Chani Melamed joins Aimee Baron, MD to talk about our last conversation, around Mother's day, where she shared her fervent belief that she would one day be a mother...even after 14 years of marriage and how 5 months ago, her daughter was born!

Shira Collings joins Aimee Baron, MD to talk about her medical trauma, how she never thought she would get to a place where she would feel comfortable having a baby, and her complicated feelings during all parts of the process, what kinds of support she needed to get through each stage (she’s currently 30 weeks pregnant).

On this episode of Talking Away The Taboo, Michelle (Malka) Grunstein, LMFT CATC-IV, joins Aimee Baron, MD to talk about the beginning of her journey to becoming a SMBC, how she is finally pregnant again (after three early losses) and gives us a window into the process, and how she needed to do IVF and use a sperm donor, which were both completely new experiences for her.

Sharon Cabelly joins Aimee Baron, MD to talk about how she has NEVER gotten over her pain, her rich and full life as a teacher, how she yearned for a large family, and her medical issues, that meant she was only able to have one child (and now three grandchildren).

Nechamie Stefansky joins Aimee Baron, MD to talk about having endured struggle earlier on in her life, her fear of infertility, why it was important for her to talk about her story, and how secondary infertility has healed parts of her she wasn’t ready to face until she had no choice.

Hadassah Shemtov, the cofounder of the “Batsheva Learning Center” joins Aimee Baron, MD to talk about a number of the sources that discuss infertility and pregnancy loss, her hope that having this knowledge could help shape the way people process and relate to some of the difficult experiences that they are having on their journey, and the concept of being “busy with” Pe’ru U’revu (being fruitful and multiply) versus “fulfilling” the mitzvah (commandment) of Pe’ru U’revu.

Michelle (Malka) Grunstein, LMFT CATC-IV, joins Aimee Baron, MD to talk about how she has always known that she wants to be a mother, how she decided that by the time she was 30, if she didn't meet someone, she would take steps to do this by herself and her multiple failed relationships including a broken engagement.

Rachel Shanken joins Aimee Baron, MD to talk about her journey to becoming an adoptive parent, something she never envisioned herself doing, the heartbreaking conversation as a single woman in her 30s when her doctors said that she may never have biological children and how she got married, but then struggled through the ups and downs of umpteen failed cycles to try to get pregnant.

Ellie Levi, joins Aimee Baron, MD to talk about her story of becoming a SIM: Single Intentional Mom to her 3 year old daughter, Ayelet HaShachar, her thought process and emotions about each stage of the process and the experience of being one of the first to her freeze eggs in her community.

Elissa Felder joins Aimee Baron, MD to talk about her years of primary infertility, coupled with the devastating loss of her infant son, her book, “From One Life to the Next Life: The Sacred Passage After Death,” which has become a lifeline for those navigating the churning waters of grief and her raw, soul-baring journey from paralyzing grief to living a life infused with purpose and passion.

Shirel Korobkin and Shani Weinmann Kay join Aimee Baron, MD to talk about the realities of the fertility community in Israel, one year after October 7th, what the last 365 days has been for them personally and as individuals who have taken active roles in trying to hold space for others and advice on how we can best support.

Aliza Tropper, LMHC, joins Aimee Baron, MD to talk about the emotions that come up during the quest to build a family, the guilt, shame, sadness, anxiety, inadequacy, etc., and how they manifest, and suggestions on how to make these deep feelings more manageable, like self-soothing, mini-breaks, reaching out for support and even medication if things become too overwhelming.

Tee Simpser joins Aimee Baron, MD to talk about her 6 years of primary infertility, heartbreaking disappointments, life-threatening complications and all kinds of insensitive comments and how she saw herself in the Chana/Penina story from the Book of Shmuel (book of Samuel), as she longed to be a mother, while watching everyone else around her get pregnant.

Esther Rollhaus, MD, joins Aimee Baron, MD to talk about all aspects of reproductive psychiatry, the reasons why someone would reach out, how meds are used as an adjunct to therapy, and myths about medication.

Rachel Daar Cohen joins Aimee Baron, MD to talk about a powerful, raw, and deeply emotional story of resilience after a tremendous amount of struggle, her struggle with infertility, trauma, grief, addiction, and endometriosis and how kindness is so important as we never know what people are really going through.

Chavie Bruk joins Aimee Baron, MD to talk about pain and the way it changes over time, her and her husband's permanent infertility, adopting 5 children at different ages and her grieving the loss of a biological child.

Peri Lyman joins Aimee Baron, MD to talk about her two amazing daughters, her experience getting asked if she’s a grandmother yet and the questions that make her crazy, and how it feels to be asked insensitive questions.

Ricki Steiner joins Aimee Baron, MD to talk about her primary infertility journey this far, why she decided to start talking openly about her struggles on social media, how she feels when people tell her they’re praying for her (with a whole sidebar on her relationship with G-d right now).

Talia Mizrahi, Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist Certified Grief Educator, joins Aimee Baron, MD to talk about how to talk to children about grief and loss, sharing news in a way that is developmentally appropriate for each child, and normalizing the greiving process for children by explaining that you may be sad one day and not the next.

Rabbi Elchanan Poupko joins Aimee Baron, MD to talk about his recent piece about the insensitivity in the orthodox community to people who are struggling to have a child, his personal story of infertility and the pain he and his wife carried for all those years, and how their infertility challenges made him a passionate voice for those who are still in the trenches.