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.

Episode 24: Taking Control of Her Future by Freezing Eggs

Egg freezing is a topic that is being talked about more often recently, as more couples are choosing to have children later in life, more women are recognizing how their age plays a role in their fertility, and more companies are choosing to offer egg freezing as a fertility benefit to their employees.  

In today’s episode, we hear from Laura Perez, a Progyny employee who shares her personal experience with egg freezing. When Laura turned 35, she felt like she was running out of time. She was in a long-term relationship, but her partner already had children from a previous marriage and indicated that he didn’t want to have any more kids. So, Laura took things into her own hands and froze her eggs.  

For Laura, freezing her eggs was an empowering process that gave her peace of mind, and even helped change the nature of her relationship. Shortly after she froze her eggs, Laura’s boyfriend proposed, and they are planning to try to extend their family in the near future.  

Guest: Laura Perez, Senior Director of Claims and Provider Service at Progyny 

Expert: Dr. Spencer Richlin, RMA of CT 

Host: Selena Campbell, Patient Care Supervisor at Progyny 

For more information, visit Progyny’s Podcast page and RMA of CT. 

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. 

Host

Selena Campbell, Patient Care Supervisor at Progyny

Selena is a young healthcare professional, currently working in the greater New York City area as a Patient Care Advocate at Progyny. Selena is a graduate of Delaware State University and is currently pursuing her Master of Science in Management, with a concentration in Healthcare Administration at Wilmington University. She has a passion for patient care and has over seven years of healthcare experience to include a children’s hospital to genetic testing facilities. Selena believes that “patients don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” As a New Jersey native, Selena enjoys all things “Jersey Shore”. She loves to travel, go to concerts, and spend time with her family.

Guests

Laura Perez, Senior Director, Claims and Provider Service at Progyny

Laura oversees the provider relations and billing specialists team that supports Progyny members with their claims, authorizations, and bills, and they also help provide clinical outcomes data. She strives in ensuring compassion and understanding is key during each individual’s journey to parenthood is achieved here at Progyny. It gives her joy knowing that she is part of an organization that fulfills dreams and brings happiness to families every day. Prior to joining Progyny, Laura was Vice President, Claims administration at US imaging. She has been in Healthcare Management for the last 13 years and has spent a large portion of her management on business operations related to processing systems, system upgrades and workflows of claims operations.

Dr. Spencer S. Richlin, Partner and Surgical Director at Reproductive Medicine Associates of Connecticut (RMACT)

Dr. Richlin is a board-certified Reproductive Endocrinologist with extensive reproductive surgical experience and trains the OB/GYN residents from Stamford Hospital and provides mentored clinical experience to students at Quinnipiac University Medical School.

Dr. Richlin is an invited writing member for the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology PROLOG Seventh Edition for Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility. This program is a well-respected study tool for residents as well as a reference for those currently in practice and interested in staying informed of clinical data and information relevant to the obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive endocrinology fields. He will again be a contributor to the upcoming Eighth Edition which will be published in 2019.