The Fertility Podcast

The Fertility Podcast is for you if you’ve found your route to parenthood isn’t as straightforward as you’d hoped. My name is Natalie Silverman (your host) and I created the podcast in 2014, once we were successfully pregnant after our first round of fertility treatment (ICSI). We now have a little boy, Phoenix who turned two in March and in the two and a half years since I started interviewing fertility experts and speaking to people I met online about their own fertility struggles, I have realised just how lucky we had been to get pregnant first time round.

Infertility affects 1 in 6 people which means you will probably know someone struggling, whether they’ve chosen to share it with you or not. In the UK we are constantly reading headlines about cuts to NHS funding for fertility treatment, despite the World Health Organisation stating ‘infertility’ is an issue. So you need all the help and support you can get whilst trying to figure it all out.

This podcast is a voice for you, to learn from and empathise with. To know you’re not alone on your journey. It might be secondary infertility that you’re struggling with, maybe you’ve had cancer treatment and as a result are thinking about surrogacy or maybe you’re considering egg donation or working with a sperm donor, or you might have come to accept that your life is going to be childless. Wherever you’ve found yourself, there’s an episode here for you.

I aim to speak to as many people as I can within the fertility world. From fertility experts who can help explain some of the myths associated with treatment and can explain how it all works (the science bit) to wellbeing experts, artists and authors creating work inspired by their own experiences. I am passionate about highlighting how infertility affects men and have a number of episodes dedicated to men, talking to them about their struggles as well as experts who offer top tips for nutrition and wellbeing. I also explain tests available, such as one to test whether you have sperm DMA damage. Did you know as a man, it’s vital to understand that it’s not just about your ‘count’ so if you’re trying to conceive and have been given an ‘unexplained infertility’ diagnosis don’t be afraid to ask for more tests.