Infertility and family building company Progyny Evite held an event in Los Angeles on Wednesday where panelists discussed IVF options. Among them are family-building patient advocacy group RESOLVE, Elizabeth Kerr, the first IVF baby born in the United States, Dr. Janet Choi, chief medical officer of Progyny, and actress and fertility advocate Dr. Also included was Kelly Stewart.
Listed Progyny offers benefits packages focused on family building, fertility, and women's reproductive health, including IVF, adoption, IUI, and surrogacy.
Stewart sat with me. Mobi Health News At this event, we discussed Progyny's involvement with Ebit and her advocacy work for fertility and family-building interests.
Mobi Health News: Why did you decide to join Progyny?
Kelly Stewart: In fact, Progyny invited me to flip the orange light switch on the Empire State Building for the first time during National Infertility Awareness Week. So, they came up to me and I said, „Hello, I've been looking for you, and let's meet at the biggest building in the world, the top of the world!“ „So, that was a monumental thing for me, and we maintained our relationship with each other from that point on.
I became an award-winning fertility advocate thanks to RESOLVE, which started the fertility trend. But when I froze my eggs at age 37, I gave myself an egg shower. And there are no showers for people doing IVF, adoption, surrogacy, egg freezing, etc. So I thought, „How can we normalize the conversation about infertility and the different paths to parenthood?“
So I was talking about my egg shower on Sherri Shepherd's show, and I announced that Evite didn't have an egg shower invitation. they heard it. Then she said Evite contacted me and said, „We want to help change this.'' So we partnered to create her Parenthood Journey.
Parenthood Journey is a new category of invitations on evite.com that includes IVF showers, surrogacy showers, adoption showers, unique egg shower invitations designed by me, rainbow baby showers, and more. This is a separate category from baby showers. Because we can help those who are still on their way to feel seen, even without triggers, to know that there is support and that there are millions of others who are still trying to find it. Because I want to create a space like this. our method. So when we partnered with Evite, we introduced him to her Progyny and her RESOLVE. And now we are here having our first fertility shower.
MHN: What do you hope participants will get out of the shower?
Stewart: I hope they understand access to care and can spread the word. We hope they continue to share their stories to pinpoint awareness. Because people suffer so much in silence. But when I hear stories similar to theirs, when I hear about someone going through a difficult time, I think, oh, that's what I do. ”I’m not the only one. It gives them the power to continue their journey or make a choice.
And I hope that in light of abortion being on the ballot, what happened in Alabama, and all of those things, we can continue to make our voices and our rights heard. . As we see things upended and set back over 50 years, we hope we continue to do events like this, to speak out, to act together, to shake hands with others who are going through this journey. If we don't, we won't be able to go back. We can create the change we seek and deserve.
And one of the things I really wanted to do was call my friend Elizabeth Kerr. Elizabeth is the first IVF baby born in the United States, and I called her and asked her to take a shower, and she's right there, and she's going to appear on the panel. I mean, she is literally history, and I call her „her story,“ but she represents, her parents represent, and her birth represents hope for all of us. So, 41 years ago, someone took an experimental test and one of the most amazing people I have ever known came out. So we are here again fighting to maintain those rights.
MHN: what would you like Mobi Health News Do our readers know about the IVF movement?
Stewart: Please know that there are insurance companies for infertility treatment. If your employer doesn't cover you, go to your human resources department and ask why. Because it's available. That's the problem. Sometimes we are asked the question, „Do you have infertility insurance?“
„no.“
And end the conversation there. „Why not?“
So what I hope people get out of this, especially with Progyny, is to keep poking the bear, „So what do we do?“ And if you don't have answers that speak to the parenting journey you're going through, you need to keep fighting for answers where you work. There's no need to stop at no.
I hope people get that same from this event. In other words, it's a viable way to empower yourself within your community, your employer, your neighborhood, and even your family. This leads to people asking, „When is the baby going to be born?“
Sometimes you have to say, „Well, that's none of your business. I'm working on it.“ But Progyny is a great insurance company and it's available, so more businesses should use it now.