Episode 47: To a Candid Conversation About Miscarriage, Infertility, IVF (PART II)

There are times in life when we have to go through some very challenging moments and maybe we don’t know how to overcome those challenges. In part 2 of this episode, Jodi talks with our guest Hadassah Hazan, who shares her experience with TFMR (termination for medical reasons) of a wanted pregnancy. This enlightening episode can really help you or someone you know, to deal with those hard times and know that you are not alone.

About our Guest:
Hadassah Hazan is a coach and counselor, specializing in disordered eating, body image issues, addictions, and low self-esteem. Besides her private practice, she has worked for various organizations which support vulnerable and marginalized young people in both the UK and Israel. Hadassah lives in Jerusalem and is married with two children.

Show Notes:
2:49 Supporting someone going through infertility/miscarriage
"Predominantly just say to them, something like, Wow, that must be so hard for you, [...] you know, I'm so sorry you went through that... your truth I mean that's what you're thinking well that's tough..."

6:04 Hadassa's IVF experience and complications during her pregnancy
"She said to me, Look, I want you to go and eat something [...] sugary come back and I want to like just look up your baby again. So I'm in a candy bar and came back and the baby was moving which was really good, but she kept on looking at the brain, and she said, look, there seems to be some sort of fluid or something on the brain. I'm just the technician, I want you to come back and see a doctor."

13:17 Triploidy diagnosis and TFMR
"Thank God I went through this because if I just had like... she just gone. If I've just been pregnant one day and then not pregnant the next day, I would not have had the experience of being able to hold her. I can hold her and I could like pray over her and I could love her and talk to her, [...] and is everything that I needed to do."

15:58 Overcoming grief and depression
"...And there was so much sadness, I did trauma therapy I knew that I needed to talk about it I did therapy. Also, I reached out like I just innately knew I needed to talk about this with my friends and I allowed them to help me I allowed people to bring me food, and take care of me. And thank God, my mom was allowed into Israel."

20:17 What if you were dealing with depression alone?
"What happened with her was not related to my fertility stuff completely unrelated. It was bad luck, this genetic thing that happened to her, it's not anything to do with my genetics or my husband's genetics, it is very very rare bad luck, and the fact that I had already done all the IVF and all that kind of thing, it is just had nothing to do with each other."

27:47 Look out for yourself and reach out for help
"...if you're somebody who's going through something like I have and need more support, like firstly I can just be nonjudgmental for sure, but also again, I have a wellspring thank God, of amazing resources and like support networks and things to read and groups to join and all kind of things that I didn't know about until people told me about them..."

Support Links:
https://iwassupposedtohaveababy.org/organizations
https://iwassupposedtohaveababy.org/resources

Credits:
Host: Jodi Fried
Guest: Hadassah Hazan
Editor: Orlando Diaz