When a podcast about infertility is called IVFML (HuffPost/iTunes), you know it is going to have lighter moments as well as tearful ones. It is, as Anna Almendrala and Simon Ganz explain: “The story of when a man and a woman love each other very much and together they embark on an expensive, time-consuming and emotionally fraught journey towards parenthood, with no guarantee of success and plenty of opportunity for disaster.”
The couple are optimistic, frank and funny, but this is a podcast that is best served in portions rather than binged on, because, no matter how much they try to look on the bright side, there are many sad moments. If you want to know exactly what happens during IVF, Almendrala and Ganz give their guide to all the emotions, procedures and moments of hope. And if you know someone going through it, they can tell you what not to say. “Positive thinking isn’t going to change my hormone levels,” notes Almendrala, who says her inability to conceive turned other people – especially “successful breeders” – into medical experts.
Ganz details how he timed his sperm donation and then drove through heavy traffic to deliver it. “What porn do I want to be wanting when I’m potentially creating human life?” he ponders. “Whoah!” interrupts his wife: “This will be the first and the last time that Simon gets his own segment on the podcast.”
As their story goes on, it becomes more moving. Episode two – The Grief Olympics – tells the story of the moment the ultrasound technician went silent during their scan. The doctor had tears in her eyes. Anna had miscarried. Ganz says it is difficult to remember how happy they had been before that moment.
Throughout the episodes, Almendrala’s bravery shines through. She doesn’t flinch as she describes her embryo transfer and having a catheter inserted into her cervix until it reached the top of her uterus. “They told us to picture the embryo as a pearl getting stuck on a piece of peanut butter toast,” she says, flatly.
With each embryo, they hope: “This is going to be the one that works.” And by telling their story in the podcast, they have an army of listeners rooting for them.
If you like this, try … Not By Accident.
