The Fertility Hub is proud to be the media partner for this free infertility summit. Beat Infertility, an infertility podcast provider and coaching program are staging the event covering all paths to parenthood. They provide a community of support for fertility and female health.
The Beat Infertility National Virtual Summit kicks off at 8.00am EST, this Sunday 19 April and runs until Saturday 25 April in support of National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW). There are over 70 expert speakers to support you on your infertility journey.
Please see the full seminar schedule below and secure your FREE place here.
Sunday 19 April
8am – Adoption
Post Adoption Depression: Yes, it’s a Real Thing! Why it’s so important to be aware of the symptoms and know when to seek treatment.
9am – Affording Treatment
What is Baby Quest? Why did it start? How can I apply for a grant and join the Baby Quest family?
Pamela Hirsch, Baby Quest Foundation
10am – Childfree
One woman’s story of saying no more treatments. A teach on courage, empathy, and how to thrive in, through and after infertility – no matter the ending you get.
Justine Froelker, JBF Therapy & Coaching LLC
11am – Choosing a clinic
Dr. Uhler will be going over several important factors every patient should consider when choosing a fertility clinic. From initial consultations to viewing success rates, she encompasses everything a patient needs to know.
Dr. Meike Uhler, Fertility Centers of Illinois
12 noon – Preimplantation Genetic Testing
Defining PGT. Reviewing the process. Discussing pros and cons and factors that should influence the decision about whether to do PGT.
Dr. Mary Ramie Hinckley, RSC Bay Area
1pm – Endometriosis
Navigating the endometriosis journey from a patient perspective; including infertility.
Tara Hilton, The Yellow Cape Inc
2pm – Environmental Toxins
Discussing a variety of environmental exposures that could potentially have adverse reproductive consequences, while dispelling myths. Sharing what is manageable and in our control when it comes to the environment.
Dr. Amber Cooper, Vios Fertility Institute
3pm – Genetic Counselling
This session will focus on providing genetic counselling via telephone. It will include a discussion of best practices for providers and tips for patients on how to best be prepared for their session.
Sheila Johal, CGC, Copper Genomics
4pm – Navigating Infertility in the Workplace
Dealing with infertility can be physically, emotionally and financially traumatic. The stress alone can affect your job performance. If you are dealing with infertility you will need all the resources and support you can get, especially from your workplace.
Peter Nieves, CCO, WIN Fertility
5pm – Male Factor Infertility
Integration of reproductive urology evaluation and treatment in the overall care of the couple struggling to conceive.
Dr. Paul Shin, Shady Grove Fertility
Monday 20 April
8am – Affording Third Party
How to receive a benefit through your surrogacy/egg donor agency and plan financially for your third-party fertility journeys with the help of highly trained, professional and specialized coaches along with online content. Once you’ve secured the finances to cover your fertility journey, choosing an escrow fund manager that will fully secure your investment while allowing you to see all of the disbursements/payments associated with your cycle in real time on a HIPAA-compliant and fully transparent platform is critical.
Denise Steele, Seed Trust & Seed Coach Fertility Financial Guidance
9am – Autoimmune Disorders
A review of autoimmune disease prevalence and the effects of common autoimmune diseases on female infertility, male infertility and recurrent pregnancy loss. Options for fertility preservation as well as current recommendations for individuals with autoimmune disease planning for pregnancy will be discussed.
Dr. Ellen Hayes, Vios Fertility Institute
10am – Embryology (Embryo Optimization, Laboratory Techniques)
Sperm preparation/selection techniques (SPAR purification for HIV, gradient, Zymot, PICSI). Egg Treatments (calcium ionophore), IVF versus ICSI (fertilization, blast rate, live birth rate). Hatching and biopsy on day 3 or day 5, transfer at day 3 or day 5, freeze all versus fresh transfer. Embryo and egg vitrification. Retained embryo at transfer.
Dr. Carol Curchoe, ART Compass
11am – Fertility Awareness Checkup
The Fertility Awareness Checkup (coined by Fertility Centers of Illinois) is a check-up for both men and women that can give them important knowledge about their fertility. Dr. Rodgers tells listeners what the check-up tests are, how to read those results and for how long the test lasts.
Dr. Allison Rodgers, Fertility Centers of Illinois
12 noon – Financial Planning
Creative ways to fund your family-building journey.
Nicole Witt, MBA, The Adoption Consultancy
1pm – Gestational Surrogacy
2pm – IUI
What is an intrauterine insemination? What steps need to be taken to prepare for an insemination cycle? How successful are they and how might it weigh in as a treatment option?
3pm – Latest Advances in Reproductive Medicine
Androgen (DHEA) treatment for egg quality, DFI, ERA Testing, hCG, asprin, endometrial scratch, Lovenox Injections, freezing ovarian tissue, spindle nuclear transfer, Embryoscope and Artificial Intelligence.
Dr. Carol Lynn Curchoe, ART Compass
4pm – LGBTQ
Family Building Options for LGBTQ
Dr. Ryan Martin, Shady Grove Fertility
5pm – Yoga for Fertility
Learn the 4 key reasons why yoga is the ideal exercise for the fertility journey. Learn which yoga styles are best for fertility and how different poses are thought to affect the physical body. How to create a personal yoga practice you can stick with and use safely throughout your fertility journey. You will learn how to optimize the mind/body connection to improve how your body responds to stress.
Tamara Quinn BS RYT co-founder, Pulling Down the Moon
Tuesday 21 April
8am – Exercise During Treatment
To exercise or not to exercise while trying to conceive: reviewing the evidence and realistic tips.
Dr. Lora Shahine, Pacific Northwest Fertility
9am – Affording Treatment
Steps to affording treatment to include understanding your family-building/fertility benefit, ways to afford treatment if you are not covered and how to move forward.
Peter Nieves, CCO, WIN Fertility
10am – Donor Choice
5 important things to know before you choose a donor.
Lisa Schuman, LCSW, The Center for Family Building and RMA CT
11am – Endometriosis
Endometriosis & Infertility.
Dr. Ken Sinervo, Center for Endometriosis Care
12 noon – Fertility Medications
Dr. Uhler goes over all fertility medications, how to administer them, how much they cost, and what are the common side effects.
Dr. Meike Uhler, Fertility Centers of Illinois
1pm – Premature Ovarian Failure
Diagnosis, management and treatment of Premature Ovarian Failure.
Dr. Anish Shah, Shady Grove Fertility
2pm – Relationships (Partner, Family, Friends)
Common strategies and explanations of what makes fertility journeys challenging for each men and women.
Dr. Julie Bindeman, Integrative Therapy of Greater Washington
3pm – Sex
Sex and Fertility
Nicole Buratti, CWHC, Sex Talk with Nicole
4pm – Tracking & Understanding Your Cycle
Understanding the menstrual cycle in order to optimize your natural fertility.
Dr. Shawn Gurtcheff, Utah Fertility Center
5pm – Tubal Factor Infertility
Dr. Witt will discuss what it is, symptoms and treatment.
Dr. Barry Witt, Medical Director, WIN Fertility
6pm – Mental Health (Men)
Eli Weinstein, LMSW, ELIvation
Wednesday 22 April
8am – Donor Gametes
Cryos Egg Donors and Success of Vitrified vs. Fresh Donor Eggs.
Corey Burke, Cryos USA International Sperm & Egg Bank
9am – Exercise During First Trimester
What the evidence tells us about exercise in the first trimester. Basically, addressing fears about what people can and can’t do after becoming pregnant.
Kelly Bryant, E-RYT200, RPYT, Kelly Bryant Wellness
10am – Gestational Surrogacy
Legal issues that intended parents should know about surrogacy, including contracts, pre-birth orders and insurance coverage.
11am – IVF
Dr. Rodgers discusses every facet of IVF from pre-IVF to what happens after the embryo is implanted. She also talks about side effects, costs and success rates.
Dr. Allison Rodgers, Fertility Centers of Illinois
12 noon – Thyroid Disorders
This talk will review common thyroid disorders such as Hashimoto’s and Grave’s and how these disorders, as well as standard hypo and hyperthyroidism, affects fertility and may contribute to pregnancy loss. We will discuss work up and treatments available for the management of thyroid disorders as well as current recommendations for pregnancy.
Dr. Roohi Jeelani, Vios Fertility Institute
1pm Traditional Chinese Medicine (Acupuncture, Herbs, Supplements).
Moving the Needle: Why Fertility Acupuncture Deserves the Hype
Dr. Amy Matton, DACM, L.Ac, RMA of Connecticut
2pm – Travelling for IVF
Veronica will talk about travelling cross state and cross border for cost effective and successful IVF and combining IVF with your vacation.
Veronica Montgomery, Clinic and Patient Liaison Consultant, The Fertility Hub
3pm – Unexplained Infertility
Common diagnosis with good success. A diagnosis of exclusion.
Dr. Naveed Khan, Shady Grove Fertility
4pm – Uterine Abnormalities
We will discuss the role of a detailed uterine cavity evaluation as part of a fertility work up and the implications of certain findings on pregnancy, miscarriage and abnormal bleeding. We will also briefly discuss the role for surgical management for these findings and what to expect with that.
5pm – Miscarriage & Recurrent Pregnancy Loss
What we know and don’t know and what we can do about it!
Dr. Michael Homer, RSC Bay Area
6pm – Pelvic Floor
How to try to conceive when sex is painful.
Marina D. Castellanos, PT, Marina D. Castellanos PT PLLC
Thursday 23 April
8am – Health & Wellness
Dr. Hirshfeld-Cytron highlights important aspects of health and wellness in regard to fertility and how eating/not taking care of your body can negatively impact your fertility.
Dr. Jennifer Hirshfeld-Cytron, Fertility Centers of Illinois
9am – Affording Treatment
How to plan for and manage the costs of fertility treatment so that it is affordable, including use of insurance, personal resources, packaged services, lending and refund programs.
Dr. David Adamson, ARC Fertility
10am – Latest Advances in Reproductive Medicine
It is important in life to stay current with the latest recommendations, advances and technologies. We will review Latest Advances in Reproductive Medicine to help provide ideas for getting success in fertility treatment.
Dr. Angie Beltsos, Vios Fertility Institute
11am – LGBTQ
Biological Family Building for LGBTQ+
Dr. Mark Leondires, RMA of Connecticut/Gay Parents to Be
12 noon – Mental Health (Women & Men)
Jamie Kreiter and Dr. Cecelia Quinn, Nurture Therapy, LLC
1pm – Ovarian Aging
Critical assessment of novel technologies for improving ART outcomes in the setting of diminished ovarian reserve: mitochondrial replacement therapy, platelet rich plasma, stem cell therapy, in vitro gametogenesis.
Dr. Katherine L. Palmerola, IVFMD
2pm – Ovulatory Problems
Ovulatory problems are a leading cause of infertility. Discussion will include why confirming healthy ovulation is important when trying to conceive, current methods for doing so and treatment options if lack of ovulation or suboptimal ovulation is detected.
Dr. Amy Beckley, PhD, MFB Fertility, Inc
3pm – Pelvic Floor
How pelvic floor dysfunction affects your ability to conceive.
Kelly Bryant, E-RYT200, RPYT, Kelly Bryant Wellness
4pm – Relationships (Partner, Family, Friends)
It All Starts with You: 3 Keys to Improving Relationships with Yourself and Others During the Infertility Crisis
Dr. Maria T. Rothenburger, PhD, LPC, CHt, Miracles Happen Fertility Center
5pm – Secondary Infertility
Although similar to primary infertility, secondary infertility is unique in several ways. This will help to outline important parts of the history, workup and treatment that are unique to secondary infertility.
Dr. Deirdre Conway, Utah Fertility Center
Friday 24 April
8am – Gut Health
Did you know that gut health is central to fertility? This presentation will cover why our gut impacts fertility and strategies for optimising gut health for conception.
Dr. Cecilia Kitic, The IVF Project and Fertile Gut
9am – Navigating Infertility in the Workplace
How to ask your employer for fertility coverage. How to approach the subject with your HR/benefits team, questions to ask to better understand what’s covered.
Erin Hennessey & Amanda Lesesne, Progyny
10am – Navigating Insurance
Navigating your fertility insurance benefits can be overwhelming. This is a complicated area of insurance, but you are very much in control of it. Navigating insurance is about understanding what you have, as some of the expenses are covered under a medical program vs. a fertility program.
Peter Nieves, CCO, WIN Fertility
11am – Oncofertility
Oncofertility is an important part of the fertility journey that people often don’t talk about. Dr. Hirshfeld-Cytron parallels her expertise with a patient story and provides valuable insight into how a cancer diagnosis can derail fertility treatment or spur fertility treatment.
Dr. Jennifer Hirshfeld-Cytron, Fertility Centers of Illinois
12 noon – Supplements
Supplements to support egg quality
Rebecca Fett, Author of ‘It Starts with the Egg‘
1pm – Adoption
Understand the difference between donor eggs and adoption to make the right decision for your family.
Heidi Hayes, Donor Egg Bank USA
2pm – Baby Envy
How to deal with difficult emotions.
Amy Klein, Author of ‘The Trying Game’
3pm – Male Factor Infertility
Tentative: Consumerization of health allowing shift in burden of infertility to include equal responsibility from men.
4pm – PCOS
Things to expect, when you want to be expecting.
Dr. Michael Homer, RSC Bay Area
5pm – Traditional Chinese Medicine (Acupuncture, Herbs, Supplements)
Learn how acupuncture and herbal medicine can help you get and stay pregnant.
Mike Berkley, L.Ac., FABORM, The Berkley Center
Saturday 25 April
8am – Adoption
Laurie Goldheim, Law Offices of Laurie Goldheim
9am – Advanced Reproductive Age (Women & Men)
How maternal age effects egg quality.
10am – Travelling for IVF
How to travel safely during an IVF cycle.
Lauren Nervi, NP, RMA of New Jersey
11am – Mindfulness
How to navigate the challenges of infertility with the teachings and practices of mindfulness.
12 noon – Nutrition
Between running to appointments and the stress of insurance, what we’re feeding ourselves during this process often gets overlooked. Nutrition can play an integral role in our reproductive health. This talk will be covering the core tenets of nutrition for preconception.
Cory Ruth, MS, RDN, The Women’s Dietitian
1pm – Diminished Ovarian Reserve
When to do IVF and when to choose IUI instead.
Dr. Mary Ramie Hinckley, RSC Bay Area
2pm – Preparing for Pregnancy
Now more than ever, maintaining a healthy mind and body is crucial if you’re trying to conceive. Eric will spotlight tips for how people can best prepare for pregnancy during this time.
Dr. Eric Surrey, CCRM Fertility
3pm – Repeat Implantation Failure
Despite many advances in IVF, implantation failure still occurs and when recurrent, it can be devastating. This provides an overview of diagnostic tools and treatment to optimize success.
Dr. Deirdre Conway, Utah Fertility Center
4pm – Reproductive Immunology
Reproductive failure from an immunological perspective
Dr. Youssef Derbala, Derbala Reproductive Immunology
To secure your spot at the free Beat Infertility National Virtual Summit please click here.
