Advertise on podcast: Big Fat Negative: TTC, fertility, infertility and IVF

Genevieve Thurley is a busy woman, what with her 1 million followers and career as a makeup artist and content creator. But today, she's making time to talk to us about her experiences of infertility and IVF. Trigger warning: this episode covers Thurley's jourrrrney all the way until its conclusion - ie. giving birth. If you're not ready to listen yet, don't! Or stop at the first ad break, which is when she starts discussing pregnancy and birth in earnest. We've also got Ed Coats, medical director at The Evewell West London, talking about natural killer cells -- what's the deal with them? -- Hi, we're Emma and Gabby from BFN, the UK's biggest podcast about infertility and IVF. We're on our eighth series now, but at the beginning we shared our own IVF journeys. If you'd like to hear about them, go back to the first series of the podcast. You'll get to know us better that way, too. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cathy Adams is the travel news features editor for The Times and Sunday Times -- and also a person who has spent years trying to conceive her second child. Now, she's at a crossroads: give up IVF and reconcile herself to having one child, or keep adding to the £40,000 it's already cost her? Secondary infertility has never felt so difficult. Meanwhile, Emma provides an update on her endometriosis story, as Ed Coats, medical director at The Evewell West London, addresses the treatment options for endometriosis patients who are trying to conceive. Is IVF the only answer? You can find out more about the baby loss and miscarriage charity Gabby mentions, Chasing Rainbows, at https://www.chasingrainbowscharity.com/. You can find Hannah Vaughan-Jones' Substack at https://hannahvaughanjones.substack.com/. -- Hi, we're Emma and Gabby from BFN, the UK's biggest podcast about infertility and IVF. We're on our eighth series now, but at the beginning we shared our own IVF journeys. If you'd like to hear about them, go back to the first series of the podcast. You'll get to know us better that way, too. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we're joined by Tristan Taylor, the founder of Mandrology, who is biohacking his way to sperm health. He explains why sperm quality is a biomarker of health, in the same way that heart rate and blood pressure is -- and what you can do to improve it. Meanwhile, Emma Whitney, director of embryology and genetics at The Evewell, explains why not all add-ons are made equal -- and why timelapse embryo imaging is one of the good ones. -- Hi, we're Emma and Gabby from BFN, the UK's biggest podcast about infertility and IVF. We're on our eighth series now, but at the beginning we shared our own IVF journeys. If you'd like to hear about them, go back to the first series of the podcast. You'll get to know us better that way, too. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oonagh Pickering is one of the research nurses at Tommy's whose study on graduated miscarriage care has already changed how the Scottish NHS approaches care after pregnancy losses -- and now they want England to make a change, too. Oonagh joins us to talk about how offering extra care following first and second miscarriages, including progesterone for threatened miscarriages, extra scans and mental health care, could help to prevent up to 10,000 miscarriages a year in the UK. Meanwhile, Ed Coats, medical director at The Evewell, West London, joins us to talk about rest after embryo transfers -- do you need to? -- Hi, we're Emma and Gabby from BFN, the UK's biggest podcast about infertility and IVF. We're on our eighth series now, but at the beginning we shared our own IVF journeys. If you'd like to hear about them, go back to the first series of the podcast. You'll get to know us better that way, too. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The sourdough baker Martha de Lacey joins us this week: she has run the full gamut of infertility experiences, from going solo to recurrent miscarriage to secondary infertility. "It's so difficult when you give yourself this story of why things happened and the meaning behind it," she says. "Actually it's just nonsense. It's all just luck." Emma Whitney from The Evewell also joins us to explain why some embryos survive and others don't. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

She's a performer, musician and wickedly funny creator: Sheyi Martins-Allen joins us to talk about her experience of secondary infertility, and how her faith played into it. We also hear her gorgeous song, Stronger, which you can find on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/track/4cqnVteEnJmuttnOJ6wXFk?si=ar63ecyLTgyKOdTxuGx2Vw&nd=1&dlsi=2bdd768cd3fd4dc5 (or search for 'Sheyi'). Mr Ed Coats, medical director of The Evewell, West London, joins us to explain whether IVF can help with recurrent miscarriage. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

SPECIAL EPISODE SPONSORED BY WILD NUTRITION. Gabby and Emma swanned off to London last week to attend the launch of a new report by Wild Nutrition called The Fertility Disconnect, which shows that 79% of people want more children than they have. The BFN girls were joined by Julianne Boutaleb, a perinatal psychologist; Gail Madelena, a nutritional therapist at Wild Nutrition, Ian Stones, the  director and co founder of Testhim and Izzy Judd, an author, podcaster and musician, to discuss what we're getting wrong about fertility -- including education, lifestyle, and asking whether it's a hidden health crisis. You can download your own copy of the Fertility Disconnect report, and book a session with a Wild Nutrition nutritional therapist, at https://www.wildnutrition.com/pages/the-fertility-disconnect. See you tomorrow! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr Helen O'Neill is many things: a mirror twin, an associate professor in reproductive and molecular genetics at UCL, and also the co-founder and chief executive of Hertility, the at-home hormone testing company which is changing what we know about infertility: the company has built up a database of 700,000 people whose responses to its health survey may shed new light on its causes. Meanwhile, O'Neill's research is giving us new information about why, for example, male embryos develop slightly faster than female embryos. Meanwhile, Emma Whitney, director of embryology and genetics at The Evewell, explains PGT-A to us. Is it worth it? Swears throughout (probably). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The comedian Kate-Lois Elliott joins us today to talk about how she's balancing the demands of a comedy career with TTC and infertility - and what the books don't tell you about how it affects your ambition. Meanwhile, The Evewell's Emma Whitney explains whether it's possible to rejuvenate older eggs. Swears throughout. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jacky Maughan had been an international DJ before he and his wife, Eleanor, started trying for a baby. "His lifestyle was party, party, drinking, poor food choices... everything you shouldn't be doing when you're trying to conceive," says Eleanor. When they had trouble conceiving, they took a radical approach to finding out what was wrong, paying for add-ons and tests that weren't available on the NHS. Now they're launching Aloomah, a support platform for people going through infertility. Check it out at https://www.aloomah.com/. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The actor and writer Natalie Walmsley tells us their story of IUI, ectopics and queer conception - and how they are turning their story into a sitcom. Swears throughout. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're back! (Sort of). Today we're interviewing Dr. Shanna Swan, the presenter of The Plastic Detox, a new Netflix documentary examining the effect of plastics on our fertility. Dr. Swan explains how plastics affect our bodies -- and the small things we can do to limit our exposure. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You might know Dr Jessica Zucker better as @IHadAMiscarriage, the campaigner who helped thousands of women to tell their stories of loss. She joins us to tell us about her new book Normalize It: Upending the Silence, Stigma and Shame That Shapes Women's Lives. She discusses pregnancy loss and how it can change your life. Sorry about the strange hum - that's a recording issue. See you soon! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're back for one night only and we're joined by economist, author, data scientist and all-round HERO Emily Oster, who tells us what the data says about everything from Just Relaxing to acupuncture. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Well, that's a wrap for series 7. To celebrate, Gabby and Emma are raising a festive glass and answering questions from listeners. They're also exchanging gifts - you be the judge of who's the winner. Lots of hugs for your jourrrrney in 2025 - and see you soon! You can sign up to our substack at https://bigfatnegative.substack.com/. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.