Infertile AF: Infertility and Modern Family Building

Today, Ali is talking to HGTV Good Bones star and all-around badass Mina Starsiak Hawk about her fertility struggles, including why she skipped IUI and went straight to IVF, how she deals with comments from judgy (and handsy) women, and how she and her husband decided to show everything, including the messy parts, on their TV show. We also get a surprise guest cameo by her husband Steve, who jumps on the call to talk about how infertility affected their relationship.

EPISODE SPONSORS:

Fertility Rally

Fertility Rally is the all-inclusive community for anyone who has gone through infertility, is going through infertility, or who are building modern families in “non-traditional” ways. The space is for anyone seeking support, information, inclusion, humor, kick ass virtual and IRL events, and fun discounts on the journey of infertility and parenthood. To start your Free 7-Day Trial or join now, go to fertilityrally.com

Peanut

This episode is sponsored by Peanut, a social network for women. Peanut provides a community for women who are moms and who are hoping to be moms build friendships, find support and learn from one another. Download Peanut for free in the app store or click https://www.peanut-app.io/.

"I never thought I'd be down a 10 year journey just to have my one and only miracle daughter," says Sandra Rimaldi, an infertility nurse and infertility warrior who spent a decade trying to build her family. For years, Sandra worked with renowned Reproductive Immunologist Dr. Jeffrey Braverman, who passed away in 2019, treating patients from all over the world who had unexplained infertility diagnoses. At the same time, she was undergoing her own infertility journey, including IVF, a traumatic transfer, endo surgery and more. On today's show, Sandra tells us the details her journey, including her anxiety and PTSD after infertility and how the advent of the Receptiva DX test has helped countless patients all over the world.

TOPICS COVERED IN THIS EPISODE:

Endometriosis; endo surgery; reproductive immunology; traumatic transfer; IVF; embryos; Receptiva DX test; anxiety; pregnancy after infertility; PTSD

EPISODE SPONSORS:

WORK OF ART

Children's Book about IVF

https://www.infertileafgroup.com/books

Do not miss Ali's children’s book about IVF! It's been getting rave reviews. “Work of ART” is the story of an IVF kiddo the day he learns he is a “work of ART” (born via IVF and Assisted Reproductive Technology). For young readers 4-8. Hardcover. Written by Ali Prato; Illustrated by Federico Bonifacini.

Personalized and non-personalized versions are available. Order yours now at https://www.infertileafgroup.com/books

For bulk orders of 10 or more books at 20% off, go to https://www.infertileafgroup.com/bulk-order-request

FERTILITY RALLY

@fertilityrally

www.fertilityrally.com

No one should go through infertility alone. Join the Worst Club with the Best Members at fertilityrally.com. We offer 5 to 6 support groups per week, three private Facebook groups, tons of curated IRL and virtual events, and an entire community of more than 500 women available to support you, no matter where you are in your journey.

Join today at link in bio on IG @fertilityrally or at www.fertilityrally.com/membership

SAVE $40 on an annual membership with code RALLY2024

NATALIST

www.natalist.com

Natalist is on a mission to improve your fertility journey with evidence-backed essentials to support your needs, from vegan prenatal packets to easy-to-use, plastic-neutral ovulation tests and fertility-friendly lube. Natalist is offering my community 25% off your first order at Natalist.com with promo code INFERTILEAF.

S'MOO

S’moo’s best-selling hormone balance powder is formulated with 7 essential vitamins, minerals, and herbs that are all highly recommended for Hormone Balance, Fertility, and PCOS. S’moo was created by fellow PCOS Cyster, and has helped thousands of women manage their PCOS naturally.

Go to thesmooco.com and enjoy a generous 20% off site-wide using code 'InfertileAF20' at checkout.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

RECEPTIVA DX

https://receptivadx.com/

ReceptivaDx is the singular test capable of identifying endometriosis,progesterone resistance, and endometritis in one comprehensive analysis. These conditions are often the hidden culprits behind unexplained infertility, directly impacting the success rates of IVF treatments. Ask for the Receptvia DX test today, and use code INFERTILEAF24 for $75 off.

Partners-in-biz-and-Claw Ali and Blair Nelson, who started the Fertility Rally membership site on June 1, talk about their latest creation: Fertility Rally Live, taking place virtually on Saturday, October 24th! The event will be a one-day, action-packed infertility celebration, with more than 30+ speakers, exhibitor booths, tons of giveaways and plenty of surprises. Ali and Blair talk about how they came up with the name for Fertility Rally, the importance of community, why it's going to be an incredible and valuable event for anyone no matter where they are on their fertility journeys, and some other amazing things that have been happening in their lives this week (hint: Blair is pregnant!).

To get your RALLY LIVE TICKETS, GO TO www.accelevents.com/e/FertilityRally

Early bird prices are available for a limited time!

Elyse Ash is an infertility warrior and the founder of Fruitful, a fertility mentor service that pairs mentees who are going through infertility with mentors who have come out the other side. Fruitful is "committed to making infertility suck less." Today, Elyse talks to Ali about everything she went through before finally having her baby, including endometriosis with no symptoms, ovarian cysts, and scrolling through Instagram and being "so jealous and heartbroken and wondering what it would look like when it was my turn."

Today we are partnering with ConceiveAbilities, a leading surrogacy and egg donation agency that has been around for 24 years, with thousands of babies born. If surrogacy or egg donation is part of your journey, make sure to check out conceiveabilities.com. And make sure to tell them Infertile AF sent you!

We are also partnering with Extend Fertility, extendfertility.com, the largest egg freezing practice in the nation. Extend has now expanded to offer a full range of infertility services—including IVF—in a small practice environment that is more personal, data driven, and higher quality.