This is Infertility is a bi-weekly podcast where we fuse narrative storytelling with experience and science to give you a new perspective on what it’s really like to go through a family building journey. Each episode dives into the emotional, physical, and financial burdens carried by those who experience infertility on their path to parenthood. Be it IVF, IUI, egg freezing, surrogacy, adoption, etc., the path is never the same and it can be long, painful, and lonely. It’s our mission to give those struggling a platform to be heard, a community connection, and an opportunity to raise awareness of the 1 in 6 who, for many reasons, struggle with infertility.

Episode 31: Endometriosis and Fertility: Trying IVF Before Being Diagnosed

March is Endometriosis Awareness Month. Endometriosis is a common condition that is often extremely painful, hard to diagnose, and can affect a woman’s fertility. In honor of this month, we’re rolling out a four-part series to bring awareness to this disease.

This is the second episode in our four-part series on endometriosis and we’ve broken this episode into two parts. We hear from Amanda Lesesne, who endured four rounds of IVF before she was diagnosed with endometriosis, a disease she had never really heard of, but one that explained many of the symptoms she experienced as a teenager.

In part one, we hear about Amanda’s past, what it was like to have to pay for multiple rounds of IVF, and how she finally came to have a laparoscopy for her endometriosis. Amanda will also discuss her decision to try IVF for the fifth time, what she expects to be different now that she has dealt with her endometriosis, and has the Progyny fertility benefit.

Guest: Amanda Lesesne, Sales Director at Progyny

Host: Taylor Burbach, Patient Care Supervisor at Progyny

For more information, visit Progyny’s Podcast page.

To learn more about endometriosis, check out Progyny’s What is Endometriosis Infographic.

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 thisisinfertility@progyny.com.

About the Speakers

Host : Taylor Burbach

Patient Care Supervisor, Progyny

Guest : Amanda Lesesne

Sales Director at Progyny

Host : Taylor Burbach

Patient Care Supervisor, Progyny

As a patient care supervisor, Taylor helps oversee a team of dedicated patient care advocates. She is also recognized as a reproductive health advocate in her community as a Clue Ambassador. Prior to joining Progyny she organized two Darwin Day Colloquiums in 2014 and 2015 and helped organize the inaugural meeting of the Southeastern Evolutionary Perspectives Society. She recently discovered Krav Maga, which she practices in her free time.

Guest : Amanda Lesesne

Sales Director at Progyny

Amanda is a passionate infertility advocate who is able to bridge her personal interest and professional experience to help people build the family of their dreams. Prior to Progyny, Amanda spent the last 10 years in software sales and the digital health space. Most recently Amanda was an Enterprise Sales Director at Doctor On Demand responsible for driving growth in the employer and health plan market in the Southeast. Prior to that, Amanda spent three years at Castlight Health as a sales director responsible for building relationships with employers, health plans, and consultants.

Amanda recently relocated to Albuquerque, New Mexico with her husband where you can usually catch her supporting her husband’s professional soccer team, New Mexico United. Amanda is a proud graduate of College of Charleston where she played Division I soccer and was a graduate of the School of Business.