It is with a somewhat heavy yet joy -filled heart that I write this as today sees the last episode
of The Fertility Podcast being published. When I launched the podcast in 2014, with Phoenix who turns 10 next February in my tummy, I had no idea where it could take me. All I knew was that I wanted to use my audio skills to help you navigate the unbelievably daunting world of infertility and potential IVF treatment, as I went through it with my best friend close at hand as she’d had three cycles before having twins so was there to hold my hand.
Over the last decade the podcast has been on a mission to bring credible information to your earholes, from experts sharing their insights to lived experiences and at its peak was being listened to in over 90 countries and has had over 1 million downloads and has won multiple awards.
It has opened up a world of fascinating conversations to me and has taught me a huge amount.
It has given me a new sense of purpose and a voice as a fertility advocate which I have embraced and has introduced me to incredible people who i’ve been fortunate to work with and now I’ve built a new business, our CIC Fertility Matters at Work which I urge you to go and follow what we’re doing, if you’re not already and its the main focus of my time, hence this decision to stop publishing the podcast.
For the last 18 months, my dear friend and one of my first guests on the podcast, Kate, has been holding the mic for me and doing such a brilliant job. Podcasting is time consuming, it has a lot of processes in place that happen behind the scenes and Kate kept things going for me, whilst running her own business and consulting for many others. She is a busy lady yet I know she has loved doing the podcast because she cares. She really does. We both do which is why we wanted to keep it going despite neither of us really having the time. I needed to focus on the work we’ve been doing at Fertility Matters at Work but didn’t want things to just stop.
Kate has always been my science bit. She explains the tricky stuff in a way that is so easily accessible and she is one of the most empathetic and conscientious people I’ve been fortunate to meet and has some really exciting things happening in her in 2025 which is why we’re not going to continue publishing the podcast as we have been doing. We have a real duty of care to deliver content to you that makes a difference, that is helpful, that is informative and helps you to feel less alone but as I said above, that takes time which we don’t currently have.
Two of the most proudest parts of having the podcast are – the people I’ve met or heard from who have told me how it’s helped, I think I hoped to reach a few people when I started, yet as podcasting grew and the conversation around infertility pushed it’s way out of the shadows and into the mainstream the podcast grew and others followed suit and the fact there are now a whole of podcasts on the topic of family building challenges absolutely makes my heart sing.
So, this is me – Natalie your fertilitypoddy pal signing off for now – raising a glass to Kate and to you, my amazing listener xxx
