us. Dr. Irene Su: You're welcome. This was really fun. Dr. Alison Loren: It was fun. And I just will add that the team at ASCO is amazing and really made this a pleasure. Dr. Irene Su: I couldn't agree more. And from the point of being a fertility specialist, being invited to be a part of this with ASCO and with all of our colleagues, it's been really amazing. And so thanks for allowing us to contribute. Brittany Harvey: Definitely. And a big thanks to the entire panel as well. And thank you to all of our listeners for tuning in to the ASCO Guidelines podcast. To read the full guideline, go to www.asco.org/survivorship-guidelines. You can also find many of our guidelines and interactive resources in the free ASCO Guidelines app available in the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store. If you have enjoyed what you've heard today, please rate and review the podcast and be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode.   The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. This is not a substitute for professional medical care and is not intended for use in the diagnosis or treatment of individual conditions. Guests on this podcast express their own opinions, experience, and conclusions. Guest statements on the podcast do not express the opinions of ASCO. The mention of any product, service, organization, activity, or therapy should not be construed as an ASCO endorsement.    

A cancer diagnosis at any age is scary and life changing, but receiving this news the you are at a point in your life where having children, starting a family or growing your family is on your mind, raises a different set of challenges. Saskatoon's Prairie Cancer Fertility Preservation charity supports cancer patients when it comes to fertility challenges. Helping patients navigate fertility issues during a cancer diagnosis is something Dominique Paulgaard and Lierin Baerg do in their roles as nurses at Royal University Hospital and with their charity, Prairie Cancer Fertility Preservation. The charity was started three years by a group of oncology nurses in Saskatoon and today features Jessica Smith, Taylor Huang, Lierin Baerg and Dominique Paulgaard as its members. The purpose of Prairie Cancer Fertility Preservation is to preserve the ability for cancer patients to have children. As I learned from Lierin and Dominique, this can either be through sperm or egg preservation, and as you are about to hear, it can be quite the journey. Lieren as been a Registered Nurse at Royal University Hospital's Inpatient Cancer and Stem Cell Transplant unit for the past 10 years. Dominique has been a nurse in the same unit for 13 years. They both have families with young children and find the time to run this charity.How the charity works, why it means so much to them, and what conversations are like with their patients when it comes to fertility are topics we cover in our conversation. We also discuss how overwhelming it is for someone who has just received a cancer diagnosis to think about if they want to preserve their ability to have children in the future and the financial challenges that come with their decision.Prairie Cancer Fertility Preservation has a fundraising event on Saturday, March 15th at Crossmount Cider Company. Tickets are 50 dollars and Saskatoon's Ross Nielsen will be playing live sets of music. You can learn more by following Prairie Cancer Fertility Preservation on Facebook and Instagram, or click this link to purchase tickets.You can listen to YXE Underground wherever you find your favourite including Apple Podcast, Spotify, Goodpods or on yxeunderground.com. Please feel free to leave a 5-star review if you like what you hear. These positive reviews help the podcast show up in more podcast feeds so I really do appreciate the support. I also want to let you know of an exciting event I am working on with the Remai Modern. Please mark April 17th on your calendar as that's when YXE Underground will be presenting a movie at the Remai Modern's lovely theatre beginning at 7pm. This is thanks to Kyle Zurevinski, who runs the theatre programming at the Remai, and his generous spirit. We will be showing the short film Molly Schikosky and I made last summer celebrating the podcast followed by the Pixar classic, Wall-E because it's one of my favourite movies of all time and I think it connects nicely to YXE Underground in meaningful ways. The Remai does this with other community organizations who select a movie for the public to watch for free and it's really cool to partner with the gallery in this way. Plus, it's free to attend!So I would love to see you on the night of Thursday, April 17th, to celebrate the podcast and watch one of the best films of the past 20 years.Thank you for continuing to support a local, independent podcast here in Saskatoon.Cheers...Eric  Host, Producer, Editor: Eric AndersonTheme Music: Andrew DicksonWebsite: https://www.yxeunderground.comRecorded: On Treaty 6 Territory and the traditional homeland of the Metis

Ashley Chukwu is a 30-year-old food and wine blogger in Atlanta, living her life without the prospect of building a family soon. So, when her mom suggested she consider freezing her eggs, Ashley decided to do some research. At the time, she knew little about the process or whether her insurance would cover it. That's when she discovered her employer, Peraton offered fertility preservation through Progyny.  In this episode, Ashley shares her journey—from researching the process and navigating her benefits to handling injections and undergoing the procedure. She discusses challenges along the way, the importance of representation, and reflects on the peace of mind she's gained from taking control of her fertility.  Tune in to hear Ashley's experience and learn how support from her company helped her make a decision that aligns with her goals and lifestyle.  Guest: Ashley Chukwu, MPH, Progyny Member at Peraton  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.  

Send us a textIn this episode of Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday, Dr. Mark Amols dives deep into the often-anxious topic of embryo thawing, addressing the common fears patients feel about their embryos surviving the thaw. Dr. Amols takes listeners on a journey through the history of embryo freezing—from early techniques like slow freezing at the pronuclear stage to today's advanced vitrification process.He explains why ice crystal formation was once a significant challenge, using the relatable example of a soda can exploding in the freezer, and how modern science has effectively reduced these risks. With advancements in vitrification, survival rates for thawed embryos now exceed 95%—sometimes even reaching close to 99% at top clinics—providing patients with confidence and reassurance.Join us as Dr. Amols demystifies the process, explaining the science of hydrogen bonds and crystal formation, the introduction of cryoprotectants, and the promising future of automated cryopreservation. By the end of this episode, you'll understand why embryo thawing is safer than ever and how far the technology has come to ensure better outcomes for IVF patients. Perfect for anyone gearing up for an embryo transfer or those curious about the science behind it all.Thanks for tuning in to another episode of 'Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday' with Dr. Mark Amols. If you found this episode insightful, please share it with friends and family who might benefit from our discussion. Remember, your feedback is invaluable to us – leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred listening platform. Stay connected with us for updates and fertility tips – follow us on Facebook. For more resources and information, visit our website at www.NewDirectionFertility.com. Have a question or a topic you'd like us to cover? We'd love to hear from you! Reach out to us at TBFT@NewDirectionFertility.com. Join us next Tuesday for more discussions on fertility, where we blend medical expertise with a touch of humor to make complex topics accessible and engaging. Until then, keep the conversation going and remember: understanding your fertility is a journey we're on together.

New developments in fertility preservation The effect of age on the success of egg freezing The options for fertility preservation in a woman about to undergo oncology therapy that is likely to affect future fertility New techniques in vitro oocyte and ovarian tissue maturation   Host: Dr Terri Foran | Total Time: 32 mins Experts: Dr Violet Kieu, Gynaecologist and Reproductive Endocrinologist A/Prof Kate Stern, Fertility Specialist, Gynaecologist and Reproductive Endocrinologist   Register for our fortnightly FREE WEBCASTSEvery second Tuesday | 7:00pm-9:00pm AEDT Click here to register for the next oneSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on the podcast, I'm sharing part two of a two part series of interviews with the founders of The Chick Mission which is a national foundation that is working together to preserve hope, sanity, and choice for women battling cancer. They are focused on making sure that all women diagnosed with cancer have the financial support, educational information, and legislative advocacy to preserve their fertility. After personal experiences, founders Amanda Rice and Tracy Weiss came together to make sure that all cancer patients have a full life with options to grow a family, after they beat the disease. Tracy Weiss is the Executive Director of Chick Mission. She is also a cancer survivor who was diagnosed with cancer at the age 30. Her insurance company denied her claim to preserve her fertility, describing it as an ‘elective' procedure. Tracy partnered with Amanda to start The Chick Mission to help other women facing the same challenges. Read the article on Dr. Aimee's Website, and listen to both interviews.   Visit The Chick Mission's website.   Do you have questions about IVF?Click here to join Dr. Aimee for The IVF Class. The next live class call is on Monday, November 18, 2024 at 4pm PST, where Dr. Aimee will explain IVF and there will be time to ask her your questions live on Zoom.   Dr. Aimee Eyvazzadeh is one of America's most well known fertility doctors. Her success rate at baby-making is what gives future parents hope when all hope is lost. She pioneered the TUSHY Method and BALLS Method to decrease your time to pregnancy. Learn more about the TUSHY Method and find a wealth of fertility resources at www.draimee.org. Other ways to connect with Dr. Aimee and The Egg Whisperer Show: Subscribe to my YouTube channel for more fertility tips!Subscribe to the newsletter to get updates

Today on the podcast, I'm airing one part of a two part series of interviews with the founders of The Chick Mission, which is a national foundation that is working to preserve hope, sanity, and choice for women battling cancer. And, they are focused on making sure that all women diagnosed with cancer have the financial support, educational information, and legislative advocacy to preserve their fertility. After personal experiences, founders Amanda Rice and Tracy Weiss came together to make sure that all cancer patients have a full life with options to grow a family. Today's interview is with Amanda Rice, who is the Founder and a 3-time Cancer Survivor. The Chick Mission hatched when Amanda's fertility preservation coverage was denied by her insurance company. After chemo, radiation and long-term drug therapy, she started fertility treatment. She's focused on helping other patients find ways to cover the costs of fertility preservation, as socioeconomic standing should not be a factor in anyone wanting to pursue having biological children after they are diagnosed with cancer. Read the article on Dr. Aimee's Website, and listen to both interviews.   Visit The Chick Mission's website.   Do you have questions about IVF?Click here to join Dr. Aimee for The IVF Class. The next live class call is on Monday, November 18, 2024 at 4pm PST, where Dr. Aimee will explain IVF and there will be time to ask her your questions live on Zoom.   Dr. Aimee Eyvazzadeh is one of America's most well known fertility doctors. Her success rate at baby-making is what gives future parents hope when all hope is lost. She pioneered the TUSHY Method and BALLS Method to decrease your time to pregnancy. Learn more about the TUSHY Method and find a wealth of fertility resources at www.draimee.org. Other ways to connect with Dr. Aimee and The Egg Whisperer Show: Subscribe to my YouTube channel for more fertility tips!Subscribe to the newsletter to get updates

In this episode of "Life on Pause," host Jill Robertson sits down with Dr. Stephanie Estes, a fertility specialist at Penn State Health, to explore the complex intersection of cancer treatment and fertility preservation. Building on the recent webinar "Cancer and Blood Disorders: When Disease Treatment Pushes Fertility and Family Planning Decisions to the Forefront in Adolescents and Young Adults," this discussion provides valuable information for those facing infertility due to cancer or other blood disorders.Dr. Estes explains the options available for both males and females, covering sperm and egg freezing, genetic testing, and innovative procedures like ovarian tissue preservation. Whether you are a patient, caregiver, or healthcare professional, this conversation sheds light on the importance of early fertility discussions and the options available to ensure future family planning possibilities.Don't forget to subscribe to "Life on Pause" for more episodes that address the unique challenges faced by adolescents and young adults dealing with serious health conditions.0:00 - Introduction and Webinar Overview0:53 - Fertility Preservation Options Explained4:58 - Sperm and Egg Freezing Processes9:28 - Genetic Testing and Sickle Cell Considerations13:35 - Post-Cancer Fertility and Insurance Coverage18:23 - Advances in Fertility Medicine and Future Options20:01 - Final Thoughts and Advocacy Tips_______________________________________________________________#cancerandfertility #fertilitypreservation #optionsforfertilityaftercancer

Pediatric and adolescent patients at risk of losing their fertility due to medical conditions and treatments have more options than ever before to preserve their fertility for the future. In this episode,  Dr. Monica LaRonda, an expert in the field of reproductive biology,  shares many new projects she is leading alongside surgeons in Lurie Children's Fertility & Hormone Preservation & Restoration Program.

In this episode of JCO Article Insights, Dr. Giselle de Souza Carvalho interviews Dr. Hatem Azim and Dr. Ann partridge on their JCO article “Fertility Preservation and Assisted Reproduction in Patients With Breast Cancer Interrupting Adjuvant Endocrine Therapy to Attempt Pregnancy,” TRANSCRIPT Giselle Carvalho: Welcome to the JCO Article Insights episode for the August issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. This is Giselle Carvalho, your host. I'm a Medical Oncologist in Brazil focusing on breast cancer and melanoma skin cancers, and one of the ASCO editorial fellows at JCO this year. Today, I will have the opportunity to interview Dr. Hatem Azim and Dr. Ann Partridge, two of the authors of the POSITIVE trial. We will be discussing their trial on “Fertility Preservation and Assisted Reproduction in Patients With Breast Cancer Interrupting Adjuvant Endocrine Therapy to Attempt Pregnancy,” which was published in May this year.  Hello, Dr. Azim and Dr. Partridge. Welcome to our podcast. Dr. Ann Partridge: Hi. Thanks. Dr. Hatem Azim: Hello. Giselle Carvalho: So, beginning with our interview for breast cancer survivors, in addition to the treatment itself, aging is one of the major contributors to infertility. The optimal duration of adjuvant endocrine therapy in patients with hormone positive early breast cancer ranges from five to ten years, depending on patient and tumor characteristics. This time interval can be critical for women who wish to attempt pregnancy. One of the main concerns in daily breast cancer oncology practice is whether breast cancer recurrence rates are increased either by temporary interruption of endocrine therapy for pregnancy or by the use of assisted reproductive technologies. Dr. Azim, what about assisted reproductive technology is worrisome regarding breast cancer outcomes? And how do the POSITIVE study results address the concern about worsening breast cancer outcomes either with assisted reproductive technology or endocrine therapy interruption? Dr. Hatem Azim: So, in the primary analysis of the POSITIVE trial, we tried to address one of these questions, whether temporary interruption with endocrine therapy affects breast cancer outcome. And what we found was that interruption did not appear to have a detrimental impact at the median follow up of 41 months. So in the current manuscript, we addressed the second question, whether assisted production of fertility preservation has an impact as well on breast cancer outcome. And we did not find any worsening of outcomes in patients who underwent these procedures compared to those who had a spontaneous pregnancy. Of course, we have relatively short follow up, but at least the outcomes at the median follow up of around 3 to 4 years appears to be reassuring. Giselle Carvalho: I see. Thank you. These are really important outcomes regarding premenopausal patients. So, moving on, results from your study show that after 24 months, 80% of women under 35 years old had at least one successful pregnancy, while the same was true for 50% of women aged 40 to 42. These results are particularly impressive considering that over 60% of women over 35 had undergone chemotherapy.  Dr. Partridge, other than age, what factors did you find were associated with a successful pregnancy?  Dr. Ann Partridge: Yeah. The biggest factor, other than age, that was associated with successful live birth pregnancy was use of assisted reproductive technologies. So either having gone through IVF prior to diagnosis and banking eggs or embryos prior to diagnosis and then using them during the study, for undergoing stimulation of the ovaries during the study and then using it during the study. And that's what we also looked at in this most recent analysis of the initial POSITIVE data.  Giselle Carvalho: I see. Thank you. The group of patients who underwent embryo oocyte cryopreservation at diagnosis were more likely to be nulliparous and treated with chemotherapy. Presumably these represent the patient group most afraid they will be infertile, as they would be receiving chemotherapy, and most desirous of pregnancy, as they had not yet had any children. Fertility preservation techniques are expensive and not easily available for all patients, particularly in less wealthy countries. Is there any group of your breast cancer patients with a high enough likelihood of pregnancy without assisted reproductive technology that you would not recommend this?  Dr. Ann Partridge: Sure. So we are so glad to have assisted reproductive technologies available in many places, but as you know, they're not available everywhere. And even where they're available for some people, it's either inaccessible for a number of reasons or it doesn't feel right emotionally or ethically. And then finally, sometimes people need fairly quick treatment and they just don't have the time, even though we don't think there are long delays. And so we do and are able to know who can get pregnant after standard chemotherapy. Not perfectly, but we can give estimates. And the gestalt is, the younger a woman is, the less likely she is to become amenorrheic and the associated infertile, although it's not a perfect match in terms of amenorrhea being a surrogate. And then there are particular chemotherapy regimens that are more gonadotoxic than others. The more cyclophosphamide, for example, or alkylating agent, the more anthracycline, the higher the likelihood generally of causing at least amenorrhea and likely infertility. The huge caveat there is that for some of our newer therapies, we have no good information about how they might impact on menstrual status, let alone the actual rates of fertility. So we need to collect those data. But certainly, if someone's very young, they're going to get four cycles of TC or they have inflammatory breast cancer, we often take kind of a let the chips fall where they may approach, because they just aren't able to access it and we'll often do something like ovarian suppression through the chemotherapy to help support them and hope that it improves their menstrual functioning in the long run and/or fertility. Giselle Carvalho: Thank you for your insight. So you found that pregnancy incidence over time differed by age group, although incidence of menstrual recovery over time was similar across all age groups, which I conclude that menstrual recovery does not translate into fertility. The addition of gonadotropin releasing hormone analogs to chemotherapy was not associated with time to pregnancy. However, of course, such use was not randomized.  Dr. Azim, if assisted reproductive technology is not available to patients for reasons such as socioeconomic factors, would you recommend using GnRH analogs with chemotherapy for the purpose of fertility preservation?  Dr. Hatem Azim: Yes. The short answer is yes. Of course, POSITIVE study was not designed to address the question around GnRH analogs, but we do have several randomized studies and meta analyses that have shown clearly that the use of GnRH analogs with chemotherapy reduce the risk of premature ovarian insufficiency. And subgroup analysis of some of these studies have shown a trend towards higher pregnancy rates as well. So, of course, if a patient does not have access to assist reproductive technology, GnRH analogs in combination with chemotherapy represent a very good alternative.  Giselle Carvalho: I see. Thank you. Thank you for your response. At enrollment, 93.2% of women on POSITIVE trial had stage 1 or 2 disease and 66% had no negative disease. Therefore, one possible bias is that investigators might have been more comfortable with temporarily interrupting endocrine therapy if the risk of relapse was low. Dr. Partridge, what recommendations would you have for women with stage three hormone receptor positive breast cancer who desire to attempt pregnancy? Dr. Ann Partridge: Yeah, thank you. That's a really good question. It comes up in our tumor boards and discussions about patient care all the time, and I think, as you know, only a small proportion, about 6%, had stage 3 disease. Those patients are at higher risk of recurrence by nature of their stage. Not that all stage 3 are created equal, because, of course, if someone had a complete pathologic response to preoperative therapy and their stage 3 disease at diagnosis went to a PCR, then that person may have even better outcomes in the long run than someone who had postoperative treatment, and we don't know their likelihood even with stage 1 or 2 disease. But someone that you're concerned about their risk of recurrence, they still remain at risk of recurrence. And while we do not think, based on the POSITIVE data and all the data that we've had from retrospective studies and other data sets collected for other reasons, that a pregnancy would worsen their outcome, we certainly don't believe that a pregnancy at this point in time will dramatically improve their outcome or as a treatment for breast cancer. That's when I have a heart to heart conversation with the patient, really acknowledging they still remain at high risk. And most of my colleagues tend to want the patient to get more endocrine therapy into their system before they take a break. We've kind of discussed this, and we want someone to get more like at least three to five years. That may be a little bit paternalistic, because, as we know, taking the break for people with a little lower risk didn't seem to worsen outcomes. Maybe it's fine. I don't know that a break at five years is any better than a break at two years. I don't know. Hatem, how do you handle this in your practice?   Dr. Hatem Azim: Well, I completely agree with you, Ann. I mean, it's very much decided on a patient by patient basis. The level of uncertainty that some patients accept to take is not necessarily like others. And sometimes we as physicians, we adopt this. I agree with this paternalistic approach. Nevertheless, it's very important for the patient who is 32, is not necessarily counseled like the patient who's 39, and her acceptance and the feasibility of waiting a bit longer as well in order to attempt pregnancy - the success of pregnancy afterwards is not necessarily the same. So I'm not sure we could adapt a one size fits all approach here. And I do not necessarily tend to factor much the elements around the stage. I think my point to patients is usually, well, you do have give and take this amount of risk of relapse, for example, and whether we accept to take such, what we could refer to as relatively unconventional approach of temporary interrupting endocrine therapy, and when we are comfortable to go ahead with this journey, depending on the feasibility of getting pregnant afterwards as well. So, yeah, I completely agree. It's very customized, based on and tailored according to the patients' situation. Giselle Carvalho: Thank you. I really appreciate your response to this. So, moving forward, tamoxifen alone was the most commonly prescribed endocrine therapy, followed by tamoxifen plus ovarian function suppression. The latter was preferred over aromatase inhibitors ovarian function suppression in the selected population. Endocrine therapy prescription changed in the second half of the recruitment period after July 2017 across all continents, likely due to the results of the SOFT and TEXT trials. It demonstrated absolute improvements in all disease outcomes by escalating endocrine therapy, which was more clinically meaningful in patients with high risk disease. Dr. Azim, how do you imagine this change could impact positive outcomes? Dr. Hatem Azim: Honestly, I'm not necessarily sure that it impacts significantly the way you interpret the data and the way we counsel our patients. So, in our study, some 50% of patients received GnRH analogs and around 15% received AI. And most of the patients, I would say, were recruited in the second half of the study after we had the results from, for example, SOFT and TEXT. Furthermore, as we alluded to earlier, we had 60% of patients who received chemo. So most of our patients had a stage 1 and 2 disease in which you would argue that the absolute difference between the different hormonal therapy options is not necessarily massive. Whether or not this would impact much, I'm not sure. I think the main counseling recommendations would apply, that patients who receive endocrine therapy would be asked to interrupt it for at least three months and then they attempt pregnancy afterwards. I don't know what you think, Anne, but I'm not sure that if we have more patients, and this is pretty much the case now, we have more patients treated with AI. I tend to do this a lot, especially if I'm thinking of interrupting, so I think I'm giving them maybe the best option first. I'm not sure this is necessarily, I mean, affecting me much, while interpreting that it does not appear that temporary interruption on the short term has an impact. Dr. Ann Partridge: I completely agree with your strategy. Depending on the patient and their tolerance, if they have enough risk to warrant ovarian suppression with AI or tamoxifen, of course I recommend that. And yet, at the same time, I agree with you in this group that was in POSITIVE, I think the groups are relatively low enough risk. Although 40% had no positive disease, the majority got chemo, so they weren't that low risk. And so I think over time, these kinds of patients are more and more going to get ovarian suppression. I'm doing that more in my practice as tolerated. And I hope that all that means is that their breast cancer outcomes will be better independent of a pregnancy. Giselle Carvalho: And on the topic of women with higher risk disease, CDK4/6 inhibitors are now used in the high risk adjuvant setting. How do you envision this impacting fertility? Dr. Hatem Azim: Well, this is a very good question. Of course, this is something, this is an area of research that we have to address. Some analysis from some of the adjuvant studies, for example, the PENELOPE-B, I think they reported on some of the results of their study in which they were evaluating palbociclib in the adjuvant setting and did not appear that there was significant differences in terms of the level of estradiol levels and FSH and anti-Müllerian hormone, for example. I think these were the parameters that were evaluated in this study. So, of course, more information. Of course, palb is not the CDK4/6 inhibitor approved in the adjuvant setting. So we need more information as well about the other CDK4/6 inhibitors and longer follow-up.  In my view from a counseling perspective, I think maybe you would have a certain level of uncertainty regarding whether or not this could have a mental impact on fertility. But the concept as well of possibly proposing a temporary interruption as we adopted in POSITIVE, would still apply. These patients would be treated as well, often, because if they are receiving CDK4/6 inhibitors in the adjuvant setting, it means that they have a high stage disease, so often they will be treated as well with GnRH analogs. I would counsel them pretty much the same, acknowledging a certain level of uncertainty regarding the data we have today on CDK4/6 inhibitors. Dr. Ann Partridge: Yeah, if they got a full course, they would generally be further out than many people on POSITIVE, because we treat with, for example, the abemaciclib for two years and then you want to wash out and things like that. In POSITIVE, the average was two years. And so you'd expect people of higher risk to be a little further out, which I think would make everybody a little more comfortable too, because someone who's very high risk, you'd worry about very early bad recurrence, too. Giselle Carvalho: Yeah. Thank you. So, Dr. Partridge, regarding adherence to endocrine therapy resumption after the two year break, what was the percentage of patients who resumed treatment and which strategies would you suggest to increase adherence in this case? Dr. Ann Partridge: That's a really great question. In the study, it was well over 70%, which is actually higher than you see in the general population of breast cancer survivors, especially young women. So in some cases, and I can tell you anecdotally, I experienced in my clinic that patients were more likely to start and take their endocrine therapy when they had the promise of the POSITIVE trial, to take a break to have a baby, because some of them don't want to start it, let alone stay on it, if they're told they have to take a full five to ten years. So it actually promoted adherence, ironically. And then for the people who got back on in the real world, the data suggests that by four years, somewhere close to half to 30% to half are no longer taking it. And so in POSITIVE it was, I think, 74% got back on, and that was only at the time point cut off when we did the initial primary data report. And of course more people will have gone back on because some people were still having babies and in the middle of things. And so I think that it's not as much of an issue with POSITIVE. In part, these are very compliant people, right? They're participating in a clinical trial to share the data with the rest of the world. They could have gotten pregnant on their own and they want to do it with their doctors. And so I think this is a little bit of a different group, but it was very reassuring to see that most people got on hormonal therapy after their interruption. Giselle Carvalho: And recurrence of hormone receptor positive breast cancer may occur late. How long do you plan to follow patients enrolled in the POSITIVE trial? Dr. Ann Partridge: So our plan is to follow them for at least 10 years. And it's interesting because we're starting to get close to that. We started enrollment in 2015, so I saw someone earlier this week who will have her 10 year mark next year because she got on in 2015. And that's very exciting. Obviously, it would be great to follow them even longer because ER positive breast cancer can recur many years later. But I do think that we feel as though at least 10 years will give us a good, very evidence-based feeling about the safety. Giselle Carvalho: Thank you. Thanks for sharing. With enrollment occurring at 116 institutions in 20 countries across four continents, this representation of different races and ethnicities provides strength to support this recommendation for this group of patients worldwide. Dr. Azim, what are your hopes for future analysis from this study and what future research in the area are you planning or would like to see performed?  Dr. Hatem Azim: So Ann mentioned, of course, it would be crucial to conduct the long term follow up of these patients, and provide more reassuring evidence on the safety of this approach of adjuvant endocrine therapy. So this is something we're really looking forward to. Other analysis that we are working on is the breastfeeding analysis. So looking at patients who underwent breastfeeding and how far the feasibility of this approach, obviously, but how far as well this had an impact on their breast cancer outcome. So this is something that hopefully we are going to report on soon, expected end of this year. As well, we are working on evaluating, we had a large translation research program within POSITIVE, addressing several questions, including the evolution of ovarian function parameters over time and the ovarian reserve. Also, we are working on reporting on this information. We hope that this could happen maybe in the coming year. Giselle Carvalho: Great. And finally, what advice do you give young women in your clinic who have been diagnosed with early stage hormone positive breast cancer and who are hoping to attempt pregnancy. Dr. Hatem Azim: We address these kinds of questions relatively early in their treatments and often they are very much concerned about their chance of future fertility. Usually early on, for example, before going for chemo and so on, I just share the information that this is something that we certainly could discuss and certainly there are the possibility that we could consider in the future that it's not a ‘no go' at least. And definitely it's something that we could work on once treatment is completed and recover from the adverse events of therapy. And because throughout the journey of treatments as well, women's wishes evolve over time and their perception of their pregnancy project as well evolve and change over time. So I think it's important to acknowledge, in my view, it's very important to acknowledge that this is feasible, this is possible, and because this as well provides an important psychological boost for them. And then as the patient comes over for their follow up after therapy and so on, start understanding, getting a little bit deeper into these kind of questions regarding feasibility, timing. If they are ER positive, then if it's okay to interrupt, not to interrupt, to explain a bit better and to consider a bit better regarding what kind of risk we're talking about. Articulating better, what do we mean by risk? So that sometimes you have a patient that is willing to accept a 10% risk, although others 1% risk for them represent a major threat. Also, it matters nulliparous versus a patient who already has two or three kids. So I think I tend to go a bit more granular in this kind of information as patients are out of chemo and on hormonal therapy and start addressing these matters. But I think it's important early on to share the information that nowadays we do have sufficient information not to discourage women who would like to have a pregnancy in the future. Giselle Carvalho: Thank you. Thank you. Dr. Partridge, would you like to add some final comments on this? Dr. Ann Partridge: Yeah, I think this is just such an important issue for our young breast cancer survivors and cancer survivors diagnosed at a young age, regardless of the type of cancer. So I think paying attention to this at diagnosis and through their survivorship is critical, both for their thriving in survivorship as well as for their long term health and cancer outcomes. Getting back to that adherence issue, people, if they're unhappy, won't do all the right things for themselves, sometimes medically and emotionally. And we know that infertility can be associated with long term distress for patients with and without cancer. So we need to pay attention to this and I'm really happy that ASCO is doing a podcast on this and I'm really happy that JCO is doing a podcast on this.  Giselle Carvalho: Thank you. I really would like to thank you both, Dr. Azim and Dr. Partridge for attending this interview. This is Giselle Carvalho. Thank you for listening to JCO Article Insights. Don't forget to give us a rating or review and be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode. You can find all ASCO shows asco.org/podcast. The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. This is not a substitute for professional medical care and is not intended for use in the diagnosis or treatment of individual conditions.  Guests on this podcast express their own opinions, experience, and conclusions. Guest statements on the podcast do not express the opinions of ASCO. The mention of any product, service, organization, activity or therapy should not be construed as an ASCO endorsement.  Dr. Azim Employment Company name: Pierre Fabre, EMERGENCE THERAPEUTICS Stock and Other Ownership Interests Company name: Innate Pharma, Diaacurate Travel, Accommodations, Expenses Company name: Novartis Dr. Partridge Research Funding Company name: Novartis Patents, Royalties, Other Intellectual Property Company name: UpToDate    

In this episode of The Egg Whisperer Show, Dr. Aimee interviews Natalie Lampert, award-winning journalist and author of ‘The Big Freeze: A Reporter's Personal Journey Into The World of Egg Freezing and The Quest to Control Our Fertility.' Natalie shares her personal journey and professional insights into egg freezing, highlighting the psychological, ethical, and practical aspects. She emphasizes that egg freezing is a backup option that offers assurance but not insurance. They discuss the broader implications of fertility preservation, societal pressures, and the importance of thorough education on the subject. Natalie also touches upon the landscape shifts in fertility preservation over the past decade and how fem tech and regulatory changes have impacted the industry.   Purchase Natalie Lampert's book, “The Big Freeze: A Reporter's Personal Journey Into The World of Egg Freezing and The Quest to Control Our Fertility.” Visit Natalie Lampert's website. Watch and subscribe on YouTube.   Do you have questions about IVF? Join Dr. Aimee for The IVF Class at The Egg Whisperer School. The next live class call is on Monday, September 16, 2024 at 4pm PST, where Dr. Aimee will explain IVF and there will be time to ask her your questions live on Zoom.   Watch this episode on YouTube. Subscribe to my YouTube channel for more fertility tips! Join Egg Whisperer School Checkout the podcast Subscribe to the newsletter to get updates Dr. Aimee Eyvazzadeh is one of America's most well known fertility doctors. Her success rate at baby-making is what gives future parents hope when all hope is lost. She pioneered the TUSHY Method and BALLS Method to decrease your time to pregnancy. Learn more about the TUSHY Method and find a wealth of fertility resources at www.draimee.org.   Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction: The Reality of Egg Freezing 00:32 Meet Natalie Lampert: Author of The Big Freeze 01:18 Natalie's Personal and Professional Journey 03:00 The Broader Context of Egg Freezing 04:28 Advice for Women Considering Egg Freezing 07:24 Surprising Discoveries About Fertility 09:59 The Changing Landscape of Fertility Preservation 15:58 Societal Pressures and Fertility Decisions 20:25 Pros and Cons of Modern Fertility Technology 27:39 Final Thoughts and Takeaways

This epsiode includes content related to reproductive organs and sexual health and may not be suitable for all listeners.In this episode, we speak with Dr. Oluwatosin "Tosin" Goje, an Associate Professor of OBGYN and reproductive biology at the Cleveland Clinic. We delve into the critical and often under-discussed topic of female sexual health issues related to chronic genital graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), a condition affecting many women post bone marrow transplant.Dr. Goje begins by highlighting the prevalence of sexual dysfunction among female survivors of malignancies, particularly those who have undergone bone marrow transplants. Astonishingly, 80% of female survivors report no significant improvement in their sexual function even five years post-transplant. This issue, often underdiagnosed and unspoken about, affects their quality of life despite their physical recovery.She explains that the persistent sexual dysfunction is multifactorial. Factors include the systemic effects of chronic GVHD, which can cause fatigue and changes in body appearance, making patients feel less attractive. Chronic genital GVHD specifically affects the vulva and vagina, causing changes like thickening, rawness, and atrophy, leading to pain with intimacy, burning, and even bleeding. Additionally, medications can alter libido, and the overall psychosocial burden of their diagnosis and treatment exacerbates these issues.Dr. Goje emphasizes the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to manage these problems. She details the symptoms of genital GVHD and the necessity of individualized treatment plans. Hormone replacement therapy is essential for those with premature ovarian insufficiency or menopause, which can be accelerated by the transplant. Vaginal estrogen or other moisturizers and lubricants are often required, along with immunosuppressants like topical clobetasol to manage inflammation.Communication emerges as a vital theme throughout our conversation. Dr. Goje stresses that healthcare providers need to proactively ask about sexual health issues. Patients, often so grateful for their survival, do not prioritize these concerns. Utilizing validated questionnaires can help initiate these crucial discussions and overcome hesitation to begin the conversation. For patients, Dr. Goji advises regular consultations with a gynecologist and open discussions about their medications and any sexual health issues they experience, even before diagnosis.Addressing the specific needs of younger women, Dr. Goje discusses options like egg freezing before treatment to preserve fertility. She also notes that many foundations and insurance plans provide financial support for these procedures.Dr. Goje highlights the various treatments available for managing sexual dysfunction, including the use of silicone dilators, surgical interventions, and laser therapy. She encourages couples to communicate openly about their sexual health and consider sex therapy or couples therapy to address issues together. For patients experiencing chronic vaginal pain or infections, she recommends appropriate medical treatments, including potential surgery or laser treatment. She emphasizes the need for accurate diagnosis and management.Finally, Dr. Goje shares poignant stories from her practice, illustrating her deep commitment to her patients' holistic health. She reminds us that the goal is not just survival but also ensuring a quality life post-treatment.In another episode this season, we discuss male sexual health as it relates to GVHD.More Information:Cleveland Clinic - https://my.clevelandclinic.orgReplens - https://www.replens.comLuvena -https://luvena.comRevaree Moisturizer: https://hellobonafide.com/products/revareeMonaLisa Touch Laser - https://www.smilemonalisa.comNational Bone Marrow Transplant Link - (800) LINK-BMT, or (800) 546-5268.nbmtLINK Website: https://www.nbmtlink.org/nbmtLINK Facebook Page:  https://www.facebook.com/nbmtLINKnbmtLINK YouTube Page can be found by clicking here.Thank you to our sponsors. This season is supported by a healthcare contribution from Sanofi  https://www.sanofi.com/ Follow the nbmtLINK on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/nbmtlink/

This epsiode includes content related to reproductive organs and sexual health and may not be suitable for all listeners.In this podcast, we welcome Dr. Jose Flores, an expert in sexual and reproductive medicine at New York's Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. We dive deep into the often challenging but crucial topic of male sexuality, particularly in the context of cancer treatment and graft versus host disease (GVHD).Dr. Flores begins by distinguishing between sexual dysfunction and erectile dysfunction (ED). He emphasizes that sexual dysfunction encompasses various issues beyond just achieving erections, such as ejaculation problems, orgasm issues, decreased sex drive, and changes in penile shape. This broader understanding is essential when discussing sexual health with patients.The prevalence of ED after cancer treatment is notably high, with up to 60-70% of men experiencing it post-chemotherapy, and even higher rates following pelvic surgery, specifically. Low testosterone levels also contribute significantly to sexual dysfunction, particularly after treatments targeting the pelvic area.A critical aspect of addressing ED is breaking the wall of silence around it. Dr. Flores stresses the importance of open communication between patients and healthcare providers. Initiating conversations about sexual health can lead to better assessments and treatments. He outlines the initial steps in diagnosing ED, including patient questionnaires and lab tests, and underscores the need for healthcare providers to proactively ask patients about their sexual health.The discussion then shifts to the impact of GVHD on sexual function. Dr. Flores notes that about 70% of men post-bone marrow or stem cell transplant suffer from low testosterone and ED. Unfortunately, without intervention, these issues do not typically resolve on their own. Patients must seek help to explore treatment options.Dr. Flores explains the ED treatment model, which follows a stepwise approach. The first step includes lifestyle modifications and the use of PDE-5 inhibitors like Viagra and Cialis. If these are ineffective, injection therapy is the next step, followed by mechanical aids like penile pumps and, as a last resort, penile implants.Myths and realities of PDE-5 inhibitors are addressed, clarifying that these medications require proper usage, including an empty stomach for Viagra and sufficient time for absorption for Cialis, along with sexual stimulation to be effective. Proper education on these aspects can significantly enhance their effectiveness.Low testosterone, particularly after cancer treatment, is another major topic. Dr. Flores discusses the complexities of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), including potential risks like polycythemia, effects on fertility, and the necessity of screening for conditions like sleep apnea and prostate cancer before starting treatment. He advises patients to preserve fertility before undergoing cancer treatments and outlines options for those with compromised fertility post-treatment.The conversation concludes with Dr. Flores urging patients to be proactive about their sexual and reproductive health. He highlights the importance of seeking specialized care and the positive impact it can have on overall quality of life. Throughout the discussion, Dr. Flores's compassionate approach underscores the importance of addressing these sensitive issues openly and effectively.Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center: https://www.mskcc.orgInternational Index of Erectile Dysfunction: https://www.uptodate.comTestosterone Replacement Therapy Information: https://www.urologyhealth.orgThis season is made possible thanks to donations from Syndax and Incyte.https://syndax.com/https://incyte.com/ Follow the nbmtLINK on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/nbmtlink/

Send us a Text Message.In this episode of "Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday," Dr. Mark Amols delves into the groundbreaking world of vitrification—a transformative technique that has revolutionized the field of fertility preservation. Vitrification, or flash freezing, is a process that prevents the formation of ice crystals in cells, ensuring their viability and integrity. This episode unpacks the science behind vitrification, explaining how it differs from traditional slow freezing methods and why it represents a significant advancement in reproductive medicine.Join Dr. Amols as he explores the origins of vitrification, initially developed for preserving tissues, and its subsequent adaptation for freezing eggs, embryos, and stem cells. Learn about the challenges of slow freezing, where the formation of ice crystals could damage cells, and how vitrification overcomes these obstacles with remarkable efficiency.Dr. Amols discusses the profound impact of vitrification on IVF success rates, highlighting how survival rates have soared from 55-65% with slow freezing to over 90% with vitrification. He shares compelling stories from his own practice, demonstrating how this technology has improved outcomes for patients, allowing for more flexible and safer fertility treatments.This episode also covers the broader implications of vitrification beyond human fertility, including its applications in the food industry, animal breeding programs, and the preservation of sensitive drugs and vaccines. Dr. Amols explains how future advancements, such as nanotechnology and magnetic freezing, promise to further enhance cryopreservation techniques.Whether you're a scientist, a student, or someone navigating the complexities of fertility treatment, this episode provides a thorough and engaging look at one of the most significant advancements in reproductive science. Tune in to understand how vitrification is not just preserving cells, but also hopes and dreams for countless individuals and families.If you enjoy this episode, please leave a five-star review and share it with friends who might find the science of fertility fascinating. As always, Dr. Amols looks forward to bringing you more insights on "Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday."Thanks for tuning in to another episode of 'Taco Bout Fertility Tuesday' with Dr. Mark Amols. If you found this episode insightful, please share it with friends and family who might benefit from our discussion. Remember, your feedback is invaluable to us – leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred listening platform. Stay connected with us for updates and fertility tips – follow us on Facebook. For more resources and information, visit our website at www.NewDirectionFertility.com. Have a question or a topic you'd like us to cover? We'd love to hear from you! Reach out to us at TBFT@NewDirectionFertility.com. Join us next Tuesday for more discussions on fertility, where we blend medical expertise with a touch of humor to make complex topics accessible and engaging. Until then, keep the conversation going and remember: understanding your fertility is a journey we're on together.

Did you know that most healthcare insurance companies deny coverage for a cancer patient's fertility preservation?  In this episode, Amanda Rice, Founder & CEO of The Chick Mission, three-time cancer survivor, tells us all about her cancer diagnosis. She also discusses what made her decide to freeze her eggs, the disappointment she experienced when her insurance refused due to her diagnosis, and how that inspired her to create The Chick Mission.

Episode 319: Difficult Conversations About Pregnancy Testing in Cancer Care “For people diagnosed with cancer that are of childbearing potential, we have to consider how [pregnancy] testing could impact them. So we never know what someone has been through, and it's important to lead with empathy while providing education of the importance of this testing. So someone may find now that pregnancy testing is a dreaded experience instead of what they thought would be a joyous one,” Marissa Fors, LCSW, OSW-C, CCM, director of specialized programs at CancerCare in New York, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a conversation about the psychosocial aspects of pregnancy testing in cancer care. Music Credit: “Fireflies and Stardust” by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0  Earn 0.5 contact hours of nursing continuing professional development (NCPD) by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at myoutcomes.ons.org by July 5, 2026. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of NCPD by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation. Learning outcome:  Learners will report an increase in knowledge related to the patient experience of pregnancy testing during cancer treatment. Episode Notes  Complete this evaluation for free NCPD.  Oncology Nursing Podcast episodes: Episode 311: Standardized Pregnancy Testing Processes in Cancer Care Episode 293: Access to Care: How to Manage Moral Dilemmas and Advocate for Your Patients  Episode 262: LGBTQ+ Inclusive Nursing Care Begins With Using Supportive Language Episode 217: Support Pregnant and Postpartum Patients During Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Episode 211: Apply the LGBTQIA+ Lived Experience to Your Patient Interactions Episode 208: How to Have Fertility Preservation Conversations With Your Patients ONS Voice articles: Cultural Humility Is a Nursing Clinical Competency The Case of the Pregnancy Predicament Transgender Patient Populations: Inclusive Care Involves Listening and Communicating Trauma-Informed Care Provides Person-Centered Support for Patients During Deep Distress Use Active Listening to Engage More Deeply in Patient Discussions ONS book: Oncology Nurse Navigation: Delivering Patient-Centered Care Across the Continuum (second edition) Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing articles: Pregnancy and Cancer Treatment: Developing a Standardized Testing Policy and Procedure Unintended Pregnancy: A Systematic Review of Contraception Use and Counseling in Women With Cancer ONS Congress® abstract: System Approach to Fertility Preservation and Pregnancy Status During Active Cancer Treatment ONS Huddle Cards: Fertility Preservation Sexuality ECHO Training Program (Enriching Communication Skills for Health Professionals in Oncofertility) Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network article: Pregnancy Screening in Patients With Cancer To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities. To find resources for creating an ONS Podcast Club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library. To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org. Highlights From This Episode “In everyday life, pregnancy testing is actually still really complex. It's more than just the positive pregnancy test and the happy parent we may see on commercials. For those that are hopeful for a positive test, there's still a lot of anxiety, worry, fear, maybe before, during, or after the results. And I think about how long this person has been trying to conceive and the financial impacts involved, change in family dynamics. What if that test comes back negative? Then I think about the potential disappointment or the heartbreak. I also consider the flipside—those that are scared of a positive result for fears of becoming pregnant for a range of different reasons.” TS 3:40 “I think it's important to always lead with empathy and kindness and an open mind. So you don't want to assume you know or understand how a person feels or may respond. Allow your patients to share with you how they're feeling in a nonjudgmental manner. This could be an incredibly vulnerable moment, and nurses can be a valuable source of support. Take a moment to just listen, normalize their feelings or let them ask questions. And I recognize it can be difficult to know what to say or do, but sometimes just being there for someone in those ways is incredibly meaningful and opens up more effective communication and trust.” TS 8:48 “For the patient that has been trying to conceive, taking another pregnancy test could be so daunting or triggering and bring back so many moments of grief. Seeing the results being negative could be heartbreaking all over again. Some people may find some relief knowing their fetus will be harmed and they won't have to make tough decisions. And then there may be guilt for feeling that way. There's no one way to feel or right or wrong way to feel. … Let them know their feelings are valid and anything they feel is okay and normal.” TS 13:40 “I think that a common misconception is that if a pregnancy test comes back positive, there are no options for treatment. Education and communication with your healthcare team can help clear up those options you may have and bring back the element of shared decision-making to make these decisions together with your healthcare team.” TS 31:03

Full show notes and transcript: https://www.draimee.org/fertility-treatment-options-for-military-families-with-dr-oleary In this episode of The Egg Whisperer Show, Dr. Kate O'Leary joins to discuss fertility treatment options for military families. Dr. O'Leary, double board-certified in OB GYN and reproductive endocrinology, shares insights from her extensive military medical career and current practice in Cincinnati. She elaborates on unique challenges military women face regarding fertility, including higher risks of tubal factor infertility and exposure to various toxins. Dr. O'Leary provides advice for military personnel considering fertility preservation and treatment, highlighting the importance of being proactive and asking for referrals. Practical tips like maintaining a healthy lifestyle and the potential benefits of AMH testing are also discussed, as well as the challenges of finding affordable treatment and the importance of communication with commanders. Click here to join Dr. Aimee for The IVF Class. The next live class call is on Monday, May 20, 2024 at 4pm PST, where Dr. Aimee will explain IVF and there will be time to ask her your questions live on Zoom.   You can find Dr. Kate O'Leary's website here: https://www.midwestfertility.com/indianapolis-fertility-clinic/kate-oleary-md/   Follow Dr. O'Leary on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drkateoleary/ Click to find The Egg Whisperer Show podcast on your favorite podcasting app.   Watch videos of Dr. Aimee answer Ask the Egg Whisperer Questions on YouTube.  Sign up for The Egg Whisperer newsletter to get updates   00:00 Introduction to the Episode and Guest 01:15 Dr. O'Leary's Military Background and Advice for Aspiring Military Doctors 03:47 Unique Fertility Challenges for Military Families 07:33 Navigating Fertility Treatment Options for Military Personnel 12:46 Maximizing Natural Pregnancy Chances and Fertility Preservation 17:11 Dr. O'Leary's Journey from Ramen to Gourmet Cooking 18:24 Closing Remarks and Invitation for the Next Show   Dr. Aimee Eyvazzadeh is one of America's most well known fertility doctors. Her success rate at baby-making is what gives future parents hope when all hope is lost. She pioneered the TUSHY Method and BALLS Method to decrease your time to pregnancy. Learn more about the TUSHY Method and find a wealth of fertility resources at www.draimee.org.

A New Podcast from Obstetrics & Gynecology, featuring members from the Editorial Team and contributing authors, each month as they highlight the latest research and practice updates in the field. This episode features an interview with Dr. Alexa Kanbergs, author of “Patient Location and Disparities in Access to Fertility Preservation for Women With Gynecologic or Breast Cancer.”

“Chemotherapy exposure during the first trimester is contraindicated and increases the risk of spontaneous abortion, fetal death, and major congenital malformations. Second- and third-trimester exposure may affect some body systems still developing and can still result in fetal growth restriction, low birth weight, and preterm labor. Yet, I do want to stress that pregnancy can remain a possibility,” Kelsey Miller, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BC, OCN®, clinical nurse specialist in oncology and infusion therapy at Reading Hospital in West Reading, PA, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a conversation about policies and procedures for pregnancy testing during cancer treatment. Music Credit: “Fireflies and Stardust” by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0  Earn 0.25 contact hours of nursing continuing professional development (NCPD) by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at myoutcomes.ons.org by May 10, 2026. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of NCPD by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation. Learning outcome: Learners will report an increase in knowledge related to pregnancy screening procedures during cancer treatment. Episode Notes  Complete this evaluation for free NCPD.  Oncology Nursing Podcast episodes: Episode 217: Support Pregnant and Postpartum Patients During Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Episode 208: How to Have Fertility Preservation Conversations With Your Patients ONS Voice article: The Case of the Pregnancy Predicament ONS book: Oncology Nurse Navigation: Delivering Patient-Centered Care Across the Continuum (second edition) Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing articles: Pregnancy and Cancer Treatment: Developing a Standardized Testing Policy and Procedure Unintended Pregnancy: A Systematic Review of Contraception Use and Counseling in Women With Cancer ONS Huddle Cards Fertility Preservation Sexuality ONS Congress® abstract: System Approach to Fertility Preservation and Pregnancy Status During Active Cancer Treatment (by Kelsey Miller and Ainsley Hartman) ECHO program (Enriching Communication Skills for Health Professionals in Oncofertility) Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network article: Pregnancy Screening in Patients With Cancer National Comprehensive Cancer Network Guidelines: Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Oncology To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities. To find resources for creating an ONS Podcast Club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library. To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org. Highlights From This Episode “It's really crucial to identify [pregnancy] prior to treatment, as this should be considered a patient safety ‘never' event. We know that exposure to chemotherapy or radiation can cause mutagenic changes in reproductive cells and teratogenic effects in a developing fetus. Women of childbearing potential should have a documented pregnancy test prior to beginning cancer treatment due to the adverse effects of chemotherapy and radiation on a developing fetus.” TS 1:42 “We had a fertility risk checklist that was based off American Society of Clinical Oncology standards, that was not fully operationalized nor built into physician workflows. The checklist was a way of documenting that risks of infertility, fertility preservation, and contraception was discussed, as well as an attestation that referral to a reproductive endocrinologist was made if needed. I had a physician partner at the time who said the only way to get the providers to fill out this checklist is to make it a hard stop, so that's what we did. The fertility risk checklist is now a hard stop by means of an order validation that will pop up when the provider goes to sign the oncology treatment plan, and it will say, ‘Orders cannot be signed unless the fertility risk checklist is complete.'” TS 9:27 “Whenever I develop teams, I like to share a common vision. We're all here for patient safety, and we want to prevent harm by pregnancy screening these patients that could potentially become pregnant during cancer treatment.” TS 13:20 “There's a misconception that all cancer therapy will render patients infertile, and this is not the case. Even though chemotherapy and radiation reduce fertility and may cause premature ovarian failure, many patients still remain fertile. And we know from research that physical intimacy remains important during cancer treatment, and unintended pregnancies may occur.” TS 18:13

Egg freezing is a hot topic with the potential to really improve a woman's life and ease of family planning in the future. Join Dr. Carrie Bedient from The Fertility Center of Las Vegas, Dr. Abby Eblen from Nashville Fertility Center and Dr. Susan Hudson from Texas Fertility Center as they break down the details of the egg cryopreservation. They review the testing needed to plan the egg freezing cycle. The docs walk you through how the stimulation process works, the medications and retrieval process, and concerns for recovery. Listeners hear the nitty gritty regarding number of eggs to freeze and how those numbers reflect future success rates. Join us as we navigate the most commonly asked questions regarding fertility preservation adn egg freezing. Have questions about infertility?  Visit FertilityDocsUncensored.com to ask our docs. Selected questions will be answered anonymously in future episodes.Today's episode is brought to you by Needed and Cicero Diagnostics 

Have you heard these myths about balancing medicine and fertility? Myth 1: You have to sacrifice your career for your family. Myth 2: Fertility treatments always work. Myth 3: You can't have it all. Join my special guest today, Dr. Erica Bove, as she shares her story of practicing medicine on her own terms while navigating fertility challenges. From breaking free of traditional constraints to empowering women physicians, her path to achieving work-life balance and informed fertility decisions will inspire you. “This was the first time in six years I had cried. And I remember having this image of this open, gaping wound.” -Dr. Erica Bove Key Takeaways Discover the transformative impact of coaching on increasing self-awareness and personal growth. Overcome the barriers of perfectionism and self-doubt to unlock your full potential in both your professional and personal life. Learn effective strategies for balancing the demands of your career with your personal priorities and well-being. Gain insights into the unique fertility challenges faced by female physicians and how to navigate them with confidence. Understand the importance of proactive fertility preservation and make informed decisions about your reproductive health. About Dr. Erica Bove Erica Bove, MD, is a double board certified OB-GYN and Reproductive Endocrinologist (REI) physician at the University of Vermont, as well as a certified life coach through The Life Coach School. She is also the founder of Love and Science: Thriving Through Infertility. She has a keen interest in marrying an evidence-based approach with intuitive knowing in the context of a trusting relationship. She is beyond excited to bring coaching skills and paradigms to help women professionals thrive while undergoing fertility treatments. She is an expert in the field of sex and intimacy, as well as embodiment and mindful self compassion. She believes that the best outcomes are obtained when the whole person is seen and understood. Her mission is to heal and support the healers and to create a legacy she is proud of. If you're curious: Undergrad: University of Notre Dame Med school: University of Vermont Residency: New York Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia Fellowship: University of Michigan Find Out More Linked In: www.linkedin.com/in/erica-bove-0701a0173 IG: https://www.instagram.com/loveandsciencefertility/ FB: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553692167183 Key Moments 00:00:00 - Empowering Women in Medicine 00:02:38 - Recognizing Unmet Needs 00:06:04 - The Power of Coaching 00:09:57 - Challenging Limiting Beliefs 00:11:41 - Rethinking Success and Reality 00:12:15 - Internal Success Metrics 00:13:18 - Creating Job Flexibility 00:15:24 - Job Transition and New Opportunities 00:21:02 - Fertility Coaching Practice 00:24:06 - Addressing Emotions and Priority Shifts in Infertility Journey 00:26:06 - Increased Risk of Infertility in Surgeons 00:28:00 - Fertility Preservation and Support for Surgery Residents 00:29:51 - Proactive Approach to Fertility Awareness 00:33:28 - Creating a Supportive Culture in Medicine

Rabbi Elan Segelman, Rabbinic Director of PUAH in America, educates us on scientific & halachic developments in the field of fertility preservation. He explains why both men and women should be informed about this very sensitive and impactful subject. Rabbi Segelman is also the Rabbi of the Young Israel of Hancock Park, CA.Hosted by Randi Wartelsky.

In this episode of The Ribbon Box Podcast, we're joined by TFP Thames Valley Fertility Embryology Manager Danielle Breen and TFP Oxford Fertility Donation & Surrogacy Lead Stacey Rohling, to chat through using donor eggs, and the latest on fertility preservation. In this episode, we cover;How do patients tend to get started with fertility preservation?What is tissue freezing?How long can we keep eggs, sperm, embryos and tissues frozen for? Is there a time limit? What's the best age to freeze our eggs? And what about sperm? And many more.If you need more support – or to get started with fertility preservation, donor egg conception, or any of the topics we've covered today, touch base with the amazing team at TFP Fertility.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/fertility-spingboard/exclusive-content

Dr. Kara Goldman, Medical Director of Fertility Preservation, Northwestern Medicine, joins John Williams to talk about the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos created through IVF are considered children under state law. Dr. Goldman explains how this ruling is having profound implications across the U.S., what we should know about how IVF works, the […]

Dr. Kara Goldman, Medical Director of Fertility Preservation, Northwestern Medicine, joins John Williams to talk about the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos created through IVF are considered children under state law. Dr. Goldman explains how this ruling is having profound implications across the U.S., what we should know about how IVF works, the […]

Dr. Kara Goldman, Medical Director of Fertility Preservation, Northwestern Medicine, joins John Williams to talk about the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos created through IVF are considered children under state law. Dr. Goldman explains how this ruling is having profound implications across the U.S., what we should know about how IVF works, the […]

Scientists at Yale think freezing ovarian tissue at a young age could help us to postpone or event prevent the onset of menopause altogether. Jonathan speaks to Dr Kutluk Oktay, Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, and Director of the Laboratory of Fertility Preservation and Molecular Reproductive Biology at the Yale School of Medicine.

You know that I love talking about technology that can improve fertility care. I'm so excited to have Dr. Catha Fischer on The Egg Whisperer Show podcast. She is up to date and knowledgeable about some of the newest fertility trends and she's going to talk to us about several of them today! These include PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma), MRT (mitochondrial replacement therapy), polygenic screening and more. She practices at Spring Fertility New York where she is the Director of Fertility Preservation. As a fertility specialist, she is committed to providing exceptional care and a compassionate experience for her patients. Click to find The Egg Whisperer Show podcast on your favorite podcasting app. Find Dr. Catha Fischer's at Spring Fertility, here. Do you have questions about IVF?Click here to join Dr. Aimee for The IVF Class. The next live class call is on Monday, February 12, 2024 at 4pm PST, where Dr. Aimee will explain IVF and there will be time to ask her your questions live on Zoom.   Looking for the best products to support you while you're TTC? Get Dr. Aimee's brand new Conception Kit here.   Dr. Aimee Eyvazzadeh is one of America's most well known fertility doctors. Her success rate at baby-making is what gives future parents hope when all hope is lost. She pioneered the TUSHY Method and BALLS Method to decrease your time to pregnancy. Learn more about the TUSHY Method and find a wealth of fertility resources at www.draimee.org  where you can schedule a consultation. More ways to connect with Dr. Aimee: Subscribe to my YouTube channel for more fertility tips! Subscribe to the newsletter to get updatesFollow on Instagram

Shauna and Rosalina welcome Maddy Pollack and Shannon Cury, survivors of Hodgkin's and Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and the cohosts of the podcast "Cancer Actually Fucking Sucks." In this episode, Maddy and Shannon discuss their individual experiences with navigating an under-30 diagnosis, IVF, cancer survivorship, and the tools they used to reconnect their bodies and minds. They share their personal reasons for starting their own podcast and the tough decision to end their show in early 2024. Although the podcast is ending, Maddy and Shannon are excited to expand their coaching careers and continue to help others in their health journeys.Episode Timestamps:[00:02:35] Maddy's Cancer Diagnosis[00:05:38] Shannon's Cancer Diagnosis[00:11:13] The "Good" Cancer[00:12:34] Fertility Preservation[00:27:56] Genetic Testing[00:31:31] Finding Your Support Community[00:37:45] Starting Cancer Actually Fucking Sucks[00:46:47] Stopping the Podcast[00:54:26] Cancer and Your Identity[01:02:14] Lifestyle Changes[01:14:59] Health Coaching and BreathworkYou can find Maddy and Shannon, their coaching programs, and their podcast on Instagram:@maddypollak_health@shancury@canceractuallysuckspodWebsite links can be found in their IG bios.You can follow us on Instagram @TYFTSpodcast and email us at tyftspodcast@gmail.comPlease consider donating to our "Buy Me A Coffee" page. Your generous support will greatly assist us in continuing to produce quality content for our listeners. Every donation will get a shoutout on our podcast, as well as a free TYFTS sticker.www.buymeacoffee.com/tyftspodcastIf you want to submit a quote about your breast cancer journey, visit the link below: Submit A Quote

Fertility preservation for those undergoing gender-affirming transition is an important area of reproductive medicine. In this episode, Anne and Ruby are talking with Dr. Lynn Davis about how fertility options may be dependent on age, the gametes involved (i.e. sperm or eggs) and the stage of gender-affirming care.  Dr. Davis started her educational journey with a double major in Biology and Psychology from the University of Virginia, followed by her MD from the University of Colorado and OB/GYN residency from Harvard. She concluded her training with her REI Fellowship at Stanford University, where she also completed a postdoctoral Fellowship at the Stanford Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality, and served as Clinical Instructor in the Department of OB/GYN. Dr. Davis developed and now leads SRM's Fertility Preservation Program, a specialized approach that assists those who need assisted reproductive technology to efficiently delay family building. Sometimes it's a question of timing. For example, those born with testicles do not begin producing sperm until puberty (a process known as spermatogenesis). So if an individual with testes chooses to go on gender-affirming puberty blockers, they may not yet produce sperm. While puberty blockers can prevent bodies from undergoing unwanted physical changes (development of facial hair, lower voice, etc.), it may also mean little or no sperm to freeze for fertility preservation.  For those who have undergone natal puberty, it is possible to interrupt gender-affirming hormones in an attempt to resume spermatogenesis and freeze sperm for later use. However, there is a chance the process may not result in viable sperm. The experience coming off gender-affirming hormones also needs to be considered; for some, it can be a distressing, dysphoric experience.  Options for those with ovaries are also dependent on puberty and stage of gender-affirming treatment. Dr. Davis discusses the options for ovary stimulation, egg retrieval, ovarian tissue cryopreservation, and all the nuanced considerations along the way. Be sure to tune in for this important and fascinating conversation.   You can learn more about Dr. Lynn Davis and reproductive endocrinology at www.seattlefertility.com.  You can also find Anne and Ruby there. Hear more episodes of The Whole Pineapple at thewholepineapple.com.

A diagnosis of cancer or other serious condition is bad enough — dealing with tests, treatments, insurance, uncertainty, as well as the illness — but knowing that the condition or its treatments can also cause infertility…. It just feels so horribly unfair. The good news is for many, that diagnosis doesn't have to equal the end of fertility. The landscape for patients has changed. In this episode, Ruby and Anne talk with fellow Seattle Reproductive Medicine provider and reproductive endocrinologist Dr. Lynn Davis about options for preserving fertility. Dr. Davis started her educational journey with a double major in Biology and Psychology from the University of Virginia, followed by her MD from the University of Colorado and OB/GYN residency from Harvard. She concluded her training with her REI Fellowship at Stanford University, where she also completed a postdoctoral Fellowship at the Stanford Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality, and served as Clinical Instructor in the Department of OB/GYN. Dr. Davis developed and now leads SRM's Fertility Preservation Program, a specialized approach that assists those who need assisted reproductive technology to efficiently delay family building. So, what are some of the options? Gamete freezing — sperm, eggs, maybe even embryos — may provide additional options for post-treatment family building. If the patient is pre-menarchal (hasn't had their first period), then stimulating the ovaries to freeze eggs is not possible, but ovarian tissue freezing may allow options for future fertility and hormone function. The best option for anyone in this position is to talk with your care team and a fertility expert to learn what the possibilities are for you. As ever, please do share this episode with anyone you know who might need both the knowledge and the hope this conversation brings! You can learn more about Dr. Lynn Davis and reproductive endocrinology at www.seattlefertility.com.  You can also find Anne and Ruby there. Hear more episodes of The Whole Pineapple at thewholepineapple.com.

Today on the podcast, I'm sharing part two of a two part series of interviews with the founders of The Chick Mission which is a national foundation that is working together to preserve hope, sanity, and choice for women battling cancer. They are focused on making sure that all women diagnosed with cancer have the financial support, educational information, and legislative advocacy to preserve their fertility. After personal experiences, founders Amanda Rice and Tracy Weiss came together to make sure that all cancer patients have a full life with options to grow a family, after they beat the disease. Tracy Weiss is the Executive Director of Chick Mission. She is also a cancer survivor who was diagnosed with cancer at the age 30. Her insurance company denied her claim to preserve her fertility, describing it as an ‘elective' procedure. Tracy partnered with Amanda to start The Chick Mission to help other women facing the same challenges. Read the article on Dr. Aimee's Website. Subscribe to my YouTube channel for more fertility tips! Join Egg Whisperer School Subscribe to the newsletter to get updates Dr. Aimee Eyvazzadeh is one of America's most well known fertility doctors. Her success rate at baby-making is what gives future parents hope when all hope is lost. She pioneered the TUSHY Method and BALLS Method to decrease your time to pregnancy. Learn more about the TUSHY Method and find a wealth of fertility resources at www.draimee.org.

Today on the podcast, I'm airing part one of a two part series of interviews with the founders of The Chick Mission, which is a national foundation that is working to preserve hope, sanity, and choice for women battling cancer. And, they are focused on making sure that all women diagnosed with cancer have the financial support, educational information, and legislative advocacy to preserve their fertility. After personal experiences, founders Amanda Rice and Tracy Weiss came together to make sure that all cancer patients have a full life with options to grow a family. Today's interview is with Amanda Rice, who is the Founder and a 3-time Cancer Survivor. The Chick Mission hatched when Amanda's fertility preservation coverage was denied by her insurance company. After chemo, radiation and long-term drug therapy, she started fertility treatment. She's focused on helping other patients find ways to cover the costs of fertility preservation, as socioeconomic standing should not be a factor in anyone wanting to pursue having biological children after they are diagnosed with cancer. Read the article on Dr. Aimee's Website. Subscribe to my YouTube channel for more fertility tips! Join Egg Whisperer School Checkout the podcast Subscribe to the newsletter to get updates Dr. Aimee Eyvazzadeh is one of America's most well known fertility doctors. Her success rate at baby-making is what gives future parents hope when all hope is lost. She pioneered the TUSHY Method and BALLS Method to decrease your time to pregnancy. Learn more about the TUSHY Method and find a wealth of fertility resources at www.draimee.org.

People are increasingly having children later in life and for some, the decision is to have no children at all. Those who teeter between the options, unsure of their decision, know that one thing is true; time is ticking.   Today's guest, Shannon Fender, wasn't always certain about parenthood, but at one point she realized she should put things in place in case that was something she wanted to pursue in the future. In this episode, Shannon dives into her experience with egg freezing and her gratitude for employers like hers, who have chosen to invest in the lives of their employees. Shannon is joined by Dr. Kathy Hong, an REI from RMA of NJ, where she describes the medical preparation and procedure that's part of the egg freezing process.   Guests: Shannon Fender, Progyny member, Dr. Kathy Hong, RMA of New Jersey  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.  

 A cancer diagnosis is often life changing, but many people don't realize that the side effects can be just as serious, like the risk of infertility. Patients only have a short window of time to preserve their fertility through sperm or egg retrieval. An expert explains what the process looks like for both genders and why we need to increase access to fertility clinics. Learn More: https://radiohealthjournal.org/why-fertility-preservation-is-crucial-for-cancer-patients Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Do you know anyone who has had difficulty having children? You might.  Data suggests that one out of five people experience fertility challenges. This is one reason I am so excited to chat with Dr. Famuyiwa. Dr. Oluyemisi Famuyiwa is a double board-certified fertility specialist, the founder of Montgomery Fertility Center, and an Associate Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at George Washington University School of Medicine. She loves the basic science behind (egg formation) oogenesis. She loves to share that knowledge in easy-to-understand terms, believing that empowering women helps them make the right choices for themselves. Dr. Famuyiwa launched the most diverse Egg Bank in the Northeast, helping patients from all backgrounds complete their families and putting donor safety first.  It is well known that individuals wishing to find donated embryos from minority backgrounds had to wait up to 3 years. She understands the dire need for embryo donations from diverse backgrounds.  Contact Dr. Famuyiwa https://www.linkedin.com/in/yemi-famuyiwa/ https://youtube.com/@montgomeryfertilitycenter8207TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@mfcenterhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/montgomery-fertility-center/mycompany/?viewAsMember=truehttps://www.facebook.com/MontgomeryFertilityCenter/https://www.facebook.com/montgomery.fertility/https://twitter.com/MontgomeryF_Chttps://www.instagram.com/montgomeryfertility/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/urcaringdocs/message

This week, we sit down with Alice Rhoton-Vlasak, MD and Lauren Staley, ARNP to discuss fertility preservation in oncology patients.Alice Rhoton-Vlasak, MD, is a board-certified, fellowship-trained reproductive endocrinologist and a professor at the University of Florida Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology working in the division of reproductive endocrinology and infertility. Many of her clinical efforts have focused on fertility and fertility preservation in cancer patients. She started a program called the UF Health HOPE network. This program has three prongs, including research, clinical, and education for all healthcare providers to become familiar with fertility preservation services. Lauren has worked at the University of Florida in the Division of Pediatric Oncology since 2011, serving as the Pediatric Solid Tumor Coordinator. She completed training through the NIH-funded ENRICH (Educating Nurses about Reproductive Issues in Cancer Healthcare) program. In 2019, Lauren joined the UF Health Reproductive Endocrinology group in the role of Oncofertility Navigator. Through this initiative, Lauren provides fertility preservation counseling for patients facing a new cancer diagnosis. 

You know that I love talking about technology that can improve fertility care. I'm so excited to have Dr. Catha Fischer on The Egg Whisperer Show podcast. She is up to date and knowledgeable about some of the newest fertility trends and she's going to talk to us about several of them today! These include PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma), MRT (mitochondrial replacement therapy), polygenic screening and more. She practices at Spring Fertility New York where she is the Director of Fertility Preservation. As a fertility specialist, she is committed to providing exceptional care and a compassionate experience for her patients. Click to find The Egg Whisperer Show podcast on your favorite podcasting app. Find Dr. Catha Fischer's at Spring Fertility, here. Do you have questions about IVF?Click here to join Dr. Aimee for The IVF Class. The next live class call is on Monday, July 31, 2023 at 4pm PST, where Dr. Aimee will explain IVF and there will be time to ask her your questions live on Zoom.   Looking for the best products to support you while you're TTC? Get Dr. Aimee's brand new Conception Kit here.   Dr. Aimee Eyvazzadeh is one of America's most well known fertility doctors. Her success rate at baby-making is what gives future parents hope when all hope is lost. She pioneered the TUSHY Method and BALLS Method to decrease your time to pregnancy. Learn more about the TUSHY Method and find a wealth of fertility resources at www.draimee.org  where you can schedule a consultation. More ways to connect with Dr. Aimee: Subscribe to my YouTube channel for more fertility tips! Subscribe to the newsletter to get updatesFollow on Instagram

A breast cancer diagnosis can impact fertility and family planning.  Today we're speaking with Dr. Famuyiwa (aka Dr. Yemi) as she breaks down options available for young women faced with a breast cancer diagnosis.As each patient is different, please discuss all treatment options with your doctor.Instagram: @thebreastcancerpodcast

Join Dr. Roeca & I for a discussion on the vital topic of fertility preservation. Learn about the reasons behind why she is so passionate for supporting her clients as a reproductive endocrinologist at Shady Grove Fertility in Denver.  We cover her commitment to preserving options for fertility support and providing resources and access to individuals faced with various challenges. We also explore the crucial role of oncologists and the collaborative efforts between them and fertility doctors. Dr. Roeca sheds light on the initial steps involved in getting a fertility preservation consultation, especially when faced with a diagnosis such as cancer.Another important area we discuss is the pressing issue of fertility preservation for female physicians. Discover the startling statistic that one in four doctors is struggling with fertility challenges and gain valuable insights into the options for both men and women to preserve their fertility.Furthermore, we discuss the financial resources and coverage to support individuals on their fertility preservation journey. This enriching conversation is packed with invaluable nuggets of information that you won't want to miss.For more information, reach out to Dr. Roeca at Shady Grove Fertility at https://www.shadygrovefertility.com/.You're Invited!! JOIN the 2024 MOON MAGIC & MANIFESTATION community https://ivfmanifestingamiracle.com/moon-magic-2024CONNECT with Lisa & get IVF COACHING SUPPORT https://ivfmanifestingamiracle.com BOOK a complimentary DISCOVERY CALL: https://ivfmanifestingamiracle.as.me/20-min-discovery-callFERTILTIY HYPNOTHERAPY SUPPORThttps://ivfmanifestingamiracle.com/hypnotherapy-programORDER BOOK: ‘HOLD ON, BABY! A Soulful Guide to Navigating the Ups & Downs of Infertility & IVF.'https://ivfmanifestingamiracle.com/holdonbabyInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ivf.manifesting.a.miracle/LISTEN to the PODCAST on Apple and Spotify:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/soulful-ivf/id1661561097**Please Rate the show & Subscribe! THANK YOU so much for your Reviews of the podcast - It means the absolute world! Music Credit Closing Song by Sam Costigan. Follow her on Spotify and IG ...

Welcome to Part 2 of my mini series in partnership with , a customer-owned ethical bank and a certified B Corp, to make pregnancy finances less overwhelming. In today's episode we cover the cost of Fertility Treatment with Dr Violet Kieu, consultant gynaecologist specialising in fertility, reproductive endocrinology, and fertility preservation Planning a pregnancy is one thing, successfully conceiving is another. One in six Australian couples will seek fertility treatment, for both medical and/or social infertility. In this episode I chat to highly regarded fertility specialist, Dr Violet Kieu about infertility, recommended lifestyle changes and what you can expect from the intrauterine insemination (IUI) and invitro fertilisation (IVF) process. The financial costs are significant, especially if treatment is ongoing. However, it's really difficult to give exact figures considering every person's infertility experience is different, as are the investigations, tests and procedures that are recommended. If we're talking ballpark figures, you can expect to pay $1500 for IUI after a Medicare rebate and roughly $5500 for each round of IVF. There are also publicly-funded fertility clinics and while the waitlists are long (and often time is something you don't want to waste), they do make both IUI and IVF significantly more affordable. Consider this episode a thorough guide to your fertility treatment options.   

Dr. Leslie Appiah is a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Chief of the Division of Academic Specialists in Obstetrics and Gynecology at The University of Colorado School of Medicine and Children's Hospital Colorado. She is a fellowship-trained pediatric and adolescent gynecologist and Director of the Fertility Preservation and Reproductive Late Effects program at the Comprehensive Cancer Center and Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders. Dr. Appiah's clinical and research interests include team science and outcomes research in pediatric, adolescent, and young adult fertility preservation, reproductive late effects in cancer survivorship, and hormone replacement therapy in the medically complex patient. She is passionate about improving the health of girls and women so that they may pursue life, career, and education unencumbered by reproductive health concerns. She is also an alumnus of our Get That Grant® coaching program!Listen in as we discuss her coaching journey and: How to say NO with pleasure, peace, and confidence as a leader with many varying responsibilitiesHow keying into her energy balance has improved her productivity and leadership ability How she *finally* shifted away from the strategy she learned in every other coaching experience and found greater balance AND impactHer advice to mid and senior-level academics thinking about coaching and want to experience a similar transformation as she did  Loved this convo? Please go find Dr. Appiah and show her some love on Twitter @DrLeslieAppiah and Instagram @drleslieappiahIf you'd like to learn more foundational career navigation concepts for women of color in academic medicine and public health, sign up for our KD Coaching Foundations Series: www.kemidoll.com/foundations.

We don't know about y'all, but we're two 30 somethings who have never considered what options we have when it comes to fertility preservation and family planning. If you're scratching your head and saying to yourself, “fertility preservation???” you might want to stick around!  This week, Germani and Brittany are joined by Titi and Zakiya, hosts of Dope Labs Podcast. Titi and Zakiya are not only best friends, but two Black Women Scientists and today they're bringing their scientific expertise to The BGB to discuss what it means to be a Black woman exploring the vast world of fertility. In this episode we discuss: The value in understanding your fertility options and exercising your choices Our personal feelings around pressure to start reproducing How to ask your healthcare provider to assess your fertility And much more! This week's gems:  Flow and Eve: Period/Ovulation Tracker App  Uphill: A Memoir by Jemele Hill Join us on our She Connects: Unlocking Sister Retreat here. Support us on Patreon | Get Bravado bonus content + special discounts! Shop our Merch here! Connect with us: Instagram Website  Twitter Facebook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-black-girl-bravado1502/donations