Life Beyond Failed Fertility

You will not want to miss this week’s episode of Venus Rising, as Kallie sits down with award winning author and writer Pamela Mahoney Tsigdinos for a frank discussion on a painful topic: infertility.

Pamela’s book Silent Sorority, became the first account of reconciling infertility that was not written by a mother. With raw honesty Pamela drew from her experience to explore the stigma associated with fertility issues and the complex effects of living involuntarily childless.

Through her research and writing, Pamela was introduced to a vibrant community of IVF survivors. Her followup ebook, Finally Heard, gives voice to a large but seldom acknowledged population of women reconciling the trauma of failed fertility treatments. Her writing raises provocative, often uncomfortable questions usually reserved for late night reflection or anonymous blogging.

Her piece The Wild World of IVF, Explained was part of a Marie Claire package nominated for a 2019 Ellies Award by The American Society of Magazine Editors. She was named a Top 10 Health blogger by Time Inc.’s Health Magazine in July 2015.

Pamela was also the co-founder of the grassroots initiative ReproTechTruths.org formed ahead of the unregulated IVF industry’s 40^th anniversary campaign. Using the hashtag #UnmaskingIVF, ReproTechTruths provided a counter-programming platform for women to share the long-lasting impacts of failed IVF. To date, Pamela continues to write and serve on several cross-discipline working groups monitoring assisted reproductive technologies.

You can view her work in a variety of media outlets including STAT, WIRED, Marie Claire, The New York Times op-ed page, FORTUNE, Biopolitical Times, The New York Times Motherlode Blog, Huffington Post, Seleni Institute, and Medium. Pamela and her blog have been profiled or referenced in The New York Times, REVEAL News, TIME magazine, Women’s eNews, Redbook, The Globe and Mail, and MarketWatch, The American Prospect, Health.com, and RESOLVE.

Pamela regularly collaborates with an international team of researchers and academics. She is one of the co-authors of a Fertility and Sterility Journal article, Do à la carte menus serve infertility patients? It was the basis for an op-ed she wrote for The New York Times titled: The Big IVF Add-on Racket.

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Have questions about something you heard on Venus Rising? Have a comment or suggestion? We’d love to hear from you.

Email us at kallie.fell@cbc-network.org