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.
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This is Infertility

Episode 111: LGBTQ+ Family Building: The Importance of Decision Making and Fertility Coverage

When it comes to a family building journey, there are a lot of decisions to make along the way. ART has transformed family building options for the LGBTQ+ community, but there aren’t a ton of data points and studies chronicling their experiences.  

Same-sex male couples have many options when it comes to family building, some of which could include finding a gestational carrier, donor tissue purchase, embryo transfer, PGT-A testing. etc. Progyny and some of its medical partners, including Dr. Mark Leondires, Fertility Specialist at RMA of Connecticut, facilitated a study assessing the clinical decisions same-sex male couples have to make throughout their journey. Tune into today’s episode to hear him discuss the findings and detail the experience of same-sex couple family building.  

Expert: Dr. Mark Leondires, RMA of Connecticut, Gay Parents to Be 

Host: Dan Bulger 

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

Be sure to follow us on Instagram, @ThisisInfertilityPodcastand 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: 

The goal of the PCRS study:
7:57-8:40

Dan Bulger: In the study, they asked men who had either completed IVF using a donor and a gestational surrogate, or who are amid treatment, a few questions. Questions like how many babies do you want to have? Is it important that there’s a genetic link between the children for couples who plan to have multiple children, with both partners planned to be the biological fathers? And in the meantime, the study was able to look at some clinical decisions these men were making, like, will they utilize genetic testing? If so, do they have a preference in gender of their offspring? These are all crucial decisions for men to make. And it’s extremely useful and important for the physicians helping them to achieve these goals. 

The beauty of non-traditional fertility challenges:
14:59-15:22

Dr. Mark Leondires: I think it’s important that you understand that the clinic you’re working with has experience with dads-to-be and understand that you have the highest success rates within every fertility clinic, because you have a different kind of fertility challenges. You need the help of these amazing women, egg donors, and gestational surrogates that are willing to help you become parents. So, this Progyny study kind of put pen to paper on some of the assumptions that we’ve been talking about all along. 

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-Dr-Mark-Leondires

Guest

Dr. Mark Leondires
RMA of Connecticut, Gay Parents to Be

Dr. Mark P. Leondires is the Founder, Medical Director and Partner in reproductive endocrinology at Reproductive Medicine Associates of Connecticut (RMACT) and Gay Parents To Be (GPTB). He is board-certified in both Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. 

Music From This Episode:

Music From This Episode: 

Artist: Andy G Cohen
Track: A Perceptible Shift
URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/  

Track: Space Full
URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/  

Artist: Jahzzar
Track: Family Tree
URL: https://freemusicarchive.org/