Everyone.
Welcome back to friends with fertility.
Today, we have doc doctor Lucky Sikon.
Welcome.
Thank you for being here.
Thanks for having me.
I'm gonna read you all her bio to start off with just so you get it background and an idea of who she is and what she's all about.
She is a board certified reproductive endocrinologist, infertility specialist, and OB as well as an assistant clinical professor at Mount Sinai Health System in New York City.
She is the author of the Lucky Egg, which I will get into briefly, but I'm super excited about this book, which is a comprehensive myth busting guide to understanding reproductive health and overcoming infertility written to empower anyone navigating the complex and often confusing world of in of fertility.
Wiley recognized for her expertise in egg freezing IVF and lgbtq plus family building.
She has a trusted voice in the reproductive medicine industry known for blending cutting edge science and deeply compassionate patient care.
She's originally from Toronto also studied in Ireland before moving to New York and completing her residency in fellowship at Mount Sinai.
She actively publishes and presents research at National Conferences and is passionate about making evidence based fertility information accessible through all.
Etcetera, etcetera.
She's on social media and all the things.
I wanna seemingly rush through this because I can't wait to chat with her and we'll put your bio on the, um, the show notes as well, but real quick to start with your education starting in Canada, going to Ireland, coming to The US, I just wanna state for listeners.
I love this so much because it gives Those doctors that I've met that have had this broader education, let's say, from different areas come to the table with different perspectives, and they've seen different things.
And it's not one size fits all across all countries and in fact states for that matter in The US.
And so what has that what did you notice being the student in those situations going from place to place? Recognizing like, oh, that's a little different than I learned there and or what I'm bringing to New York once you got here.
Tell us about that.
I mean, I think, um, growing up in Canada, and then also just seeing what other socialized healthcare systems are like.
Um, I think you see the good and the bad in in both worlds.
I do love, um, that you don't always need a referral to see a doctor here in The States and that you can be a little bit more proactive, and it doesn't have fit within the guidelines.
Like, I think that a lot of times patients are more in the driver's seat here.
Um, one of the frustrations I have, even though it's wonderful to have universal health care in Canada, growing up it took a long time to get in with specialists.
And so especially when it comes to fertility, which is so time sensitive, I worry about, you know, the ability for people to get timely care, um, and So it's a balance.
I think it's great that there's more coverage and more resources for people, but I wish that they didn't have to wait for so long.
So, uh, I think it's a give and take.
Um, there's also just a different way of doing things I think that The US is very focused on, like, diagnostic testing and and kind of jumping straight into that, um, doing my a lot of my medical education overseas because I'm a EU citizen, a Canadian citizen, and I more recently became a US citizen.
There was much more of an emphasis on putting your hands on the patient actually examining them instead of just kind of sending them for pan imaging through an MRI, which I think is good.
So I think my clinical skills got really honed well because um, the education and training puts such a great emphasis on the power of of, you know, actual physical exam and really, um, looking at the patient as a whole and kind of taking it all in is each thing as a clue that can really give you a picture of what their diagnosis might be.
Um, but there's good and there's bad to to all systems.
And I think, um, there is no ideal system, but the the key is to understand what your situation is and to learn to work within this system that you're in so that you're maximizing what you're getting out of it and you're minimizing time wasted.
Right.
And I think for people that are watching and listening, because we have patients all over the world, there are differences just within the the statements that you just made as far as what if they're watching somebody in social media who may be in Canada or The UK, those are very similar experiences than they are in The US and or somewhere else that's not part of a commonwealth, for example.
And so recognizing that their time to get to the doctor, their time for a referral or all of those other things may be a little bit different.
But again, I just I really value doctors that I see that have had that experience across the board with different areas in different countries because I think it just shows a a broader sense of knowledge that we might not get in the The US system trait track alone in and of itself.
So anyway, how did you fall into reproductive endocrinology out of you know, starting at medical school.
Yeah.
So I, you know, always was interested in women's health.
I was specifically also interested in hormones.
I just thought that they were so interesting in biology learning about the interplay between your brain and the rest of your body and how you have this master gland that controls your ovaries, your thyroid, your adrenal glands.
And so, you know, I'm a huge nerd.
I found that really interesting.
And um, as a woman, you know, to know that all this magic is happening inside my body.
And I grew up in a really matriarchal household where, um, it was definitely, you know, not frowned upon to talk about how our bodies work and talk openly about different health issues, whether it would be in my maternal grandmother, my mom, my sisters.
Wow.
That's amazing.
And yeah, unusual for that age range, I feel like, what do you why do you think that is? I think we just, were very dominant because there's a lot of women in my family.
And so I think that, you know, women's issues always were kind of top of mind.
And culturally, I was raised, um, in a household that was really progressive, and that I think at that time was a little bit unusual because my parents are immigrants and, you know, um, Indian culture has always been very much about, like, the man is the head of the household, and you also shy away from topics typically around sexual health and reproduction and, you know, just women's health in general.
So I think my parents were a little bit, um, of the type to go against the green, and I don't know.
I just it was very empowering to me also just coming from that background.
The idea that there are options that we have now that our mothers and our grandparents didn't have um, you know, and the expectations have shifted, you know, in in my experience, my parents were like, you should not get married before 30.
And I was like, that's interesting because in their upbringing, that was, like, a given.
You're gonna get married in your early twenties and start having children.
Um, and so I think their journey as immigrants growing up in a completely different society and seeing the benefits of maybe thinking about things differently from what they were culturally raised to think.
Um, put me in a very unique situation where I became very grateful and acutely aware of how lucky I am to be, um, in a family like that, And in a time where there are options that a lot of people before us just didn't have, um, I found egg freezing was, like, really one of the things that made me so interested in the field as a medical student learning about it and learning about IVF and just seeing how it could really extend the window or timeline that we have and also just living that reality of trying to fit everything in and knowing there's so many years to training and you know, there's just, uh, so much to be done, and then you have to find the right partner.
And it just seemed overwhelming, but I felt a sense of calm knowing that there are options that exist that can help.
But I didn't really truly understand until I really got into the field.
I think I actually had an overinflated view of what science could achieve, and only when I actually went into the field and saw the reality, which is, yes, we can do a lot, but we still have to be realistic, and we still have to be really mindful.
And you know, the narrative that a lot of people think fertility doctors are spreading around, which I don't think we are, of you can just freeze your eggs and don't worry about it.
It's like, there is that narrative out there, and I don't necessarily think it's coming from fertility doctors.
I think it's just an that a lot of people make, and maybe it's headlines, you know, seeing celebrities have kids well into their fifties and not really knowing all of the detail and nuance that went into that.
Um, there is this over assumption about it's 2025.
We can do anything.
And so But I did find it really intriguing, and I did think it was really cool that there's a field that exists within medicine that is so fast paced moving at breakneck speed.
It was not even, you know, in in existence before the nineteen seventies.
And now here we are being able to offer a rate of success of sixty to seventy percent per genetically tested embryo transferred with a good grade.
I mean, that's a huge jump, you know, and I and I think it's really inspiring, and I can't wait to see what happens next in our field.
A 100% agree with you in all the areas and wanna go back to how how lucky you are to have grown up in a household where those things were talked about because even now I deal with people and families that are still not talking about women's wellness within their own families, even when they've dealt with breast cancer, cervical cancers, whatever.
It's still a hush-hush thing.
So I just wanna encourage people who are listening to open that conversation in that dialogue because along the way that really is preventative, the conversation in and of itself helps prevent things and move things forward, whether it's from, again, a diagnostic perspective later down the line or just, you know, planning for your family, you know, it it really does help.
I've definitely tried to normalize the conversations even with my I have two girls, an eight year old and a five year old.
And, um, the eight year old had you know, a unit come up in her science class about reproduction, and a lot of the other parents were really uncomfortable.
Um, but I really embraced it.
I actually went in and gave a talk, um, and showed them some cool videos of things that happen in the lab, because that gives you unique insight into the biology.
But I've always really made an effort to, you know, use anatomically correct language when referring to body parts and normalizing talking about our bodies because I do think a lot of the reason we are in the place that we're in right now, which is not a terrible place.
I don't wanna sound so badou and gloom, but it is a place where a lot of women have gone their entire lives or a lot of their adult lives, not really understanding how their bodies work or not feeling comfortable in their body because it just wasn't normalized to talk about all the things, their periods, and ovulation.
And and then all of a sudden it becomes a major topic of conversation if you find yourself in a position where you're needing to focus on that, and it's a challenge to overcome And it's so much easier if you already did that work to normalize these conversations and you already understand how your body works.
You come into it calmer and with less of a knowledge gap.
And I think that's really the spirit of the book and a lot of what I do online when I'm trying to educate beyond educating my own patients in my practice, but just trying to share good information.
It's about really trying to level set and get everyone on the same page about what they need to know.
Agree.
And I think it is a generational shift as well.
So it may not be something overnight that your family is having, you know, conversations at the dinner table about this, but I think slowly integrating that a and being open about your own journey, hey, guess what I am looking into, egg freezing or whatever it may be? And I'm guilty of this myself.
When I did it a million years ago, it wasn't a thing.
So I wasn't openly talking to my family about it either.
But at the same time back to your point about this assumption that if you do make the decision to freeze your eggs or you do make the decision to do IVF, I think a lot of people are No.
I don't wanna say misguided, but also maybe have blinders on too.
Okay.
I finally made this big decision.
I have my insurance policy.
I can wait till later or we're finally gonna do IVF, which means I'm gonna have my baby in ten months and You know? Yeah.
Like life is on its merry way.
Hopefully god willing that's the case, but I think a lot of people aren't really truly educated on all the steps of how the process goes.
All the waiting, all the testing that goes along with it.
And on the flip side, I think a lot of people think it's a lot worse than it is, you know, and I tell people it's we make it in our mind worse than it is, I believe.
Granted, there's some situations that people have nuances that it doesn't go well for them physically or something, but for the most part, it's it's there I say easy, but it's not that bad.
Right? You kind of think it's not.
For the average p person and everyone's situation is different, but I say that too as someone who's gone through it.
And, uh, you know, I've had failed cycles.
I've done multiple rounds of IVF to make the embryos and I did it for fertility preservation, so maybe that context makes it easier.
Right? But I don't think we always have to qualify and compare.
I think our experiences are experienced.
And, you know, I always tell patients, listen.
Everyone's in a different situation, I had a lower ovarian reserve, so I actually didn't really feel much when I went through, you know, these types of cycles.
Other people, especially those who get more eggs at retrieval, might have a little bit harder of the time recovering.
So it really depends on the person But I agree with you.
Most people are pleasantly surprised.
Um, I always ask patients after they're done with their treatments.
I always ask, like, is it better or worse or what you anticipated? And usually, the things that make people the most apprehensive from what they see online and hear about they're like, oh, it actually wasn't as bad.
It went by faster than I thought.
Um, and and I tell people that not to minimize the discomfort and the experiences that other people have, but just to kind of give you a broad overview of what seems more typical because I do think that it's easy to kind of build it up in your head when, um, you, you don't need to.
And I think that that just makes you feel more apprehensive than you need to feel.
I agree.
And for whatever reason, often, we see the the stories that are not so great online, right? The people that have issues, like negative issues around it rather than like, oh my god, that was so easy.
I didn't gain weight.
I didn't have any issues.
I, you know, right.
All the things, and I think more often than not, we need to hear those positive sides of the story to say it's gonna be okay, and it's not that bad.
And, you know, there's a lot of other people that have gone through it as well, which leads me to your book, the lucky egg.
I mean, what better title could you come up with? I love that.
First of all, is Lucky your given birth name? Yes.
It is.
It's so funny.
I'm the third daughter, and I think my parents just statistically assumed I'd be a boy and they didn't have a girl name picked out.
And, uh, so they were all like, we don't know.
We have to think, like, my sisters have normal names, Ruby and Vicky, and my brother's name is Sean.
He came after me.
Um, you know, it was just one of those things that it became like a Nick name, and my grandfather actually started saying, oh, third third daughter, third time lucky.
It's like a saying.
Maybe it's more so a saying in England.
I'm not sure.
But that's where they had just moved from.
Um, and then they were like lucky.
And they started calling me that.
And then they were like, Actually, it's kind of a cool name.
And growing up, I honestly hated it, and now I love it.
I think it makes people feel positive and good to know their doctor has a positive name.
For sure.
It makes them feel like they'll be lucky, but I actually think that the title while it's like a catchy play on my name, it's really more, um, deep than that.
It's to illustrate the fact that yes, we're gonna talk about the science.
Yes.
There's a lot to know about the biology and how things work.
And there are things you can do to try to position yourself more favorably for an optimal outcome.
But at the end of the day, there are always going to be things that we cannot explain with science alone.
There is an element of luck.
And randomness because, you know, even when you think about ovulating, it's a random collection of eggs that get pulled to the surface each month, each cycle, and only one of them like a lottery gets to be chosen, and it's really a matter of luck.
It's not a matter of merit, it it's really random.
And that's why human reproduction is so inefficient.
Right? You're relying on a lot of randomness to line up and go right.
And I think it's really important that as a doctor who understands all the knowledge and the science behind it, we acknowledge the unknowns.
I think we have to say there are situations where people will fail multiple IVF cycles.
Maybe even they try other things like surrogacy and it doesn't go well, and then they conceive on their own.
Like, we've all heard those types of stories.
And I do think that we have to acknowledge that the science is great.
There are the also things we cannot explain, understand, or even test for, even in 2025, there isn't a test for egg quality.
And there is some randomness, there is some serendipity and luck involved in all of this.
And I think when we admit and acknowledge that, we free ourselves of this feeling of everything that happens as the result of my actions and efforts or lack thereof because that couldn't be further from the truth.
A men.
I'm so glad that you say that because the amount of people that I see that are, you know, type a doing all the things all the time and quite miserable in their lives really because they're trying so hard to make sure that they check all the boxes to make sure that they are doing what's right.
And Yeah.
And unfortunately, there there is that level of, like, we can't point to, is it because you did acupuncture or didn't do acupuncture? Because you took the coq10 or didn't take the coq10, right? Like, we don't really know.
And it is a matter of just teeing yourself up to the best of your ability while also keeping your mental health sane in this process.
And and getting your fertility team to be the best that it can be to to tier you on and and put yourself in the right situation.
I I know that I was very lucky to have three children naturally over 41 granted.
I was doing all the things But also at the end of the day, I don't know what I can point to to what it was that did it because I had I was doing the laundry list of all the things.
So I'm so glad that you mentioned that because people really are so hard on themselves to, you know, I could spend all Yeah.
All hour talking about that, and I won't.
But I it just give yourself a little bit of grace to know that there is an element of taking a breath and knowing that ultimately you know, we we just need to get these things aligned.
And even I'm sure you see it all the time too, the perfect embryo, the perfect situation, and all these things, and it still might not work.
Right? And so there is Right.
There's that side of it too of just understanding.
There is some aspect to this that is not up to us, uh, no matter what we do.
Not control.
Yes.
Exactly.
And I don't say that to be like, well, then there's no point to any of it, obviously.
As you said, you can tee yourself up to the best of your ability And, you know, there's so many ways that the the name of the book applies too.
Just thinking about what you said about being, you know, over 40 and, you know, conceiving on your own.
I always tell patients who come in and they're concerned about their age and they haven't even been trying yet.
Listen, here are the stats, and this is why we have a lower threshold to say you should seek out expert help and testing and potentially treatment sooner, the older you are.
But having said that, there are many people at your age where you still have healthy eggs.
It's just the ratio has kinda changed or shifted based on what we know about our biology, but all you need is one, and there's no telling.
You know, it's there is a an element of luck.
Will you happen to ovulate randomly the lucky healthy egg? Or will it be a month where it's not? And I think that we have to be really realistic about that.
And and that way, the onus isn't fully on us.
There is some element of this that's random that cannot be controlled.
And I think that that should absolve you of guilt and feeling like you just are constantly in a pressure cooker where everything you do can have a potential outcome or impact on the outcome.
And even just you stating that simple statement of it is possible.
It could happen.
Right? It could be that one with the egg.
I used to go to REs with my patients when I first started.
You would not hear people say that.
You would not hear the doctors say that.
They would give you the statistics based on your age.
And, you know, almost like the same PowerPoint of like, this is where you're at based on your age.
I was told you're 40 years old, you have 40 year old eggs, etcetera, etcetera.
There was no, but there could be a chance That wasn't that sentence wasn't even in there.
Right? And so I think just that one statement to get people to say, there still could be hope, right? Even if I'm going through all these processes and, you know, whatnot as I was.
I mean, I was seeing a fertility doctor through the whole process as well, but I still think that partnering with a doctor on your journey who has this element of it's possible we can do this.
We're not sure how and which way it's gonna happen, but we're gonna talk about all those ways, but ultimately just has a positive outlook on your situation.
Can take you so far in your journey versus the alternative of like, well, here's the stats based on your age.
It's not looking good.
You might wanna do it a donor because, you know, your age without even knowing the history, that can change the physiology of somebody's whole being just by Yeah.
The person in the white coat telling them something that they weren't expecting to hear.
So I really appreciate just that small statement and I'm sure a lot of your patients do too.
So what brought you to doing such a comprehensive book? I'm have it right here, and I'm so grateful for having it physically in front of me, but it really does cover dare I say everything like it really does? No.
I know.
I mean, I I wanted it to be a fertility Bible.
This that's basically what it came down to.
Yeah.
It is.
I I just was like, I don't know If I can do this again, you know, writing a book is very, very difficult.
If you really wanna do a good job, and I can say there's no fluff.
Like, every sentence matters.
Everything is, you know, my editor was like, you cannot have this book be over a 100,000 words.
And I was like, I know, but I have so much to say.
And I did bite off more than I could chew, but I somehow got it all in there.
And I do think it's important because I feel like so much of the different topics are interconnected, and I it didn't feel like a good idea to have, like, five separate books.
You know, I wanted to build and have it be foundational.
Like, it's like really filling the knowledge gap, and it has a very intuitive flow.
Okay.
Well, and here's what you need to do to prepare if you're starting to think about trying.
Every aspect you can think of, getting off birth control, what to expect.
Like, all the lifestyle things that you should be aware of.
What does the data actually say and what do I tell my patients basically giving that advice? And then, okay, when is it time to seek help? When is it an actual problem? Because we should normalize the idea that it can take a little bit of time.
And then, okay, where should you find the help? Because that's a whole topic.
Right? Um, and I and I and that's the part that maybe I'm a little nervous for people to read because I just gave my full out honest opinion.
If I was talking to my sister of a friend or a family member who is in a different country or out of state, how would I help them evaluate who to go to and what clinics? And and just really practical information that you're not gonna find if you Google, right? And then basically, like, what are the tests? What's the standard? Cause there's all these, like, add on extra things that maybe you don't need, but what is really the thing that you should be focusing on? And then, okay, if you run into barriers, what are the different ways to get around those barriers? There's a whole section on troubleshooting, you know, for people that have had failed transfers or haven't gotten, um, the results they want from an egg retrieval.
There's so many different places that you could hit snags and really addressing each one in targeted sense and saying, these are potential solutions that you can look into.
And some of it's super evidence based.
And some of it's like, here's what the date it's not the best data, but here's what we think and this might be worth trying.
And I just give, like, all the nuance and information that I try to give to my patients.
But on a broader scale.
And there's also a whole chapter on LGBTQ family building, which I don't think exists, you know, in terms of the the level of comprehensive information that people really should have at their fingertips.
And then fertility preservation, and then mental health is woven throughout the book because I think that the mental health challenges of someone who's trying to freeze their eggs and maybe has a lower egg count is very different from someone who's going through recurrent losses or ectopic pregnancies.
So I I really wanted to address it all, and I said to myself, I'm gonna do it all.
And I don't know how I did it in a hundred k words, but it's not I hope overwhelming for people because I made it so that you could just read discreet sections as well.
I do think it flows really nicely to have the foundation and then go forward, but there's gonna be an index and a way for you to just, like, look up the information you need as well.
So I'm hopeful that it'll be an all encompassing resource.
And it is so easy to read and to make sense of it all.
For people, I'm a nerd, and I love to geek out on all this stuff and doing my PhD and all of that.
But even for somebody who's not nerdy and just just trying to go through it.
It's really easy to read and very straightforward.
And I just I'm I'm thrown away thrown away, blown away, and there are no words for me to say because I really am shocked.
I haven't seen a I don't know that ever.
I've seen a book like that is so comprehensive like this and does cover so much like this.
And I was saying in transparency before we got on that I haven't read all the way through it, but I will a 100% read all the way through it, and it's amazing.
I am just Thank you.
Congratulations on touching so many different aspects and even what to do when your plan doesn't work out.
And I mean, it really is, like, I don't know, like, a download that you, it seems like you got of just like pouring through all the information that somebody who's going through this needs to hear.
Um, and what a great gift for somebody who may be just starting the journey of a friend or a family member who is maybe struggling to just be like, hey, there's this book because I think that's where a lot of people are not educated going into it.
Like I said, they think I'm okay.
I made this big decision.
I'm gonna freeze my eggs.
So I I'm good.
I can I can wait till I'm 45 to start trying? Well, you might wanna think about what the whole process is when you're 45.
I froze my eggs and I wasn't able to use them.
I didn't know that was gonna be a situation.
And or the PG testing, like the different types of PGT testing and what does that mean and what not? You know, there's a lot of different.
The glossary is amazing.
I'm super overly excited about this book as you can tell because I do geek out on all of this stuff.
So, um, where can people find you, work with you, get your book, all the things.
Please tell us.
So the book is going to be available, um, January 13, but you can pre order before then Amazon, Barnes and Noble.
I mean, anywhere books are sold, you're gonna be able to find this book.
There's also an audiobook version, which is narrated by me, um, which was really fun to record.
And I think that this book lends a self well to audio as well because like you said, I made it very conversational.
I for anyone that already follows me, I'm on Instagram.
I'm also on TikTok, but I do a lot of content.
And I've I it's a muscle that you flex.
So something that I do pride myself on is trying to make really complicated topics more accessible and easy to understand.
And that's what I really sought to do with this book as well.
There's a lot of like silly funny analogies, but things that will help you to you know, stop from falling asleep when we're talking about sometimes what's hardcore science.
Right? Um, but I think that patient stories also really help ground a lot of the concepts.
And each of the stories are real stories.
Obviously, they're they're anonymized and names are changed But this book was inspired by my patients and inspired by my clinical practice.
Um, I see patients at RMA of New York, so I actively, you know, have a practice and and take new patients so people can also find me as their doctor.
Um, but I I really hope that this book can serve as an extension of what I've already been doing with my own patients.
I'm a huge proponent of starting with education, and I don't think anyone should do treatment or even testing without understanding the rationale of why and understanding, you know, the the mechanism of of the treatments that they're doing, because I think that even when you don't realize it, maybe peep sometimes people say, like, I don't wanna be bogged down with details, understanding the context of what you're doing is automatically gonna make you feel more in control in a process that is largely out of your control in a lot of ways.
And it's the one thing that you can do to really ground yourself and make yourself feel less anxious about the situation And it's just so important, and I think it's shocking, um, how many people go through treatment and do these complex things without really truly understanding what they're doing and why.
A 100%.
And it's not a conversation that we have had in school or that you would know anything really about this before you're sitting on that table figuring it all out.
So I do think getting educated to the best of your ability by something that's easy to read and curated by somebody who does have the evidence and the research behind her to know, like, this is accurate.
We're not googling this.
We're not just finding out what Susie q down the road did on her journey.
This is scientific information by a medical doctor who is sharing her experience in life and in her practice to help you get better educated.
And when you have education, you have power.
And when you have power, you have better better results because Again, it helps you it helps your mind body and spirit get on board with everything that's happening for you.
And then it's a big deal to go through fertility, whether you're, you know, thinking ahead or you're in it right now trying to build your family as we speak.
So I cannot speak more highly of this book because it is so comprehensive.
It is so easy to read.
It does really feel like it is the next fertility Bible or the only fertility Bible that people really need right now.
So Thank you so much for being here and continuing to share your information with the world on social media and now in this fabulous book.
So any parting words of advice for people that are starting their journey on fertility in fertility? Well, first of all, thank you for all your support and your kind words.
This is why I love the internet.
Right? It brings people like us together who are like minded and aligned in our mission.
And I just feel so supported by you, and I love everything that you're doing really to move the needle forward and help support people.
I think the biggest takeaway is mental health.
I know that we could talk about the science all day long, and I would love to do that.
But I do think as a physician, Yes.
I'm focused so much on the goal and just getting you to that positive place where you have the result you want, but I care so much more about the journey as well than the destination because I think they're too they're they're inextricably linked And I think we have to think about fertility treatment and the road, the path to getting to your personal and reproductive goals as more of a marathon than a sprint.
And think about what you would do to prepare for a marathon.
Right? You would make sure you're not gonna just show up and wing it.
Um, you're gonna you're gonna steal yourself mentally, and you're gonna make sure that you're taking care of your basic physical needs.
You're you have to approach it that way.
Because one of the number one reasons why people might not get to a positive outcome, and there's many different reasons.
Right? I'm not saying this is every case, but a lot of times people may burn out and just drop out of treatment prematurely.
And studies have shown.
It's not often what people think.
Oh, it's financial.
You know, you run out of coverage.
No.
It's often psychological.
I've seen patients for second opinions where I'm taking their history and there's gaps.
It's like looking at gaps in a resume.
You're like, What happened between these two years? Um, did you end up, you know, just stopping trying? And people say, yes, because I just was burnt out.
And when it comes to fertility being so time sensitive, it's really important to try not I think breaks are healthy.
Taking a month off, a month off here or there, I think it can be so wonderful for your soul.
You know, I am always a big proponent of continuing to live your life.
Go on the family vacation.
You know, you can't sacrifice everything, but you really do have to kind of keep your eye on the prize and taking care of your mental health is the number one way to really ensure that you can stay in it to win it.
That's what I always tell my patients.
And, um, that's why it's such a huge focus of what I talk to my patients about, and how I treat them in a multidisciplinary fashion and, you know, have make sure that they're talking about their mental health with an expert with me, with my team, um, because you really wanna make sure that that you're able to kind of stick with it and be persistence, and hopefully persistence will pay off.
I couldn't agree with you more.
I of all the fertility doctors that I had seen over the time, nobody ever asked me how my mental health was, how I was doing in this you know, in this situation, I remember crying with a phlebotomist, you know, after a loss and knowing very well, like she can't help me, you know, or being walked out the back door after the loss.
And it is a it's multifaceted for sure and mental health really, really does play a role in it.
And as long as your faith and your your faith in the journey and yourself is stronger than your fear, keep going.
Don't give up.
Yeah.
Um, so there's people out there that wanna help you and can get you to where you need to be to be a mom.
It might not look like you thought it was gonna be or dad for that matter, but you'll get there.
We just gotta figure out the white, the right way to get there and who your fertility team is to help you in that.
So Thanks again for being here and until our paths cross again
