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 8 who, for many reasons, struggle with infertility.
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This is 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. 

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. 

Amanda Sanchez

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.

Podcast-Headshot-emma-315

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.

Music From This Episode:

Music from this episode: 

Artist: Andy G. Cohen
Track: Oxygen Mask
URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Andy_G_Cohen/MUL__DIV_1198/Andy_G_Cohen_-_MULDIV_-_03_-_Oxygen_Mask 

Artist: Lee Rosevere
Track: Sad Marimba Planet
URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lee_Rosevere/Music_for_Podcasts_4/Lee_Rosevere_-_Music_for_Podcasts_4_-_02_Sad_Marimba_Planet 

Track: Youre_Enough_version_a
URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lee_Rosevere/Music_For_Podcasts_5/Lee_Rosevere_-_Music_For_Podcasts_5_-_04_Youre_Enough_version_a  

Track: Well_Figure_it_Out_Together
URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lee_Rosevere/Music_For_Podcasts_5/Lee_Rosevere_-_Music_For_Podcasts_5_-_14_Well_Figure_it_Out_Together  

Artist: Steve Combs
Track: Symphony_No_1_II_Truth
URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Steve_Combs/Symphony_No_1/Steve_Combs_-_Symphony_No_1_-_02_Symphony_No_1-_II_Truth 

Artist: Monplaisir
Track: Chicken
URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Monplaisir/American_Dreams_Soundtrack/Monplaisir_-_American_Dreams_Original_Soundtrack_-_08_Chicken 

Artist: Jahzzar
Track: Reunion
URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jahzzar/handmade/Reunion