Welcome to this mini episode of The Fertility Podcast, where Natalie is joined by author, adventurer, and fertility campaigner Jessica Hepburn to explore the powerful role of nature in healing during fertility struggles. Natalie and Jessica recently spent the weekend together at the Love Her Wild North event embracing the power of community in the natural world.

What we discuss:

-The outdoors and your mental health when you are in a fertility hole

-Love her Wild and the benefits of it for the fertility community. Love her Wild is about women who love the outdoors or want to get to love them - there were people talking about massive adventures and those sharing their little adventures.

-Jessica touches on her fertility journey involving multiple losses, 11 rounds of IVF

-How nature saved her life after Project Baby and at age 43 she made the decision to pursue adventure and nature.

-How the outdoors merges with the fertility world with Natalie and Jessica

-Nature is a healer, from looking at the birds in your garden or learning about trees to going on journeys.

-The importance of living in the wait rather than waiting to live and how nature can be enjoyed for FREE

-Getting into green will shift things - it won’t change what you are going through right now and the hardness or the outcome but it will help you find those pockets of joy.

-How starting a blessing book really helped her during the hardest times of her treatment

-Going for a walk, listening to a podcast, or walking in silence with a friend you can connect with or talk about anything.

-Jessica talks bout her 2nd book 21 days and how she found acceptance and found other ways to be happy yet she will always carry a sadness from not being a mother.

-‘Melonjoy’ - that feeling when someone tells you that they’re pregnant and you are not and it’s what you want more than anything. You feel happy for them but sad for you at the same time.. a fusion of melancholy and joy and it’s a real thing you can feel both at the same time…

Links & Resources:

Let’s Stay Connected

• DM Natalie on Instagram: @fertilitypoddy
• Follow Fertility Action: @fertility.action
• Email thoughts or guest ideas: natalie@thefertilitypodcast.com
• Subscribe on your podcast app to stay updated

Follow Jessica:

Jessica discusses her newest book 'Save me from the Waves'

Jessica's first ever chat on The Fertility Podcastin 2014

Follow Love Her Wild

Find out more about Jessica's work, her books and her adventures here Connect with Jessica on Instagram

🎧 Subscribe to The Fertility Podcast for more episodes offering support, stories, and real talk about fertility.

In this episode, Natalie is speaking to an amazing fertility advocate who she’s known in this space for almost a decade, yet this is the first conversation the pair of them have had on the podcast. Andrea Syrtash is the Founder and Editor in Chief of Pregnantish.

Pregnantish went live in 2017, and Andrea describes it as “the state you’re in when trying to conceive,” which the pair go on to discuss.

• Andrea’s diagnosis of Endometriosis at 14 years old and how she was put on the pill and could go to school and function, having been really suffering
• Andrea discusses the 18 treatments she had: IUIs, egg retrievals over many years
• How she got pregnant from IUI and why she continued down that route—despite that pregnancy not continuing—as they had access to unlimited IUI and 3 rounds of IVF
• How in Year 5 a Canadian doctor told her: “It should have worked by now. You produce beautiful embryos and should be pregnant by now,” and that she needed to consider gestational surrogacy
• The grief and acceptance of not being able to use her own body—and the relief she felt having had to deal with so many losses anymore
• Her work as an author and relationship coach and the impact it had on her relationship, and how her TV profile impacted her life at that time
• How she launched Pregnantish as a relationship platform
• “This is as much a relationship issue as a physical, financial, mental and emotional journey.”
• How launching the platform was the greatest gift—sharing other people’s stories helped her navigate her own experience, and Natalie talks about how the podcast was also her therapy
• How her cousin Alana was her surrogate and their surrogacy pathway was in Canada, yet two dropped out including one ghosting her just before the transfer
• In 2018, her depression after the second surrogate had dropped out and how her cousin offered to be her surrogate, using Andrea’s frozen embryo which had been in the freezer for 2 years
• Her retrieval was two years to the day before it was transferred into her cousin
• How her cousin sought advice from her Rabbi and how the Jewish press reacted, as it hadn’t been spoken about
• The significance of trying to rebuild their family as so many members of their family were lost in the Second World War, in Hungary
• The selflessness of surrogates and what surrogates have to tell their family and friends—how her cousin talked to her children and how they were scared to see Andrea as they thought her belly was broken and would be bleeding
• Link to previous episodes about Surrogacy, Donation, and Pregnantish
• The World Fertility Awards—happening in New York in December for all patient advocates
• Host committees across around 10 regions worldwide: Europe, Middle East, Africa, Latin America, North America, India, and Australia
• Pregnantish reaches hundreds of thousands of people each month, sometimes over 1 million—it’s a global audience
• Join the pledge for the World Fertility Project—asking people to take a pledge, aiming for 1 million signatures to change the conversation
• How Andrea feels about the fertility conversation in the patient space today
• Regions of the world where people are so scared about saying out loud they are infertile
• Natalie shares a story she had printed in a tabloid
• How more companies are giving people the chance to opt out of Mother’s Day and Father’s Day emails

World Fertility...

In this episode of The Fertility Podcast, Natalie sits down with Sian Louise, founder of OBVS Skincare, to explore how one woman turned personal loss, infertility, and cervical cancer into a mission to create safe, effective, and hormone-friendly skincare.

Sian opens up about her fertility journey, including multiple miscarriages, the emotional impact of IVF, her cancer diagnosis, and how hormonal acne during treatment became the catalyst for OBVS Skincare. She also shares evidence-based insights into harmful skincare ingredients, like microplastics and endocrine disruptors, and how they may impact fertility.

This conversation is part of the Meet the Makers series, celebrating founders whose lived experience with fertility has inspired impactful, purpose-driven businesses.

What We Talk About

• Sian’s IVF journey, miscarriages, and cancer diagnosis
• How hormonal acne during IVF led to creating OBVS Skincare
• The lack of awareness around skincare ingredients and fertility
• What endocrine disruptors are and how they affect hormones
• How Sian built her certified organic, vegan skincare line from scratch
• Her passion for educating people on safe alternatives
• The impact of OBVS products on real families and babies
• Why advocating for yourself in medical settings is essential
• Sian’s advice for managing skin health during fertility treatment

Resources & Links

• OBVS Skincare website: obvs-skincare.co.uk
• OBVS on Instagram: @obvs_skincare
• Sian’s ingredient call-outs on Instagram: @sian_louise_obvs
• Beat the Microbead App: beatthemicrobead.org
• Studies on skincare ingredients and fertility, including:
• Parabens in breast tumors (Darbre et al., 2004)
• Endocrine disruption from butylparaben (Boberg et al., 2010)
• Prenatal phthalate exposure (Swan et al., 2005)
• Benzophenone’s thyroid effects (Schmutzler et al., 2007)
• Microplastics in cosmetics (TAUW & ECHA reports)
• Campaign for Safe Cosmetics report: Not So Sexy

Let’s Stay Connected

• DM Natalie on Instagram: @fertilitypoddy
• Follow Fertility Action: @fertility.action
• Email thoughts or guest ideas: natalie@thefertilitypodcast.com
• Subscribe on your podcast app to stay updated

A Word From Our Sponsor – Proceive

We’re delighted to be partnering with Proceive this season. Their high-strength fertility supplements for men and women are trusted by healthcare professionals and available in-store at Holland & Barrett or online.

Use code FP20 for 20 percent off your order at www.proceive.com

In this powerful Pride Month episode of The Fertility Podcast, Natalie is joined by the inspiring Laura-Rose Thorogood, founder of LGBT Mummies, CEO of Make Births Better, and proud mother of four donor-conceived children.

Laura-Rose shares her raw and deeply personal fertility journey, from IUI and IVF to pregnancy loss, secondary infertility, and birth trauma. But this episode is about more than just personal experience. It’s about advocacy, equity, and making space for every type of family.

You’ll also hear why she joined Fertility Action as a Trustee, her take on what’s missing in fertility funding for the LGBTQ+ community, and what real inclusion should look like in the workplace and beyond.

What We Talk About

• Laura-Rose’s decade-long fertility journey, loss, trauma, and family joy
• Why she founded LGBT Mummies and how it grew into a global community
• The impact of systemic discrimination, lack of inclusive funding, and workplace inequality
• Fertility justice, policy change, and recent campaign work in Parliament
• How co-production, safe spaces, and queer representation are key to lasting change
• Practical advice for anyone feeling overwhelmed or unsupported in their journey
• Why emotional safety and peer support are essential for LGBTQ+ people navigating fertility

Links and Resources

• LGBT Mummies website
• LGBT Mummies on LinkedIn
• Facebook
• TikTok
• Threads
• Fertility Action

Let’s Stay Connected

• DM Natalie on Instagram: @fertilitypoddy
• Follow Fertility Action: @fertilityaction
• Email thoughts or guest ideas: natalie@thefertilitypodcast.com
• Subscribe on your podcast app to stay updated

A Word From Our Sponsor – Proceive

We’re delighted to be partnering with Proceive this season. Their high-strength fertility supplements for men and women are trusted by healthcare professionals and available in-store at Holland & Barrett or online.

Use code FP20 for 20 percent off your order at www.proceive.com

In this episode of The Fertility Podcast, we’re lifting the lid on Endometriosis what it is, what’s still misunderstood, and how change is (finally) coming.

You'll hear from Brianna Stayt an Endometriosis UK ambassador sharing her 20-year journey and incredible awareness raising events - Natalie was hosting the event and as well as chatting with Brianna, spoke with Professor Adnan Bunkheila, Endometriosis nurse Sam Robinson and her daughter Shannon. The episode is then a fascinating conversation with Professor Andrew Horne , leading Endometriosis researcher and the Director of the Centre for Reproductive Health at the University of Edinburgh.

• Why diagnosis takes years and how we can change that
• What endometriosis really is (and why "stages" don’t tell the full story)
• The wide range of symptoms: pain, fatigue, gut issues, fertility struggles
• How mental health, diet & acupuncture can support care see below links to research
• The realities and limitations of hysterectomy as a treatment
• The Endo1000 Project: using AI, smartwatches & patient diaries to revolutionize research
• Where to find help, support, and community

Whether you’re living with endometriosis or supporting someone who is, this episode is full of insight, hope, and real-world advice.

• Endometriosis UK
• Fertility Action –weekly support groups & free advocacy tools
• Endo1000 Project details
• The Guardian article about Andrew's paper:
• The paper:

• DM me on Instagram: @fertilitypoddy
• Follow @fertilityaction for updates
• Email: natalie@thefertilitypodcast.com
• Hit subscribe so you never miss an episode

We're delighted to be partnering with Proceive this season. If you're trying to conceive, you’ll want to check them out. Their high-strength fertility supplements are designed for both men and women and are trusted by healthcare professionals.✨Get 20% off your order at www.proceive.com using the code FP20 at checkout.

Thanks for listening. I’ve got a really good feeling about this new chapter and I hope you’ll stick with me as we keep sharing stories, raising awareness, and doing what we can to support each other through this journey

In this moving conclusion to our poetry mini-series, Natalie and Stacey bring the final chapters of Stacy’s IVF journey to life through her stunning poems. If you’ve been walking this path or loving someone who is this episode is a powerful companion.

Stacey shares not just the pain and loss, but the moments of quiet courage and the slow emergence of hope. From letting go to holding on, from disbelief to the unspoken darkness, and finally to The Light.

• The Hopeless: Letting go, hitting emotional and physical limits, and facing a new reality.
• The Disbelief: Surrendering control, choosing silence for self-preservation, and the tentative reappearance of hope.
• The Unspoken Darkness: What no one tells you about after a successful IVF — fear, anxiety, and the struggle to feel joy again.
• The Light: Healing doesn’t mean forgetting. The journey shapes us — even when the darkness begins to fade.
• Navigating pregnancy after infertility — and the neuroses it brings
• Feeling robbed of joy even after good news — and why that’s okay
• Parenting one child and answering complex questions about family and origin
• Why the pain of infertility never fully disappears, but transforms over time
• How poetry became a powerful outlet — and how you can start writing, too

"The journey shaped me. It tested me. It broke us down. It built us up. It will never fully go away — but it feels distant now. Smaller. In the rearview mirror."

Also, check out the recommended podcast Finally Pregnant by Cat Strawbridge for more on pregnancy after infertility.

This episode includes discussion of IVF trauma, pregnancy loss, PTSD, and emotional distress during and after fertility treatment. Please take care when listening, and pause if it feels overwhelming.

If you’ve made it through this three-part series — thank you. Whether you're in the thick of your fertility journey or reflecting from the other side, this series is here to hold space for all the complexity, sorrow, strength, and transformation that this experience brings.

As Stacey says, "The light for everyone is going to look a little different — whether that’s a baby or peace."

You're not alone.

Stacy’s poems are now available in a self-published collection on Amazon here

Let’s Stay Connected

💬 DM me on Instagram @fertilitypoddy

🌐 Follow @fertilityaction for updates and support

🖥 Check out their free weekly support groups and downloadable advocacy tools at fertilityaction.org

📧 Got thoughts, feedback, or ideas for future episodes? Email me at natalie@thefertilitypodcast.com

📱 Don’t forget to hit subscribe so we land in your feed each week

A Word From Our Sponsor – Proceive

We're delighted to be partnering with Proceive this season. If you're trying to conceive, you’ll want to check them out. Their high-strength fertility supplements are designed for both men and women and are trusted by healthcare professionals.

✨ Get 20% off your order at www.proceive.com using the code FP20 at checkout.

In this heartfelt episode, Natalie is speaking with Stacy, a listener who reached out to share a series of powerful, deeply personal poems written throughout her fertility experience. What began as a simple message turned into a beautiful collaboration and the start of a special three-part poetry mini-series as Natalie asked Stacy if she could record her poems and the pair talk them through - which is what you're going to hear across two episodes.

Stacy opens up about the emotional weight of infertility, the isolation she felt while navigating treatment, and how writing helped her process what words often couldn’t express. We explore the tension between staying silent and speaking out, and how she found her own balance between vulnerability and protection.

We also discuss:

• How her first poem, The Waiting Room, was born out of shared silence and communal pain and how seemingly simple questions like “How are you?” can become painfully complex
• The emotional symptoms of fertility trauma, and why it's okay to be both open and guarded
• The healing value of putting pen to paper and the power of being seen and heard
• Why poetry can provide a safe space for reflection, release, and connection
• The overwhelming pressure to "do things right" in the beginning from switching soaps to trying acupuncture and tea and the illusion of control many experience before receiving a diagnosis.
• The complexity of receiving a male factor infertility diagnosis, the emotional balancing act it requires in a relationship, and the importance of staying united as a couple.
• The lack of adequate support for male partners and the growing awareness around this gap.
• The realization: This is now my story.
• Moments of empowerment and collapse from filming herself doing shots, to sobbing on the floor after work, to injecting herself at a wedding or even in a clinic exam chair.
• The most absurd injection stories from toilets at awards shows to wedding receptions. It’s a reminder of the humor, resilience, and community in this often isolating process.

Stacy’s poems are now available in a self-published collection on Amazon here

Let’s Stay Connected

💬 DM me on Instagram @fertilitypoddy

🌐 Follow @fertilityaction for updates and support

🖥 Check out their free weekly support groups and downloadable advocacy tools at fertilityaction.org

📧 Got thoughts, feedback, or ideas for future episodes? Email me at natalie@thefertilitypodcast.com

📱 Don’t forget to hit subscribe so we land in your feed each week

A Word From Our Sponsor – Proceive

We're delighted to be partnering with Proceive this season. If you're trying to conceive, you’ll want to check them out. Their high-strength fertility supplements are designed for both men and women and are trusted by healthcare professionals.

✨ Get 20% off your order at www.proceive.com using the code FP20 at checkout.

Thanks for listening 💜

Welcome to The Fertility Podcast. This episode is something a little different and a little special. I’ve always used the podcast as a way to process, reflect, and hopefully offer support to you wherever you are on your fertility journey. But in this episode, we’re exploring how poetry can become a powerful emotional outlet especially when words are hard to find.

I’m joined by the brilliant perinatal psychologist Julianne Boutaleb (you might know her as @parenthoodinmind on Instagram), who offers her clinical and deeply human insights into fertility trauma, identity loss, and psychological support. You’ll also be hearing the beginnings of a heartfelt mini-series inspired by a listener named Stacy, who sent me a set of poems that absolutely floored me.

This episode is part one of a three-part poetry series and I would love to know what you think.

Here’s what we covered in this episode:

• What the “reproductive story” is and how infertility shatters it
• The emotional symptoms of fertility trauma, including avoidance and identity loss
• The value of early psychological support and how to tailor it to where you are in your journey
• How poetry can provide safety, validation, and emotional release
• Why Julianne and Stacey both use poetry to process their experiences
• A beautiful live reading of Julianne’s original poems: Unrequited and Waiting and Trying
• How putting pen to paper might just help you feel seen—and less alone

Thank you to Julianne and Stacy and you'll hear more from Stacy and her poems in the next two episodes so make sure you've subscribed.

Julianne’s voice always grounds me, and her words in this episode are powerful. Stacy’s poems will be featured in our next episodes, and I can’t wait for you to hear them. Whether you’re a poet or not, I hope this gives you permission to feel, to reflect, and to find your own release.

Let’s Stay Connected

💬 DM me on Instagram @fertilitypoddy

🌐 Follow @fertilityaction for updates and support

🖥 Check out their free weekly support groups and downloadable advocacy tools at fertilityaction.org

📧 Got thoughts, feedback, or ideas for future episodes? Email me at natalie@thefertilitypodcast.com

📱 Don’t forget to hit subscribe so we land in your feed each week

A Word From Our Sponsor – Proceive

We're delighted to be partnering with Proceive this season. If you're trying to conceive, you’ll want to check them out. Their high-strength fertility supplements are designed for both men and women and are trusted by healthcare professionals.

✨ Get 20% off your order at www.proceive.com using the code FP20 at checkout.

Thanks for listening 💜