Infertile AF

If you've been following the secondary infertility story of our beloved recurring guest, Stacy, you know that she’s gone through so much: multiple miscarriages, two IVF cycles, and sadness, disappointment and frustration that isn't quantifiable. Today, in parts 4 and 5, Stacy tells us what happened with her second retrieval (hint: it includes running down the freeway with a bag full of needles), the "whole new stress" she's been feeling, and the results of her first embryo transfer.

You might know Bridget Marquardt from the reality series "The Girls Next Door," which depicted her life as one of Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner's girlfriends. Today, Ali—a Playboy mag editor for 10 years—talks to Bridget about freezing her eggs while living at the Mansion, being terrified of needles, the "emotional, financial and physical roller coaster" of infertility, the devastation she felt when none of her eggs survived the thaw, and where she and her fiance, Nick, are in their journey now.

This is the story of Vanessa, a.k.a. "Mama," and Jory, a.k.a. "Mommy," who live in California and have two adorable toddlers, Axel and Lexa. Today, Vanessa tells Ali all about how she and her wife conceived their two children via at-home insemination (and why her wife carried one and she carried the other); the dumb things people say to her at the park (ie: asking her if she's the nanny to her redheaded son); why she jokes about wanting to have a "redo" pregnancy; and the benefits of babywearing.

In 2017, Agnes Fischer wrote a book, "Eggs Unscrambled," the girlfriend's guide to everything you need to know about your reproductive organs, including freezing your eggs. Today, Agnes talks to Ali about avoiding pregnancy in her early 20s and early 30s, how women are conditioned to think they have to breed, "fertility treatment light," IUIs and IVF, her blog, "FrozenPlease.com," how her book became her "baby" and why today, she's passionate about fertility awareness.

Today, Ali talks to Dara, a registered dietitian at the fertility clinic Reproductive Medicine Associates (RMA) of New York, about her own infertility struggles. Dara discusses having PCOS as well as toxic fluid in both her fallopian tubes, requiring surgery to block them off. Also covered: Feeling shameful about her chemical pregnancy, getting pregnant twice more through IVF, and the dietary advice she gives to women who are trying to have babies. 

Today, Naomi, a 24-year-old living in England, talks to Ali about being faced with the most difficult decision of her life: Having to decide what to do when, halfway through her pregnancy, doctors discovered that her son, Bear, had a congenital heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot. Naomi gets real about making the decision they did and why; telling her son, Tristan, why his brother wouldn't be coming home with them; and how the grief of having a stillborn baby affected her relationship.

Today, Ali talks to Anna Victoria—the fitness entrepreneur and influencer behind the hugely popular Fit Body App—about the painful infertility road she's been traveling with her husband, Luca. Anna Victoria gets into some real talk, including two failed IUIs; how not being able to work out has affected her emotional and physical health, and the frustrations of being told by doctors that things look "perfect," even though she's still not able to conceive.

Today, Ali welcomes back her #ttcsister and recurring guest Stacy, who is taking us along as she straps into her secondary infertility roller coaster ride. When we last spoke to Stacy, she was in the middle of her very first IVF cycle. Now, she fills us in on how that first cycle and retrieval went, why she and Ari decided to do a second IVF cycle right away--and how she manages when things are "just totally out of our control."

Today, Ali talks to Nichelle Sublett, Mrs. North Carolina 2018, about the five painful years of infertility she endured—and why she chose to spread awareness about infertility after winning the pageant. Nichelle is finally pregnant with a baby boy, due at the end of August, and here she recalls her "horrible" path, including PCOS, five miscarriages, IVF, considering a surrogate, marital strain, and why, in the African-American community, infertility and pregnancy loss "just aren't talked about."

Amanda Rice is a self-proclaimed "cancer overachiever" who was diagnosed with—and beat—cancer three times before turning 40. She’s also the badass founder of Chick Mission, a nonprofit that gives young women who are diagnosed with cancer scholarships to freeze their eggs. Today, Amanda talks about getting brushed off by doctors, her bilateral mastectomy, "dress-up chemo,” an egg retrieval that went horribly wrong, overcoming depression and how creating Chick Mission has given her—and so many other

Today we meet Shira, a brilliant lawyer, amazing mom, and Ali's friend from SoulCycle, who opens up about her intense, emotional struggle with infertility. Shira details everything she went through, including an unexpected diagnosis of endometriosis "everywhere," getting pregnant after two years of trying, and the brutal decision she and her husband had to make when they found out that one of their twins, while in utero, had almost no amniotic fluid. Warning: This one's a tearjerker.

Ali’s guest today is Dr. Mark Trolice, an OB/GYN and reproductive endocrinologist who runs Fertility CARE in Winter Park, Florida. Marks gets real about the 10 years of infertility he and his wife experienced before adopting their five children. He calls infertility "a life crisis" and how not being able to help his wife caused him to "spiral down into an abyss of despair." Mark's book, "The Fertility Doctor's Guide to Overcoming Infertility," comes out this October.

On today's episode, Ali talks to Elli, an American living in Paris, about how different infertility is in France versus the U.S. Case in point: The health care system in France covers fertility treatments (for free!) up to a woman's 43rd birthday. Elli talks about being on the Pill for 20 years, going down an internet rabbit hole, one very insensitive doctor she came across, being in a "really negative place," and finally, after years of trying, how she and her husband finally had a healthy baby boy.

Today, Ali checks in with Stacy, her first recurring guest, as she goes through her secondary infertility journey. When we left off, Stacy had suffered three miscarriages and was about to start her very first IVF cycle. Now, she's 9 days into it, and she's sharing all the details, from waking up at 5:30am to do her injections to what happened when the hormonal and emotional side of everything kicked in, taking her by surprise.

On today’s episode, Ali talks to Melissa, a friend from high school who reached out in the hopes that her complicated infertility story would help other people. In addition to severe endometriosis and other health issues that left her in and out of the hospital for years, Melissa gets candid about her seven cycles of IVF, the devastating double miscarriage and the decision she and her husband, Matt, made about using donor eggs to finally have their healthy, beautiful daughter.