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 32: Endometriosis and Fertility: Promoting Awareness through Endo What?

March is Endometriosis Awareness Month. Endometriosis is a common condition that is often extremely painful, hard to diagnose, and can affect a woman’s fertility. In honor of this month, we’re rolling out a four-part series to bring awareness to this disease.  

This episode may seem like it’s about two women, Shannon Cohn, an award-winning filmmaker, attorney, and activist, and Mary Alice Hatch, an endometriosis and women’s health advocate. But it’s really an episode about 200 million women who suffer from endometriosis around the world.  

Shannon and Mary Alice are co-founders of an endometriosis awareness organization called Endo What? In this third episode in our four-part series on endometriosis, we hear how this organization was created, what they’re doing to increase research and awareness for the condition, and how they’re changing the way we talk about endometriosis.  

Guests: Shannon Cohn and Mary Alice Hatch, Co-Founders of Endo What? 

Host: Taylor Burbach, Patient Care Supervisor at Progyny 

For more information, visit Progyny’s Podcast page, and Endo What? 

To learn more about endometriosis, check out Progyny’s What is Endometriosis Infographic. 

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

Taylor Burbach, Patient Care Supervisor, Progyny

As a patient care supervisor, Taylor helps oversee a team of dedicated patient care advocates. She is also recognized as a reproductive health advocate in her community as a Clue Ambassador. Prior to joining Progyny she organized two Darwin Day Colloquiums in 2014 and 2015 and helped organize the inaugural meeting of the Southeastern Evolutionary Perspectives Society. She recently discovered Krav Maga, which she practices in her free time.

Guests

Shannon Cohn, Filmmaker, Laywer, Activist, and Co-Founder of Endo What?

Shannon’s work has been broadcast on PBS, Nat Geo and Discovery Channel, among others and is the filmmaker behind ENDO WHAT?, hailed by The Guardian as “film of the year” and by Newsweek as “the first step in a plan for change in endometriosis.” Before becoming a filmmaker, she practiced international law and was part of the legal team that prosecuted Enron. She has endometriosis and has two young daughters with a 7x increased risk of having the disease.

Mary Alice Hatch, Co-Founder of Endo What?

Mary is an endometriosis and women’s health advocate. Through her work with the Marriott Daughters Foundation, she is dedicated to elevating communities through educational, human services and health initiatives. She founded the Boston Center for Endometriosis, a center focused on multi-disciplinary care for endometriosis that pulls together internationally-recognized leaders from Boston Children’s Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.