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 55: Infertility in the Military: From Active Duty to Motherhood

November 11th is Veteran’s Day, and in honor of this, we are rolling out three episodes to spread light on an issue that is often overlooked, dealing with infertility in the military. We will hear from those who had their own personal battles with building a family, learn how different treatment can be, but also how similar some of those struggles and challenges are.

In the first episode of our three-part series, we hear from Rebecca Lipe, who served as a Judge Advocate General in the U.S. Air Force and served in Iraq. After deployment, she started her family building journey and decided to go through IVF, but things didn’t go as expected. In this episode, Rebecca shares her story of navigating fertility treatment while under military care, suffering from physically and emotionally painful pregnancy losses, and eventually giving birth to her beautiful daughter Genevieve. We’ll also learn about the importance of staying connected and finding a community while dealing with infertility, as Rebecca emphasizes, “Women in the military are the best resource for other women in the military.”

Guest: Rebecca Lipe, Attorney at a private law firm

Host: Dan Bulger, Producer at Progyny

For more information visit Progyny’s Podcast page and Progyny’s Education page for more resources on how to best handle a miscarriage.

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.

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-Lipe-Rebecca

Guest

Rebecca A. Lipe
Former Judge Advocate General, United States Air Force

Rebecca served seven years as a Judge Advocate General in the United States Air Force. In 2011, she was deployed to Iraq when she began experiencing debilitating pain. She was subsequently medically evacuated and began a year of misdiagnosis and unnecessary medical treatment at the hands of military providers before a civilian physician diagnosed her with herniation from the deployment gear. This treatment also caused Rebecca’s infertility. Five years, six rounds of IVF, and three pregnancy losses later, Rebecca and her husband Doug welcomed their beautiful daughter Genevieve into the world.

Music From This Episode:

Artist: Dave Keifer
Track: Wait Riot
URL: https://freemusicarchive.org

Artist: spectacular
Track: What Was That Spectacular Sound Productions
URL: https://freemusicarchive.org

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

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

Artist: Soft and Furious
Track: Melancholic Ending
URL: https://freemusicarchive.org

Artist: Kai Engel
Track: Mare
URL: https://freemusicarchive.org

Artist: Philipp Weigl
Track: Western Shores
URL: https://freemusicarchive.org

Artist: Rest You Sleeping Giant
Track: End of Winter
URL: https://freemusicarchive.org

 

Artist: Axletree

Track: The Sighful Branches

URL: https://freemusicarchive.org

 

Artist: Swelling

Track: Dawn II

URL: https://freemusicarchive.org