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 108: Fertility 101: Male Factor Infertility

The Fertility 101 Series, because there’s no shortage of daunting terms to keep your mind running, is a quick and dirty breakdown on a specific topic with insights from a fertility expert. 

In today’s episode, we explain some of the biggest misconceptions when it comes to fertility, male-factor infertility, and how lifestyle choices impact fertility.  

Dr. Natan Bar-Chama, a reproductive urologist and Progyny network specialist, walks us through everything you need to know on male-factor infertility. Tune into this episode to also learn about how a post-COVID environment has made it easier for men to take the first steps in their family building journey.  

Expert: Dr. Bar-Chama, RMA of New York 

Host: Dan Bulger 

For more information, visit Progyny’s Podcast page and Progyny’s Education page for more resources.  

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.  

Here are some highlights from this episode: 

Importance of lifestyle choices
13:06 – 14:08 

Dr. Natan Bar-Chama: Lifestyle is critical. I think one of the new developments is that lifestyle not only affects sperm quality and the ability to conceive, but also can affect the offspring. We have good data that obesity, excessive smoking, or even marijuana usage, affects not only sperm quality, but may affect the ability to generate healthy offspring.  The quality of your sperm in the present has implications in how  quickly you’ll be able to impregnate, but also has implications regarding the health of your future children. 

Emphasize male involvement 
23:00-23:30 

Dr. Natan Bar-Chama: We have to do our best to emphasize and educate that achieving a pregnancy requires a male and a female; we want to assess the male partner and understand if there’s underlying male factor contribution. The sooner we do that, the better we can help the couple and relieve the anxiety and the stress associated with infertility.  

Dan Bulger

Host

Dan Bulger
Producer at Progyny

Dan has been in the healthcare industry for the last six years as a multimedia content producer. Better known as ‘Video Dan’ he as interviewed numerous doctors, patients and other experts in the world of fertility. He’s also the producer for this podcast, This is Infertility. On a personal note Dan’s parents started fostering kids when he was four years old, and he considers himself a proud older brother to over 100 foster children.

Podcast-Headshot-Bar-Chama

Guest

Dr. Natan Bar-Chama
Director of the Center of Male Reproductive Health at RMA of New York, board-certified Urologist and Male Infertility Specialist.

Dr. Natan Bar-Chama, Director of the Center of Male Reproductive Health at RMA of New York, is a board-certified Urologist and Male Infertility Specialist. Following his urology residency at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, he was awarded the New York Academy of Medicine F.C. Valentine Fellowship and sub-specialized in Male Reproductive Medicine and Surgery at The Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. For the last 20 years, Dr. Bar-Chama has been the Director of Male Reproductive Medicine and Surgery and is on faculty in both the Departments of Urology and Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Science at The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Bar-Chama’s practice is exclusively dedicated to the fields of male infertility and sexual medicine, and he has published extensively and lectured throughout the world in these areas. He is currently on the Board of Directors and slated to be President of the Society for Male Reproduction and Urology (SMRU), is past president of the Society for the Study of Male Reproduction (SSMR) and serves on the board of directors of the patient advocacy organization, Path2Parenthood. Annually since 2005, Dr. Bar-Chama has been listed in New York Magazine’s Best Doctor list of Urologists.

Music From This Episode:

Artist: Jahzzar 
Track: Bloom 
URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/  


Track: Dew 
URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/