A Year of Transformations: Happy Birthday to the Love and Science Podcast!
I'm feeling all the feels--grateful, inspired, empowered.
In this episode, we celebrate together!
I discuss the wins that clients of mine have experienced, not just in terms of pregnancy success, but also in terms of living more empowered, joyful lives.
What would it look like if you, too, could overcome limiting beliefs, access joy and lightness, and end the rumination loops which currently rule your mind?
I also discuss the following techniques to facilitate these transformations:
embodiment and feeling our feelings
authentic hope
mindful self compassion
We celebrate how the Love and Science community ends the isolation which is inherent in the fertility journey. There is no reason to suffer in silence when we can help each other through.
Make sure to subscribe to my VIP newsletter to receive weekly inspiration and support.
Rumination: Why We Do It and How to Change It
As always, please keep in mind that this is my perspective and nothing in this podcast is medical advice.
If you found this conversation valuable, book a consult call with me using this link:
https://calendly.com/loveandsciencefertility/discovery-call
Also, be sure to check out our website: loveandsciencefertility.com
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Please don’t let infertility have the final word. We are here to take the burden from you so that you can achieve your goal of building your family with confidence and compassion.
I’m rooting for you always.
In Gratitude,
Dr. Erica Bove
Transcript:
Hello, my loves, and welcome back to the Love and Science podcast. This is a very, very exciting episode because it is the 52nd episode that I have recorded on this podcast. And from the date of release, tomorrow is actually the one year anniversary of the Love and Zions podcast.
Now, I will tell you, I am a physician, right? As many of my listeners are, I have followed the straight and narrow, right? If you had told me at the age of 14 that I'd be starting a podcast someday, I would have just looked at you like you had 10 heads because, you know, it's adventurous and it's creative and it's so many things that clinical medicine is not generally thought of as being, right? It's like, take this test, do this medical school, you know, take these more tests, do this residency, and you just kind of do the next indicated thing. But I do think that for many of us, there's this creative urge to truly create, to think outside the box, to figure out how our unique gifts can contribute to the world. And as I think about my unique combination of my experience and my love of women's health, I think of the hours and hours I spent, you know, in training through OB2N and REI to learn the science and to learn the skills, the sort of empath nature of myself where I pick up on things that maybe are very subtle or other people may not even be aware of because at every single moment I'm emotionally reading the room, you know, all those things combined are what led to me forming love and science and also really wanting to bring this message to as many people as possible that there is hope on your fertility journey, not just hope of having a baby, right? Because for most people that will be the reality, but also that you don't have to suffer, right? I think about so many things in life are inherently painful and infertility is certainly one of them, but the suffering that happens because of the fertility journey, that can be mitigated, that can be shared, that there are tools to help with that. And so, you know, as I reflect on a year of the Love and Science podcast, I think about so many beautiful conversations I've had with guests on the show. I think of hours of journaling and brainstorming and thinking like, how can I reach my people? How can I, you know, how can I, how can my message resonate? How can I ease the pain? How can I, you know, say something which inspires and makes people feel not so alone? So today is going to be a reflection on some of the transformations that I've seen and also some of the techniques that I have developed in terms of helping mostly physician patients, but also professional women patients, because I take care of many of those two, to cross the bridge to parenthood, whole, intact, and supported.
So, you know, the first thing that I will say is when we do our Friday Night Support Groups at Love and Science, we always start with the win of the week. And what does that really mean?
That means that we pause long enough to look at what's actually working in our lives. Because if we don't pause and look at it, it passes us by. Our brains are wired for the negative. So if we don't pause and stop and ask ourselves what's actually working, we're going to notice the fact that the journey just got a little bit longer. We're going to notice the fact that our friend, you know, who's on this journey to got a positive pregnancy test, and maybe you didn't this month, like there are so many ways when we can compare and feel inadequate and feel frustrated. And those feelings are all valid. Don't get me wrong. But I think the way that our brains are wired, we don't look for the good. We don't look for the wins. And so like looking at, you know, a few of the people that I've helped in the last year and still continue to help quite frankly, who are navigating this process with more ease, with more grace, with more lightness, with more support. You know, I wanted to just take a moment and think about those things because it's been on my mind as I've really been humbled by the fact that we've been doing this podcast for a year.
So one of the themes that you've seen throughout is the theme of overcoming limiting beliefs.
One of my very first clients came to me and she had had, you know, a couple of miscarriages outside of IVF. She had had a non pregnancy through IVF and also an early loss through IVF. And she was like, listen, like people told me that generating euploid embryos was going to be the thing that was going to get me, you know, to parenthood. And now I've had two embryo transfers. You play transfers nonetheless without success. And she said to me, she was like, it's not possible for any of these other embryos to work. And she, she was fortunate to have several, but in her view, she had only gotten bad news and bad news was the only eventuality of what was possible.
And I think, you know, if you're listening to this and you're on this journey, that makes total sense, right? Cause it's like, why would things go well for me at this point? I've only gotten bad news. I'm the 5% or whatever it is. Right. So, you know, we worked together for several weeks and you know, what we uncovered was some limiting beliefs in terms of like not feeling worthy, not feeling deserving of parenthood. And a lot of the external voices that this person had been exposed to over the years actually started to become the internal voices that were creating a negative tape, basically telling her it wasn't going to happen. And so what we started to do, you know, we, we sort of felt the feelings, which is where we start a lot of the time in love and science. And we also, you know, started visualizing like, what would it look like if the next transfer worked? Right. And I call this possibility thinking it is possible that this next embryo transfer could work. It's not like this is a slam dunk. This is a home run. This is absolutely working. But we actually ask our question ourselves, the question like, you know, is it possible or even affirm it is possible at this next transfer could work. Yes. It's also possible that it might not work either, but we also have to leave open the possibility that it could work. So that's what we did. And basically I saw a shift. I saw her start to believe in herself in the process. I saw her start to trust, you know, stop ruminating, like all the things that were really sucking her joy and sucking her energy. And ultimately the next transfer did work and she ended up being successful.
And so, you know, it's that mind body connection and, you know, really leaning into the tools, you know, sometimes the next embryo transfer does not work. But I truly think if we believe in our heart of hearts, it's not going to work that for some reason, you know, it's more likely not to work.
Right. I think we have to be receptive for this process. And so, you know, when I think of that, you know, that person, I think, I think the key to her success was truly overcoming the limiting beliefs so that she could believe in the process, believe that it was possible and just trust that ultimately she would be successful. It's a beautiful story, right? And now that she is on the other side and now has a child and is parenting this little one. And, you know, I think, you know, what, what happens is that life doesn't necessarily get easier. Sometimes it even gets harder, but now there are the tools to overcome other limiting beliefs and to stay the course and maybe even to pass that along, you know, to the next generation. So that's my story for a beautiful transformation about overcoming limiting beliefs that was just so humbling and beautiful to see. Another person I worked with really started to access joy and lightness again. I think for many of us women physicians, we lose ourselves somewhere in medicine. Like I don't know whether it happens probably at some point in medical school, maybe definitely residency. But we forget who we are, right? We work, work, work, we people, please, we, you know, truly forget who we are, what we want, what we value. And then at some point we emerge and we're a shell of ourselves, right? Like we've forgotten how to access joy. We've forgotten how to access lightness. We are full of, you know, negative thinking. And what this happens is this can actually paralyze us, you know, psychologically, right? Like, you know, if we can't access happiness and joy and lightness, and we're so consumed, you know, with, with the next fertility appointment and the next, you know, pregnancy test. Again, like people who aren't on the fertility journey experiences too, but I think there adds another layer going through the fertility journey in terms of being like, this has to be my sole focus. If I don't think about it hard enough or long enough, it's not going to happen. And, you know, it's, it's all I can think about. There's nothing else in my life right now that I can even give space to mentally. And this, this is very bothersome, is troublesome, right? So, you know, I think that one of my goals at Love and Science is to give people the tools to say like fertility is just one room in my house, you know, or maybe it's going on in the background. Yes, I give it, it's due time and energy and attention, but I have other things in my life that I look forward to. I plan trips. I spend time with friends. I go to yoga. I have an exercise routine. You can listen to the episodes I recorded on exercise. Like, you know, fertility does not need to be the only focus, nor should it be right. But how do we, how do we let go of like the Google rabbit hole of thinking of all the questions to ask the REI of those shame spirals that just continue that go and go and go and take our thoughts. What do we do about that?
So, you know, part of my antidote to that is finding a way to help people make empowered choices as female position patients. There's so much responsibility on us, right? Like we take responsibility for every other person and their outcomes. And so I think at some level, we have this belief that we are responsible for this working in ourselves. And if it doesn't work, then somehow it's our own fault. Now, this is totally not how it actually is, but it feels very much like that in the moment. So, you know, when I can provide some scientific knowledge, when I can provide my experience and combine it with, you know, the patient of a client's values and goals and choices, it's really a dynamite combination because when we are making empowered choices that are grounded in evidence and science and values, when we are making those choices, then we can say, okay, I've made a thoughtful choice. I have my A team. I'm trusting the process.
And that automatically frees up more energy for other things. So, you know, many of my clients will say, I'm now reading a book about, you know, XYZ. I'm now able to watch a movie on the couch with my spouse on a weekend night and not be thinking about 5 million other things. You know, I'm able to get my period and not feel entirely wrecked by it because I do trust that the process is going to work eventually. Right. These are things that my patients and my clients tell me all the time. And so, you know, I think that when we believe that we're making good choices, when we believe that we have people who believe in us in our journey, you know, that takes off a lot of pressure so that we can experience joy, so that we can experience lightness, so that we can have a whole conversation and not even think or talk about the fertility process with our partners.
Right. So I give that as a homework assignment. I say go to a place and the rule is you can't talk about fertility, right? Just because there has to be some sacred space that is devoid of that. Again, yes, it makes sense to have space where we do talk about it, but it's important to have space that's free of that too. So, you know, injecting joy, injecting lightness. I have my clients make a joy 10 list, joy 20 for bonus points, right, of the things that bring them joy and to do one of those things every single day. And at first this feels like work, but then over time it starts to feel like second nature. And that's the point is, you know, finding those, those sort of pathways through the woods that are not yet so developed, but by these disciplines, by these tools, by these practices, these, these practices actually bring joy. They actually bring lightness. They actually bring perspective. And then, you know, if the time keeps moving forward, their fertility journey keeps moving forward. And then all of a sudden people are at their transfer at their pregnancy test, whatever it is. And you know, there are a lighter version of themselves, which again, we deserve this to be just part of life, not all of life. We deserve to have love and light and kindness and freedom alongside this journey. So if this is resonating with you, let's figure out how to help you as well to have more lightness, more joy, more pleasure in your life, because you really do deserve it. Just like this one client of mine, right? Who now says, yeah, yes, the fertility process is going on, but it's not front and center. It's not all I can think about. And I have so much energy for more things. So let's talk about one more example of a transformation I've seen. And this really relates to calming the nervous system. Right. So ruminations loops are so common. It's the anxious brain, you know, the curious brain loves to think in these ways because it makes us feel very powerful. Right. So we have a thought we circle around, we feel like we're solving it, we come back, but rumination, I mean, if we think about what that actually is, that's just like being on a stationary bike and not going anywhere. I actually did a wonderful podcast one time with them, Christie and divine. And I, I can post the link to that in the show notes, but no rumination is like this, this sort of endless cycle. And unless we have the secret trap door out, right, unless we can figure out how to break the rumination loops, we are beholden to them and they steal our energy and they dominate our fat patterns.
And so, you know, triggers can certainly bring on these rumination loops. Uncertainty can bring on these rumination loops. Maybe, you know, sort of doubting, you know, the plan that your REI has for you. Maybe if it's very similar to something that has happened in the past. Now I will admit as an REI, sometimes the right thing to do is a very similar version or the same thing of something that has already been tried because a lot of this is probabilities, right? But I do think that there has to be a thoughtful approach where you, the female physician patient has access to the Y of things so that you can say, okay, you know, I'm going to calm my nervous system. I'm going to stop ruminating. I'm going to understand where the ruminations come from, because perhaps I feel out of control and I'm going to think about how I want to feel. You know, maybe I want to feel calm. Maybe I want to feel empowered. Maybe I want to feel accepting, right? But I'm going to figure out what I need to think my mantras, what I need to remind myself of, so that if I start to catch myself going down those pathways of rumination loops, I can actually press the pause button, back up, think about how I actually want to think about things and feel about things, and then redirect in that direction. And sometimes this is just 1% shifts. This is not anything super dramatic, right? But when you know to have awareness of those thoughts and those feelings that are not serving us, right? This happens every single day. Then we can actually stop that process, find a secret trapdoor out, and then re-interact, right? So, you know, what my clients tell me is that they feel more grounded. They feel more steady. They feel more calm, right? They don't have to indulge in those thought patterns, which I can't think of anything more empowering than, you know, being able to stop that train, because we all know that in the past, like sometimes we can't sleep. Sometimes we can't enjoy a weekend away with our friends or family because we're so stuck on these thoughts. And so I want to give you the tools to be free, like free mentally, free physically, free in every single sense, because you really deserve to be free. You deserve to have that mental space, and you deserve to be able to think about what you want to think about and feel how you want to feel. So that's been really beautiful, you know, to see, you know, especially one of my clients to say like, you know, if the evenings were tough before that she has more energy, she can watch a show with her spouse, she can cook dinner, she has more motivation, just because she, you know, even though she still has feelings of fear and nervousness and all the stuff that everybody else obviously experiences, because that's just how it goes, she has tools to deal with it and can catch herself. And, you know, and as she's moving towards another embryo transfer is really enjoying a lot of life, which, you know, I think is that is really the key, right? Is that we are able to have a clear mind, have a, you know, strong body, a capable body, and have an open heart as we go into this. And that's what we're trying to do at Love at Sides is to create that amazing, but hard to achieve combination. So let's talk about some techniques that we use. And I've sort of touched upon these in these three examples. But what are some techniques that we actually can use to facilitate these transformations? The first one I would say is embodiment and feeling the feelings.
Like, what does that really mean? That means that most of us live in our heads and our minds. We're very cerebral. We are very analytical. I mean, to our credit, like that's a lot of what's led to work success. Like if I can look at all the details and put the pieces together, you know, that's going to help me diagnose. It's going to help me treat. It's going to make me a really good doctor.
Now, if I'm thinking about my own body in that way, if I'm thinking about just always analyzing, always, you know, playing over conversations in my mind, if I'm thinking about, you know, worries about the future and what if this doesn't work and what if it never works and what if, you know, I'm never a parent and what if I lose all my friends? Like, you know, we know where all these thoughts go, right? All those things are in the mind. But if we can actually pause long enough to feel our feelings, if we can find our breath, if we can feel our feet on the ground, if we can actually tune in to where the feelings are located in our bodies, which is a skill, I had to learn it myself. But when we can start to understand that feelings have different energies to them, right?
Like for me, anger feels a certain way. It's usually located in a certain place. It's fiery.
It's hot. It's tense. And I really need to breathe through that anger to have it dissipate. Right?
You know, I have shame, like shame. You know, I hate that feeling. I hate feeling it. But again, like I always joke, I'd rather clean a toilet and feel my feelings, even though this is what I do.
This is my life's work. I think I can communicate this so well, because I understand I do not enjoy feeling my feelings. Although I know if I do not feel my feelings, that they will come out in strange ways. It's like whack-a-mole at the fair. If I don't address it, like the first time, it's just going to come out sideways. Right? And so what we do at Love and Science is we actually practice feeling our feelings, right? We have meditations, we have breathing exercises, I will lead people through in real time when I feel that there's something that needs to be felt. Right? And it's amazing how just connecting to the breath, connecting to the moment, identifying the feeling, understanding where in the body it is and how it feels exactly in the body, not just in the mind, but in the body, how we can breathe into that feeling, we can transform it, or we can actually learn what it's trying to teach us. It's a very powerful thing. So embodiment and feeling the feelings. Our bodies have so much wisdom, right? Like we know when our bodies are spent on the fertility process, we know when we need to take a break from work to recharge and have our priorities in line. We know when we have to say no to somebody who wants something from us. Maybe it's a paper by a certain deadline, or maybe it's something at work. Maybe it's even a family request. Our bodies know what we need to do and what don't we need to do. Right? Although a lot of us are not taught to listen to our bodies. Actually, in fact, we're taught to not listen to our bodies. We're taught to reject our bodies. It's like, oh, you have to pee. No, you don't just see three more patients.
Oh, you think you're hungry and you're in the hour. Well, too bad. You can't scrub out and eat.
Oh, the list goes on. We really deny our bodily needs. Oh, you don't need to sleep either, by the way. And by the way, you're not even a human being. Of course, we're humans, but I think we get this message that you can't be sick, you can't be tired, you can't be hungry, you can't have to pee. And so we start to tune out these signals over time. So a lot of what I teach is actually finding out what the body is trying to tell us. Right? The body knows, the body keeps the score, and we're not talking in a fear-based way, but in a way that we actually listen and say, huh, I think I'm tired. I think I need a rest and then I'll get back to whatever it is I need to do.
Or, hmm, perhaps I'm feeling lonely. I really think I need to contact my friend. I'd really like to connect with somebody right now. I think that might calm my nervous system and help me feel a little better. Maybe it's like, I need to read some poetry. That's going to reset me. But again, how do we know unless we're not familiar with our inner landscape, right? Maybe something's weighing on us. Maybe we had a conversation we don't feel proud about and we know that we need to make it right somehow. Like how do we do that? We tune into the body. We're like, oh, I'm feeling guilt.
Huh? Guilt? What do you have to teach me? Oh, I have unresolved feelings about that conversation I had earlier. And I really do think I need to take responsibility. Okay. Right? So we breathe into that feeling. We don't, we try not to go down a shame spiral, but we really do appreciate that our bodies can hold so many feelings at the same time. And so learning how to listen, learning how to interpret those signals is a really, really powerful tool. And trust me, you know, this too, there are so many intense feelings on the fertility journey, anger, rage, frustration, shame, sadness, grief. I mean, you name it. I mean, there's, there's also ones that we associate with more positive things too, like, you know, joy and lightness and hope and calmness and, you know, support from a community. Like it really depends on what's going on that day and, and what the situation is and what the thought processes are. Right. But I do think that we need to have a mechanism for processing these intense emotions. Otherwise they will eat us alive and, or we'll develop some addiction that is really not good for us. And it's just painful, right?
It's, it's really painful. So let me help you get the tools to feel your feelings and to learn this embodiment work. You will never be the same. Another tool that I love to use, I talk about this every single day is authentic hope. You know, even today in my clinic, I was able to use it in a situation. So what is authentic hope? Authentic hope is really hope grounded in science. I do not believe in false hope. I do not believe in toxic positivity. I do not believe in any of that, right? Because what is that? But just lying to ourselves, really. But what I believe in is looking for scientifically based reasons, why it makes sense for somebody to keep going on the fertility journey. Maybe you're a person who makes plasticis and that's, you know, even though you don't have that many eggs, maybe you, your embryos tend to grow and you know, at some level that if you can make enough plasticis, we're going to get to a good one, right? That's a feather in your cap.
No, perhaps you have secondary infertility and I know that's its own particular struggle, but we know your uterus has going to been a good home for a baby before.
And that, you know, we can hang our hat on that. Maybe you have a young age and you have good egg reserve. There's that maybe you don't have the best egg reserve, but you have good insurance come coverage and you can do a number of cycles, right? So there's all these different combinations of things. Nobody has the same two factors for authentic hope because each person is their own unique individual. But I do think, again, just like the win of the week, like we talked about in the beginning, we need to focus our attention on what is actually working, right? Like if we looked at our bank account and we were like, oh, but it's not this much yet, right? Like that would always make us feel bad. But if we can look at it and say, I have worked hard, I've saved money, I've met these financial goals and look at it from that perspective, it's just a different mindset.
Right? So let's think about sort of hope differently. Let's think about it authentically.
Let's think about it in an evidence-based scientifically informed way. And let's use that as gas in our tank when we start to get tired and the times get tough. So, you know, each person, like I said, has their own combination of factors for authentic hope. We can have a conversation.
I could help you identify yours. Of course, these things can evolve over time too, but I think to really be able to sink our teeth into something real when there can feel like so many uncertainties, you know, I can say, listen, if you do this many embryo transfers, this is your chance of success.
And I think, you know, hearing those numbers and looking at situations and seeing what can be tweaked, you know, Oh, you know, you didn't have this diagnosis the last time we spoke, but now you have more data and now your treatment plan can be tailored, you know, based on XYZ reasons.
Like even that in and of itself is a factor for hope. So I think you get the point. I don't mean to belabor it, but, you know, let's find scientifically based ways to look at the situation instead of fear-based responses that just tell us that everything's going wrong and it's never going to work because left her own devices. That was the path of least resistance.
The third tool I want to talk about is mindful self-compassion. And if you've listened to my work or worked with me ever, you know that I use Dr. Kristin Neff's framework for mindful self-compassion. There's really three components. The first one is self-kindness, which is the opposite of self judgment. The second is common humanity, which basically means anybody in my situation would be feeling this way right now. And the third is mindfulness. So it's this amazing combination of things, which is mindful self-compassion. So sometimes we are mired in the past and we have a really hard time getting into the present moment. But if we can have a sensory experience, maybe it's, you know, a beautiful soup that is so hot and so delicious and we can hold the warm bowl in our hands. And we are just, you know, in this moment, feeling the steam on our face of this delicious soup, you know, that is reason to be in the present moment. The only thing that matters in that moment is how it feels and the soup that we're enjoying and all of that. So, you know, mindfulness can be super powerful. Another thing that can be super powerful is common humanity. That's one of the reasons I formed this support group on Friday nights is because we need to reflect our journeys in each other. We need to celebrate the wins. We need to rally around each other for the hard times, you know, and everything in between. And so this whole notion of common humanity, it's like there's so much self judgment we have to be like, Oh, I shouldn't be this sad about it. Or I should, you know, I should be more positive or whatever we tell ourselves.
But hey, when we get bad news, it's normal to be sad, right? So I think that when we can help each other along, when we can see our stories in each other, when we can reflect back our own inner beauty, when we can validate the tough feelings and the tough thoughts and, and realize that we're not alone, that is just ever so powerful. And self compassion. I mean, I think that if we think about being kinder to ourselves, a lot of people say like, listen, Erica, that's just like a bunch of woo. That's not going to work for me. It's not how I became successful as a physician.
It's not how I'm going to be successful in my fertility journey. Like that's just a bunch of BS. Like, you know, I get this a lot. Like there's a lot of skepticism about self compassion, but I will tell you I've experienced this myself and a lot of my clients have too, that when you actually give it a try, even if it's pretty uncomfortable at first, it actually ultimately feels better, right? It's like a weight is lifted. There's a relief.
And the interesting thing is not that we do it for this reason, but we actually perform better when we're self compassionate with ourselves. Like everyone's like, Oh, I'm going to be soft.
Oh, I'm not going to, you know, um, achieve as much yada, yada, whatever. But that's actually not what the data shows. The data shows that when we can talk to ourselves when the inner coach, instead of an inner critic, when we can be kind to ourselves, when we can love ourselves, when we can treat each other as we would a friend, right? Like, and this can take many, many different forms, right? This can take the form of, you know, like even today, you know, a colleague's family member was having surgery and you know, this person was having a hard time taking time off to be with them. And I said, what would you tell me? And the answer automatically was like, well, yeah, take the time off, but I can't do that with myself. And like, why are we hard on ourselves? Right? It's a, it's our training. It's our, it's our limiting beliefs. And so, I think sometimes when we can use self compassion to this full extent, it feels better to our souls and it really helps us weather the journey because we can be kind to ourselves. If we make a mistake, we can find the common humanity and realize we're not so alone. And, you know, we can have tools to really get into the present moment, you know, sure.
There are some tough things that can happen in the present moment, but we can always handle the present moment, right? When we regret the past, you know, or feel bad about ourselves for past decisions, when we dread the future, those are all things that are out of our control. But a lot of what we do at Love and Science is actually taking back our agency, taking back our power. You know, even when we have our, excuse my language, Fuck It Fridays, like those are not just to air our grievances. Those are actually to help each other navigate the hard stuff. So let's figure out together how to take back your power, especially if you're feeling beaten up and bruised and tired from the process.
There are so many avenues through. So last but not least, as I reflect on the one year anniversary of the Love and Science podcast, I can't help but think of the amazing community that we've built alongside this podcast, alongside this program. I mean, it's just absolutely beautiful. We share the wins. We have a safe supportive space. Truly we end the isolation that is the infertility journey, right? It's like when you go to the grocery store, I always say this, you see the pregnant people, right? You don't see the people who have infertility because there's no such thing as a scarlet eye that says I have infertility. It just doesn't exist. It's silent, but every single person with infertility is suffering in silence and it does not have to be that way. So let's end the isolation that is the infertility journey. Let's let ourselves be supported and let us all get through to the other side as parents, whole supported and intact. It's just the way it needs to be. We have to change how this is done.
There's just too much suffering. It is just too much heartache and truly too many people stopping care because it is just too hard. In my heart of hearts, I just know that I trust, I guess I don't know, but I truly believe that if people stick with fertility treatment, it usually does work. Maybe it's not the strong plan A, but people usually become parents. And again, I say people who want to become parents deserve to become parents, will make excellent parents. And there is a pathway to parenthood for every single person who wants it. So let's figure out how to feel better. Let's make confident empowered choices that are grounded in science.
Let's even think about having a trusted guide and a community to support you when it's your time, right? Like this is your time to cross the bridge to parenthood. Do not wait any longer.
It is time to celebrate the one year anniversary. It is time to think about investing yourself.
You truly do deserve it. So what I would say is an invitation. I have started a newsletter, which I do every single week. It often aligns with a podcast, but not always. And I'm very thoughtful about these newsletters because like I said, I really do want to give you something valuable that is going to help you get through your week. My favorite podcast is We Can Do Hard Things by Glennon Doyle and Abby Wambach and Amanda Doyle, right? And I look forward to the podcast.
I relish in the podcast. It makes me laugh. If I'm up at 2 AM and I can't fall asleep, I put on the podcast and their voices because it feels like a safe space to me. For some reason, I'm able to fall back asleep. I want the Love and Science podcast to be that for you. I want the Love and Science community to be that for you, right? So subscribe to my newsletter through my website and you can submit requests for future podcast episodes. People who know me know that I'm always asking, I will create content specifically for you because I know that's what's going to resonate the most. So go to my website, subscribe, submit requests for future podcast topics. I absolutely take into account that feedback and I absolutely act on it.
And when you do subscribe to my email newsletter, I will reveal some of the upcoming topics for the Love and Science podcast in the foreseeable future. So let's continue the momentum of healing and growth. Know that I'm rooting for you always. Happy birthday, Love and Science podcast.
It would not be the podcast in this community without each and every one of you. Thank you for listening and every single continent. I just learned that this week, every single continent we've reached and I just know I can feel the community growing. So know that I love you, know that I'm rooting for you always and let us celebrate this milestone together.
I love you. Bye!
