Reimagining LGBTQ+ Family Building: A Midwife’s Perspective
Release Date: 06/02/2025
UFCW Local 152: How Personal Pain Led to Life Changing Benefits
This is Infertility
Guest: Danny Ross, Jr., UFCW Local 152 President Host: Dan Bulger, Progyny Danny and Elizabeth Ross got married at 26, excited to start their lives together and hopeful about growing a family. When they started trying, they were met with a series of challenges that changed everything. Elizabeth was diagnosed with and . Danny had male factor infertility. After a year of trying to conceive, they were told their best option was . At the time, they had no fertility coverage. They started with . One attempt turned into two, then six, then thirteen....
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Fertility 101: Sperm with Dr. Turek: Everything You Didn’t Learn in Health Class
This is Infertility
Guest: Paul Turek, MD, FACS, FRSM, Founder of The Turek Clinic Host: Dan Bulger, Progyny The Fertility 101 Series, because there’s no shortage of daunting terms to keep your mind running, is a quick and dirty breakdown on a specific topic with insights from a fertility expert. When it comes to fertility, men are half of the equation, but too often, they’re the half that gets forgotten or overlooked. This Men’s Health Month, we’re joined by Dr. Paul Turek, a world-renowned urologist and male fertility expert, to talk all things sperm, from how it’s made...
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Reimagining LGBTQ+ Family Building: A Midwife’s Perspective
This is Infertility
Guest: Marea Goodman, Co-Founder of PregnantTogether Host: Dan Bulger, Progyny For LGBTQ+ individuals and couples going through their family building journeys, having a medical support system that truly understand their lived experience can make all the difference. In this episode, we hear from Marea Goodman, a licensed midwife, parent of three, and co-author of about the role and importance of a midwife. Marea explains how midwives operate across a wide range of settings, from hospitals and fertility clinics to birth centers and home births. While midwives...
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Family Building Without Barriers: Maggie’s Reciprocal IVF Journey
This is Infertility
Guest: Maggie Garnsey, Progyny Member at Santander Host: Dan Bulger, Progyny For LGBTQ+ couples, traditional with little to no access to the actual coverage. Many are forced to undergo unnecessary, emotionally taxing procedures to meet outdated definitions of infertility. For Maggie and her wife, Alli, they thought they would need to pursue , like many of their friends. However, Maggie discovered that her employer, Santander Bank, offered through Progyny and that they had something rare: options. In this episode, Maggie takes us through their family...
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From Struggle to Storybook: The Journey Behind Cupcakes Everywhere
This is Infertility
Guest: Erin Sarris, Progyny Member Host: Dan Bulger, Progyny When Erin Sarris and her husband first visited a fertility clinic, they were hit with unexpected news: severe male factor infertility and an immediate recommendation to pursue IVF. What followed was a long, winding, and often painful journey filled with setbacks, from failed cycles to loss and emotional isolation. Now a mother of three and author of , Erin shares how infertility reshaped her view and inspired a metaphorical children's book that captures the bittersweet reality of struggling to...
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Building Better Benefits—for Bread Financial and Herself
This is Infertility
In this episode, we hear a deeply personal and professional journey. As a benefit’s leader, Deanna Allison was on a mission to bring better fertility and family building benefits to her company, Bread Financial. Simultaneously, Deanna had also just set out on her own path to parenthood, realizing she would likely need support to build a family. Deanna shares how her team's search for better benefits led them to adopt Progyny, a decision driven by lived experience, better outcomes, and the desire to truly meet their associates' needs. Deanna was able to utilize...
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Love & Surrogacy: A Broken Brown Egg AHA Grant Winner's Story
This is Infertility
When Kristina and Lorenzo set out to build their family, they knew their path wouldn’t be traditional. Kristina’s complex medical history including epilepsy, , and thalassemia made pregnancy unsafe, but that didn’t stop them from pursuing their dream of having a child. In this episode, they share their deeply personal journey of sacrifice in pursuit of a surrogate—highlighting the emotional highs and lows along the way, from downsizing their apartment to postponing their wedding. They open up about the importance of trust in the surrogacy process and the unwavering love...
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Healing Through Song: Nelly Joy’s Journey Through Endometriosis, IVF, and Grief
This is Infertility
Infertility is a deeply personal and often isolating experience, but for singer-songwriter Nelly Joy, music became both an outlet and a source of connection. In this episode, Nelly shares her raw and emotional journey with and the struggles she faced while , which pushed her limits physically and emotionally. From touring with country music legends to navigating the complexities of infertility, Nelly’s story is one of physical resilience, partner support, and using art to heal. Listen to her song to discover how Nelly Joy is turning her experiences into then reminder that we are not alone....
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Secondary Infertility, Surrogacy, Surprise!
This is Infertility
For Alex Kornswiet, the path to parenthood started with unexpected ease, having her first son after one round of IVF, following a blocked fallopian tube diagnosis. Trying to have their second child wasn’t as smooth sailing. Alex and her husband experienced secondary infertility and a frustrating path including canceled cycles, recurrent pregnancy loss, and emotional isolation. As challenges continued to mount and her doctor recommended the couple pursue surrogacy. Amid the challenges of the pandemic, Alex and her husband welcomed their second son with the help of a selfless...
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AMH, IVF, OMG: How an At-Home Fertility Test Fast-Tracked Erin’s Path to Motherhood
This is Infertility
Newly engaged and nearing her thirties, today’s guest knew she wanted children in the future, so she opted for an at-home fertility test. The results shocked her, revealing something that changed everything - her biological clock was ticking faster than she had expected. What started as curiosity quickly became a call to action. In this episode, Erin Antoniak takes us along her journey of preserving her fertility as a back-up plan, which then evolved into a complex path to parenthood. She explains how Progyny’s family building coverage through her husband’s...
info_outline Guest: Marea Goodman, Co-Founder of PregnantTogether
Host: Dan Bulger, Progyny
For LGBTQ+ individuals and couples going through their family building journeys, having a medical support system that truly understand their lived experience can make all the difference.
In this episode, we hear from Marea Goodman, a licensed midwife, parent of three, and co-author of Babymaking for Everybody about the role and importance of a midwife.
Marea explains how midwives operate across a wide range of settings, from hospitals and fertility clinics to birth centers and home births. While midwives often fly under the radar, they play a vital role in family building, especially in spaces where traditional care may feel less inclusive. Marea offers an in-depth look at the role of midwives, including how they complete years of clinical training to become licensed healthcare providers.
Today, Marea’s practice supports at-home births, where they connect with patients on a deeply personal level through shared identity, lived experience, and affirming care.
Over time, Marea noticed just how isolating this journey can be for queer and solo parents. That realization led them to co-create PregnantTogether, a virtual community designed to bring these families together. The platform supports people all over the world, offering both connection and logistical help in one beautiful space.
This episode is a reminder of the power of identity-informed care and how transformative it can be to feel seen and supported.
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 [email protected].