Marea Goodman is a midwife and co-author of the book Baby Making for Everybody: Family Building and Fertility for LGBTQ+ and Solo Parents. Marea describes some of the joys and challenges of the fertility journey for queer and solo parents. They walk us through the process of at-home intrauterine insemination (IUI), discuss frozen vs. fresh sperm, and when multiple inseminations per cycle may be useful.

Cindy Bailey shares her fertility diet from her book The Fertile Kitchen Cookbook and her own experience trying to conceive both naturally and with IVF. Drawing on her own experience with an infertility diagnosis, Cindy designed The Fertile Kitchen Cookbook with simplicity and efficacy in mind to help people get pregnant faster. She talks about how nutrition can optimize fertility and shares her insight into the art of letting go and the power of belief.

It’s not just our homes and offices that get bogged down by a messy accumulation of stuff. Our bodies and minds can get bogged down too. Marie Kondo has a protocol for decluttering a space – start with clothes. When it comes to the body, start with the liver.

I'm sure you've heard about the gut microbiome, but have you heard of the reproductive one? The reproductive microbiome is a relatively new area of focus that is reshaping our understanding of fertility. A healthy reproductive microbiome is vital for conception, a smooth pregnancy, infant health, and even enhances IVF success.

One of the most common themes I hear in my practice is painful periods. In our culture we have come to expect that periods and pain go together. Period pain is common, very common, but it is not normal. Pain is a symptom that I keep track of for all my patients, no matter what their ultimate goal is, and is a symptom that tells us if we are moving in the right direction for other hormone-related concerns.