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Published on:

6th Nov 2023

Frank Fallon - Male Factor Infertility

This week is National Fertility Awareness Week and we thought it was important to discuss male factor infertility. MFI is sometimes hidden in plain sight, as far too often (both by medical professionals and the TTC community) the focus is on the impact on us women. Therefore, joining me today on the Fertility Podcast is Frank Fallon a.k.a @betatwindad to talk about male factor and infertility. Frank and I talk about his diagnosis and the lack of answers from doctors, how he learned to advocate for himself and his drive to seek out his own support. 

Frank shares how low and shell shocked he felt when he was told that he was infertile.This was compounded sadly by his experience of unhelpful the doctors. Frank talks about how he was directed straight to IVF with no explanation or answers about the cause of his infertility. 

Eventually Frank was told that he had low sperm motility and that trying to conceive naturally was unlikely, however he felt there had to be a reason for his infertility and wanted to find out.

Frank describes how he felt guilty and shameful, but the biggest part of it all was not having anyone to talk to. Frank wasn’t offered any support, so made the decision to seek it out himself.

Frank talks about how fortunate he and his partner were to conceive on their first round of IVF and twins at that! After having the twins in 2022, Frank explains how he found out that there were tests that should have been done at the beginning of their fertility journey but were not done. Frank has now been diagnosed with a varicocele. Had this been diagnosed they may not have needed IVF treatment.

Frank's advice to listeners is to find out as much as you possibly can about tests and treatments that are available to you, and make sure you reach out for the support you need.

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About the Podcast

The Fertility Podcast
The Fertility Podcast|Expert interviews|Women and Men sharing #TTC stories|Wellbeing support
If you’ve found your route to parenthood hasn’t been straightforward, The Fertility Podcast is for you. From how to optimise your fertility to getting pregnant naturally, navigating IVF, understanding donor conception or surrogacy to how to prepare for a life without children. Whatever your situation, you are not alone. Created by Natalie Silverman, a former fertility patient in 2014 Natalie set about speaking to experts and sharing lived experience and expert interviews In 2019 Kate Davies, an independent fertility nurse consultant joined as co-host and from 2023-2024, Kate hosted the podcast solo sharing more of her expert insight and stories from her patients. As The Fertility Podcast reached its 10th anniversary the decision was taken to cease publishing.. until now. The Fertility Podcast is proud to partner with Fertility Action, a new UK charity dedicated to supporting anyone affected by infertility, secondary infertility, or sub-fertility. Together, we aim to amplify our mission of education, empowerment, and support. Fertility Action combines patient advocacy with expert knowledge to offer peer support, therapy, and reliable information. They are also committed to improving fertility care access, raising awareness, and driving research to advance understanding and treatment.

PLEASE NOTE: The Fertility Podcast has an archive of its 300 episodes on new podcast feeds called: Getting Pregnancy Ready, Infertility Support, Male Fertility, Alternative Routes to Parenthood, and Pregnancy Loss.
Just have a look in your podcast search and be sure to subscribe.

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Natalie Silverman