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 48: The Solo Path to Motherhood

“The hardest thing about having a baby alone is making the decision to do it.” This is a quote from the memoir, Panic & Joy: My Solo Path to Motherhood.

In this episode, we hear from Emma Brockes, a British author, journalist, and New York transplant. Since a young age, Emma’s two greatest aspirations in life were to be a writer and a mother. And while she had found her dream career, she didn’t know how to act on her desire to have a child. It wasn’t until Emma was 37 years old and found herself in a relationship with a woman called “L,” who was already in the process of her own path to single motherhood, that Emma was able to take a leap and start her journey towards single parenthood.

Emma shares some of the challenges, doubts, and worries she had before deciding to become a single mother, including a paralyzing fear of what others would think about her. After two years, she finally made the decision to visit her OB-GYN and begin the process of creating her family. We’ll learn what it was like trying to choose the right sperm donor, undergoing multiple rounds of IUI, before successfully getting pregnant with her daughters.

Guest: Emma Brockes, author of Panic & Joy: My Solo Path to Motherhood

Host: Amanda Sanchez, Provider Relations and Billing Specialist at Progyny

For more information, visit Progyny’s Podcast page.

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Have a question, comment, or want to share your story? Email us at thisisinfertility@progyny.com.

About the Speakers

Host: Amanda Sanchez

Provider Relations and Billing Specialist at Progyny

Guest: Emma Brockes

Author

Host: Amanda Sanchez

Provider Relations and Billing Specialist at Progyny

Amanda has 11 years of healthcare experience ranging from family medicine, OBGYN to mental health. She has found a love for fertility here at Progyny. Being a mother of two she is excited to be able to play a role in helping others start their own families.

Guest: Emma Brockes

Author

Emma Brockes is the author of What Would Barbra Do?: How Musicals Saved My Life, and She Left Me The Gun: My Mother’s Life Before Me, both serialized on the BBC. She writes for The Guardian’s Weekend Magazine and has contributed to The New York Times, the Economist and the New Yorker. She lives in New York City.