Scheananigans with Scheana Shay - Dear Doctor Ghadir, The Fertility FAQ

Episode Date: January 22, 2019

Scheana sits down with her fertility doctor, Dr. Shain Ghadir and friends Gretchen Rossi and Slade Smiley to share their experience with him and their pregnancy. Learn some of the ups and downs of the process and why it’s become such an important part of many women’s lives. Plus, a VERY funny fertility moment for Gretchen and Slade in a public bathroom! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Thank you for listening to this Podcast One production. Available on Apple Podcasts and Podcast One. Aliens are about to rock your world, you guys. Now, I don't know if you were as obsessed with this show back in the day as I was, but I love space. I love aliens. And Tuesdays at 9, 8 central, the incredible new series Roswell, New Mexico continues on the CW. Now, Roswell, if you don't remember, is the town

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Watching their story play out will be everything. So, catch the all-new series, Roswell, New Mexico, Tuesdays at at 9, 8 central only on the CW or anytime on the free CW app. From Vanderpump Rules to Vegas and everywhere in between, it's time to party with Sheena Shea. This is Shenanigans. And now, here's your host, Sheena Shea. What's up, you guys? So today, the Shenanigans we're getting into is all about fertility. We're going to talk about my freezing egg process.

I have Gretchen Rossi here co-hosting with me. I just want to talk about my freezing egg process. I have Gretchen Rossi here co-hosting with me. I just want to say congratulations. Thank you. Yay. You got a baby bun in the oven. I do. Four months.

Four months. So exciting. Thank you. And thank you for driving all the way from OC to be here. Yes. And we also have my amazing doctor, Dr. Gadeer here. Hi. Hello.

Thank you for being here as well I know you have plenty of patients other than me but there have been just so many questions coming in on social media about the whole freezing egg process and I figured I can answer them from my own experience but to have someone like Gretchen who has been through way more of this than me and you who obviously does this for a living, answer them would be much better. But we're happy to be here. Awesome. And also Slade is – he's chilling.

He's doing our social media today. I'm like the voice in the background. And I'd like it to be known that my wife is pregnant and I had nothing to do with it. Yes. But Gretchen is at the same place as me, Southern California Reproductive Centers, who have been absolutely amazing. The best ever. Yeah. Yes, 100%.

Like, if you guys are questioning where to go, you need to call them because they're amazing. Yeah, and if you watch Shaws of Sunset, for my Bravo fans, you've definitely seen Dr. Gadeer with MJ. And she's pregnant right now, too. Yes, she is. Clearly, that's the place to go

because everybody's getting pregnant. Right? Except me. Mine are going on ice. Don't want to get pregnant anytime soon, which is why I am doing this now. And I have been saying this for the past couple weeks. I'm a huge advocate for this now. I think everyone is going to react differently to the hormones, to the shots.

Some people have a fear of needles. But for me, this has literally been such an easy, painless process that I really want to do it again. Because, I mean, even if we were to get – The egg-freezing hobby. Exactly. I just – I think you – I love this. I've said this in a few interviews already.

You said, you know, eggs are like money. You can never have too much or too many. It's very true. It is true. So because this, I finished, I think it was today, day 11. I finished my shots today. I have my trigger shot tonight. And the trigger shot is what you get 36 hours before the actual retrieval.

So I have that being done at 10 p.m. tonight. And then Saturday morning at 10 a.m. the eggs will come out. And I just think that because this has been so easy for me personally, I do want to do this again because I want to get just as many eggs as possible. So I have that many options when it does come time to fertilize them. Well, I think it's awesome that you're doing that. I'm super proud of you for taking that step. Well, I think it's awesome that you're doing that. I'm super proud of you for taking that step. I know that I've been an advocate of it as well, and I was talking to you about it because I think the struggle for me being 41 years of age, finally pregnant, was I wish somebody had told me when I was in my 30s and early 30s, like, you should freeze your eggs because I did not realize how hard it is the older you get. And, you know, I think Hollywood always glamorizes the fact that, like,

oh, you can have babies way into your 40s and you're going to be fine and there's technology and all this stuff. But they forget to tell you or they're not being honest with you that they're using donor eggs or these things that are happening. So I think it's so great that you have a voice about this, that you are being proactive. I really call it, like, an insurance policy. That's what I keep saying.

I'm like, this like this is like my just in case because yes i'm not a person who 100 needs a kid to have my life be complete right if i you know do get remarried or even i don't have to get remarried i'm not all about like right doing the right steps or whatever right but you, if the right person does come along and they want kids and, you know, I would be all about it. But on my own. But by the way, that's what I was going to say. Like even you might not you might change your mind because I have a lot of friends that

literally never found the right person. And at 45 years of age was like, you know what? I haven't been able to find the right person and I want to have a kid. And they decided to go that path, too. But the point is, is that whatever that decision is, at least you have that insurance. Exactly. And that's the thing. It's just like a, you know, just in case. And I've never wanted to be a single mom. I've said like, I would rather, you know, travel the world, but also I am 33. I don't know how I'm going to feel when I'm 43. And that is so smart. Yeah. Yeah. Cause you don't know how many people I have that

come into the office when they're like 40 and like, I never thought I wanted a kid. Yeah. And something just changed inside of me. Yeah. Or just completely the opposite. I never thought I would do it alone, but I don't even care anymore. Yeah.

I want to do it alone. Yeah. So just that, just covering all of your bases, you're being so incredibly smart. Thank you. And also, I think by freezing my eggs, it's like you never know what's going to happen to you, your body, you know? I mean, what if five years from now, I'm ready for a kid and I can't carry it?

Then, you know, I've already had my biological eggs put on ice. I could get a surrogate if I had to. I mean, I think if I do end up having kids, you know, I would want to at least carry one on my own and have that whole experience. But if for some reason I'm not able to, then I have options and I'm not getting any younger. I've literally this has been on my mind for two and a half years.

It was like before Shane and I got divorced, I went and actually met with your doctor, Dr. Suri over there. And I thought about it, but there was just something that the timing didn't seem right. And thankfully, because I would have frozen embryos. Right. I wouldn't have frozen eggs. It's so true. And we've seen with Sofia Vergara how that's working out. So I'm glad I didn't.

But ever since then, it's been something on the back of my mind. And I just figured that, you know, know there's never gonna be like a good time to be like okay I'm gonna give up everything make a lifestyle change and just do it but it's like in LA there's something going on every night there's never gonna be like a perfect time and I've been so busy the past year that finally in November my schedule calmed down for the first time in almost a year I had Vegas Vegas. Then I traveled a little bit. Then we had season seven. Then I traveled.

And then it was like, okay, this is the time. I have a lot of free time. It was the holidays. Everyone's like, why would you do it around the holidays? You can't drink. I'm like, first of all, I don't need to drink. But then it's like, okay, well, then it's February. And then, you know, then it's St. Patrick's Day.

Or then it's Coachella. Or then it's – there's always something. So I'm like, I thought the holidays was a great time because I'm around a great support group of friends and family. There's Christmas lights everywhere. And it was just like, it's such a happy time. I love Christmas. So actually, probably was a really good time. Yeah, I thought it was perfect.

And it's winter. So, you know, if you do blow, I thought that was a good time to wear the bag. You're so smart. We got a smart. See, I'm pregnant right now. And I got to wear all these baggy clothes at the beginning before we announced so it was good. Yeah. Okay, so how far along are you now? So I am technically 14 weeks as of Tuesday.

So I'm into my second trimester finally. Yay. And I'm finally starting to feel like a human again. I got to tell you, this has been a lot harder than I ever imagined. I was just like, oh, yeah. You know, they lie to you when they tell you it's morning sickness. It's all they say. Yeah.

I mean, it's bad. And the mood swings. And the mood swings. We see Dr. Gadir at the office and he's like, hi, how are you? She's like, why do you ask? What's it to you, buddy? Well, I'm a doctor. But it's all worth it. You know what it's so all worth it i mean you know every as gina was saying every person is different you know i i

it's not nearly as hard as you think it's going to be as far as the shots and everything like you're saying however there it is it's not easy it's an arduous process and you have to really you know have a good mindset going into it and you have to be prepared for it. But, you know, at the end of the day, I'm so grateful that there's this kind of technology here, especially with people like the doctor over here and the SCRC. I mean, when you have a good facility, it makes all the difference in the world. And correct me if I'm wrong, doctor. The thing that I love about what Sheena is saying is there's never a good time, but there really is, it is important to talk about time. And I think that's something that we should talk about because being that you're 33 years of age, and correct me if I'm wrong,

I think that statistics say that at age 34, that you start to lose half of your eggs. It's starting at age 34. And then another half at age 39 is what I've always heard. So it's a continuous progression of loss of eggs, and the saddest thing is that most people don't know, but when you are in utero, inside of your mom's uterus, like in a couple weeks, if you're having a girl, she's going to have the maximum amount of eggs she's ever going to have. I just read that. Which is 20 million eggs.

That's insane. I just read that. That is insane. No, I'll tell you what's insane. By the day she's born, it goes from 20 million down to 2 million. Oh, come on. And by the time you get your first period around the age of 13, it's down to about 430,000. Oh, my gosh.

And people don't realize something super important. When you release that one egg every month, ovulation, there's about 1,000 eggs that die off in that process. Oh, my gosh. I did not know that. there's about 1,000 eggs that die off in that process. Oh, my gosh. I did not know that. And as you get older and your body has to try a little harder to release an egg, it gets a little more and more and more every month.

So that's why by the time you're about 51, which is the average age of menopause in our country, people have no more eggs left. But the process of the decline of eggs usually starts around 27, 28 years of age. Oh, so it's even sooner than that. It's sooner. Everyone's ovarian reserve is different too, though, right? Like, every person's...

That is... Thank you very much, and I'm really glad you're sitting there. You're welcome, Dr. Smiley. That tutorial course I did has been helping. So every single woman is different. I have had 32-year-olds that came into my office and had no eggs left and had to use an egg donor. Wow.

And I have had 46-year-olds get pregnant with their own egg. Wow. So it is a huge, huge range of people. So that's why I had to think and I had to decide. My really persistent age that I tell people that if you do not have a ring on your finger and don't have a plan of having a baby really soon, and if you don't have a ring and you're solo and you want to do it, which is a lot of my patients.

Oh, totally. But 30 is my number. So I've kind of made this number myself because I realize when women are in their 20s, no one can be convinced to do this. My only patients in their 20s that were convinced to do this were my patients that for some reason or another had emergency surgery and had an ovary removed. And their doctor told them it could happen again with your other ovaries. So those are people that we have had come in during their 20s, probably under 10 people in the last year. So I have a question though. But I also think it's because unfortunately, a lot of people are uneducated about what we

just talked about. Completely. So people, smart people in LA, they do not even understand what's going on. No. And they're clueless on this topic because it was shushed for so long and no one talked about it. And if you were doing it, you wouldn't tell a living soul that you were doing it.

Right. But thank God that that's changed. Yeah. I mean, this is something that I've seen in the last 15 years that I've been involved in the fertility world, that it's completely changed. And thank God.

There are still people that are very private. There's still some cultures that are really, you know, look upon it not so well. But for the most part, people are talking about it, getting the word out. I love what you two ladies are doing and talking about it to the world. My wife and I had to do IVF when she was 25 years old. Oh, wow. And we have beautiful twins that are 7 years old right now as a result of it.

And so many people have talked to us about it. And we were so open about it, especially my wife, whenever she would go somewhere. People would pull her aside all the time asking her questions. And I think just having that reassurance from people. The thing I hate about Hollywood is that they make someone who's 50 years old who's just gotten pregnant and delivered just this glamorous little thing that happens. old who's just gotten pregnant and delivered, just this glamorous little thing that happens. And no one, like you said, it's not that they're necessarily lying, but no one is answering the question because people out there don't know. That is not your egg.

Unless you froze your eggs a long time ago and you did that and were very smart, that is just not available. And just no one at the age of 50 with IVF can get pregnant. Right. Right. Yeah. I was going to ask the question. With their own eggs. Sorry. With their own egg.

Sorry. With their own egg. So correct me if I'm wrong. I thought we heard something when we were at SCRC about a particular test that can be done that helps determine current ovarian reserves. So it would give someone some sort of a marker or gauge as to where they were. So that is an excellent question. Number two.

Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Smiley. No, thank you, doctor. So there is a excellent question. Number two. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Smiley. No, thank you, doctor. So there is a test called AMH, the anti-malarian hormone. It's the hormone that's released from every little egg in the ovary. So when we do this blood test, if the blood test level is high, your ovary has a lot of eggs, and the eggs are releasing a lot of AMH that's floating around in your blood. If the AMH level is low, completely the opposite, if your level is low, you're going to have fewer eggs.

Now, some people can have lower egg reserves, especially we find in our younger population, but they can still respond to the medications well. So when we give you these medications, even though the reserves, you know, you still have thousands of eggs, but instead of like a 40 year old woman who has a low AMH, she may make like five eggs. If a younger woman has that same AMH, she may be more responsive to the medications and the ovary will wake up and try to make those eggs. Right. Right. Yeah. So that's one thing that I've been talking about on social media was my amh levels were extremely low for my age i think you said at my age they should be between 1.4 and 4.2 correct and i was at 0.28 oh wow so i was like am i infertile like that just sounds like almost non-existent yeah so we had to put me on even extra supplements and vitamins and all of that just because my fertility levels were so low. Interesting.

Now, is that something that could be caused from being on birth control for the last 20 years, from smoking too much weed? 20 years? Were you having sex when you were seven? No, but I got on. No, I'm 33. So I got on birth control right after my first period because I had it for over a month and there was nothing that could regulate it. They tried everything. And then finally they're like, we're going to have to put her on birth control right after my first period because I had it for over a month and there was nothing that could regulate it.

They tried everything and then finally they're like, we're going to have to put her on birth control. That was like the only thing that could help me. It was awful. Right. So no, I was not having sex then. I'm like a Gretchen. I have a visual now. I need a wet nappy.

It's just bad. You know, Titanic came out. I'm just kidding. I'm totally teasing you. So, you know, there's something to be said about that number being really low and you responding incredibly well. Yeah. And it makes me think that some people – so when the test came out originally, everyone said theoretically AMH is AMH and it's not affected by birth control. But I have seen now a good number of patients, especially younger ones that were on birth control for a

really long time, the longer we kept them off birth control and we did like more cycles and more cycles, they just started to become just like the rest of their population and do really well. So I think in a younger patient who's been on birth control for a really long time, there would be some benefit of coming off the birth control before doing this process. So why do you think the birth control does that? I think it suppresses the body so much. And when you're on it for like 10 years, 20 years, it really turns off probably every hormonal response or anything that's even released from the ovary.

There's really not a lot of data out there. Some people, again, there's a lot of research that says the AMH should not be affected. But we've seen again and again and again that people that have been on it for really long periods of time can rebound. Now, there are some people that are on it for a really long time and also do really poorly because AMH truly is low and it's hard to differentiate. Right. What would you suggest for, you know, I mean, obviously as a safety precaution for women who want to be on birth control, what would you say is one of the better ones to be on that maybe wouldn't affect this level as much? That's a really good question. And I'm probably not the

right person. I'm probably a general OBGYN. We use in our office a birth control that's called desigen. It's not like the tricyclics that go up and down and up and down and mimic a cycle. It's what's called monophasic. It's the same level of hormone the whole month, and it has a very low androgen profile. And what that means is that it has very little male hormone in it because every birth control has some of everything. So in order to get the best quality of eggs, we use this desogen because it doesn't really affect the eggs in any negative way. Gotcha. Yeah. I'm learning so much. Yeah. Well, no, it's funny that he says that because I was so nervous when I first went in and you guys were like, you have to be back on birth control.

I was like, God, no. Because I just did not do well with birth control when I was on it. But were you on it for more than two weeks? Yeah. Yeah. For a period of times. Yeah. Oh, wow.

I'd do it for three months and I'd be like, I got to get off this. It was just killing me. I was just so all over the place mood swings acne the whole thing and wait a minute i tried multiple there's still mood swings i said i tried residual birth control residual birth control i probably went through like i want to say five different birth controls when i was when i was back on it i mean i haven't been on it in 10 years this is you were on the birth control during your fertility stuff no no no oh okay i want to clarify so because during fertility treatments the longest we kind of keep people on birth control is like maximum 10 to 20 days.

No, what I'm saying is that what I was getting at was that I think what you're telling me is correct because I was super nervous about going back on birth control. And then whatever you guys had me on, I was like, oh, this is great. I didn't feel it. It's a very mild one. It's very mild. And I get that all the time that like I hate birth control. And I'm like, I'm really sorry. You have a tiny little cyst that's got to go away. The only way we can get rid feel it. I didn't feel it. It's a very mild one. It's very mild. And I get that all the time that like I hate breath control. Yeah. And I'm like, I'm really sorry.

You have a tiny little cyst that's got to go away. Yeah. The only way we can get rid of it. And most of the patients that have had the worst experiences in the past have had almost no experience, you know, anything bad with the desiccant. I had no bad experience. So that's what I was saying. It's not one that's really marketed by pharmaceutical companies like Loestrin and all these fancy little things and try this and try that.

So it's not really one that people order that much. Right. Because I even had another girl going today to get a consultation, one of my friends, about the egg freezing. I told her, they're probably going to have you on birth control. And she's like, what? I was like, don't panic. It's totally fine. It's just to calm the ovaries down, put them at rest, keep them at what we call a baseline, and then you transition into the injections that kind of wake your ovaries up.

Right. Am I the only woman who's loved being on birth control? Yes. Obviously, you responded well to it. There's a lot of people that don't respond well to it at all. Yeah. I've done different pills. I did the patch a long time ago.

I did not like that at all. I did the NuvaRing for like eight, nine years. I loved that. But then I switched to Lolo estrin the only thing with that was i wasn't getting a period every month and so then that kind of freaked me out because i'm like okay gotta pee on a stick again just to make sure yeah yeah exactly but now with me like i said i do want to do this another round and i know an iud is something after I'm done done with this that I would want to do? But for the in-between, I think safety-wise, single Sheena should get back on a little something. A little something?

A little something. That's actually a good question. So can you get pregnant during going through like your retrieval? Do you tell people not to have sex during that period? Well, I haven't had many people that went home from the retrieval and had sex. Okay, that's one thing. Well, but meaning throughout taking the meds. You're not after the fourth day of the injection because your ovary starts to grow.

We tell people not to get pregnant. Hey, I was told day one. I could have four today. Because you're Sheena. Yes, you're Sheena. We know you. We did our research. We watched you on the show.

A bit more active than the average girl. Yeah, they're like, and you're cut off today. First shot, cut off. But no, I obviously knew that I'm extremely fertile right now, which I never have been. So has anybody ever gotten pregnant during taking their meds? Like naturally? No. So when you're taking the meds, as you guys remember, both of you are on a medication that kept you from ovulating as well.

That's right. So whether it's Ganarelics, Cetratide, or Lupron, all of those keep you from ovulating. That's right. So these eggs keep growing and growing. The trigger shot is what helps release the egg. So if you gave yourself the trigger shot and didn't come in to get your eggs removed and just had sex at home,

you're going to have a disaster. Oh, my God. Like a lot of babies? Well, if home, you're going to have a disaster. Oh my God. Like a lot of babies? Well, if you have a lot of eggs, yes. Oh my God. But no one does that. No.

Who does thousands of dollars in time to suddenly lose all those eggs? Octomom. Octomom. But Octomom did not get pregnant

that way as sadly as it is now. Oh my gosh. So I have a question. Who's going to do your trigger shot? So Julia from SCRC is coming over tonight and she's going to do that.

That's so nice. What time? You should hear the story about our trigger shot. Oh, we have a funny trigger shot story. Do tell. Oh my gosh. Okay. So we were in the middle of a big hair show, right?

Like hairstylist. Like a hairstylist show. Where she's the model. I was the model. And the trigger shot was at 8 p.m. And it was like literally in the middle. They're like doing my hair and I was like, I got to go get a shot in my ass right now, right?

Oh, it goes in my butt? No, it goes in the belly. Okay. Oh, but back then, ours go in the butt. Yeah, interesting. Okay. So anyways. Maybe you forgot where I went.

No, no, no, no. No, what I'm saying is with you guys, it's in there. In the stomach. Previous round. Oh, this is another round. Okay. The first time I did it was in my bum. in there but in my first round another round okay the first time i did it was in my bum so we are at this thing we have literally like an ice chest with the meds like

on ice the whole thing and we have to go into the bathroom and and he has to do the shot for me so i have to go into the men's bathroom with him right so we're in the men's bathroom nobody's in there at the time and we go in she's bent over the counter and i literally i have a long no let me tell you i have a long gown on and i have to pull my dress up over you know my bottom and we're like i'm leaning over the counter oh my god and he pulls out this needle that is you know freaking this long oh yeah to go in your bum it's a six inch it looks like right oh geez and the of course immediately like the second that he's about to inject, a guy comes walking in the bathroom.

No, there was two guys, but you gotta imagine this. She's bent over the sink. I've got one hand on her with a needle in my hand. She's in nothing but a G-string with a dress around her waist

and two dudes walk into the bathroom and I'm looking at her like we're shooting up and I just look at him and go, what's up, dude? Oh my God.

And I'm like, oh my God, this is gonna be all over social media. Like you might wanna come back, buddy. We're like shooting up and I just look at him and go, what's up, dude? Oh my God. And I'm like, oh my God, this is going to be all over social media. Like you might want to come back, buddy. We're like shooting up in the bathroom. Like it was so bad. But like that's what you have to do. Like sometimes you just have to – because like life doesn't stop because you're going through IVF, you know? Oh, literally last week I was at TomTom for dinner with some high school girlfriends and I had my little cooler with me.

And I had to have the manager let me in the office to give myself my Lupron shot because it has to be done within the same hour every day. I was at a Hollywood event once and one of my patients was there. So we first of all had to make sure no one saw us together because she didn't want anyone to know that of course someone's walking with me, people may question.

And it was a certain time, we had signals. We had to walk in one direction and then like had to jump into some private room we found with a closed door and later that evening she told me someone said to her why did you go into that hallway with Dr. Gadir

oh my god you know what's weird though they could totally think that was like something else going on not like a shot like oh there was like making out like having a bad love affair and of course i think her answer was who the hell is dr kadir and i told her that was the best answer yeah exactly that's amazing and now she's been on like you know three different talk shows with me so she's over now and that's what i i've been wanting to be just very open about all this and that's why i love

doing what i do with reality TV. I mean, it comes with, you know, a lot of judgment and people just being assholes. But I've always said, like, I'm an open book. And I like to put it all out there because there have been so many women who have reached out to me and just, like, shared their stories and have actually given me some tips, giving me a heads up on this. And then this one woman just, it's the simplest thing is there were these like little circle, just like gel,

like the ice packs. And she was like, yeah, after the men appear shots, like order these. And I ordered them on Amazon and I wear like my high-waisted leggings every day. I get my shots and then I put that there and it stays.

And it's just like, I do it before the shots. Do you not do it before the shots? I've done, I've done both, but like, I mean, mean i'm i have no fear of needles whatsoever i have 20 tattoos and botox every three months so needles and me are best friends yeah see i don't i didn't do well yeah yeah but it hasn't been that hard for me yeah and i just want to keep talking about it because like i said i am an open book and it's been something that a lot of women can relate to.

Yeah, for sure. But speaking of being an open book, I want to just talk to you guys about books really quick. So have you heard of Penguin Random House Audio? I don't know. Okay. So if you don't feel like reading books and you want, like, an audio book book this is something that's been good for me for just like stress relief because during these two weeks i've had to just like keep my stress levels very low like listen to certain music and it's like whenever i'm just like sitting on my couch with the book i tend to get really bored and then i'm like wait what

did i just read but i'm more of a visual and like audio person. So this is something you guys can download. Dare to lead, which is written and read by Brenny Brown and hear how to transform creative ideas into bold actions. So this is amazing. You guys can learn to let go of fear. Take risk with brave, not perfect. Written and read by Girls Who Code founder, Reshma Saujani. Or get in a few laughs alongside advice on how to love yourself and love your life. From the fab five of Netflix's Queer Eye.

You guys can visit penguinrandomhouseaudio.com slash selfcare for more listening suggestions. To keep your New Year's resolutions going. Keep your stress down. Whatever it is you want. That's penguinrandomhouseaudio.com slash self-care. So that's just one of the many things that has helped me keep my stress down, and I hope it helps you too. But anyway.

I love it. Going back to some questions. So I had some come in from Instagram, some for me personally and some just in general. And I want to get your opinion as well as mine because, like we said, we're different with needles. Right. At Jersey Girl underscore 0223 wants to know, is it painful and how long do the eggs last? Did you find the shots painful? So some of them I did.

Some of them I didn't. So some of them I did, some of them I didn't. Slade was really great about teaching me to put the ice pack on and really just kind of freeze the area before I did the shot, which helped a lot. The Minipure in particular burns. And I learned a very cool trick that, like, if you literally have your hand on a counter and you're really making sure that it's stable and then you go really slow with the shot, it makes a huge difference. When you go in really fast, it's like I was, I was in pain from that one. But, you know, overall, like I, when I first started, I was saying bad words like crap, crap, crap or whatever, you know, some bad word. And then when I started getting closer, I was like, I started changing it to baby, baby,

baby. And like, you just, you do these little tricks in your mind that you just start going, this is all for baby and you know, those sorts of things. So of things so yeah i mean listen it's not super easy if you don't like shots and needles but for me i i got through it and you do you get through it yeah and for me it like i said very painless and it's been really easy i was so nervous i think i i tweeted and posted on instagram and i was just like oh my god i'm terrified and i don't know if i was more terrified of giving myself the shots mixing the shots or what side effects were going to come from them. Like I just assumed I would be depressed, crying myself to sleep every night.

Like, why am I doing this? And I'm single, but I just totally fine. Still. I was like waiting to have that bad day and it hasn't come. So I'm like, is it going to come on my second round? I think we should remind everyone, the shots are only on average between 8 to 12 days. Yeah. Yes. That's a good thing too. Some people get 10, some people 11.

And it's not like, because we have a lot of people that think that you're doing this for months. Yeah. Right. No, that's what everyone said. Average is 10 to 12 days of injections. And I got to tell you, I mean, I'm sorry that you weren't so comfortable with them.

I get calls all the time from patients saying, I'm not sure if I'm getting this injection. Like, I don't feel much. And of course, when we do the ultrasounds, their estrogen is going up and their ovaries are growing and there's eggs. So I can tell them you're getting it. Yeah. But we get that all the time. The Menopur is the one that we sometimes get, some people get some burning from it. Yeah. But if you really pinch a good amount of fat, you too don't have any fat on your body. That's the problem right there. Maybe that's why it hurts. Yeah.

I mean, if you're really lean, yes, you get more sensitive. But if you do have a little bit of cushion on you. I didn't feel a thing, doctor. But putting those ice packs on right after too, I mean, it's a three-second burn. It's not unbearable by any means. That's the thing. Like, honestly, it really is not. Like, it literally is for a second. It's a three-second burn. It's not unbearable by any means. That's the thing. Like, honestly, it really is not. Like, it literally is for a second.

It's like for a couple seconds. It's so quick. And I have not had any crazy mood swings, like, other than normal Sheena mood swings. Yeah. And I was really thankful for that. The other day, I had a little bit of cramping. I forgot. I was so mad at myself because I woke up.

I was just, like, a little cramped. And then I was just like mad at myself because I woke up. I was just like a little cramped. And then I was just like, oh, I just did not. I was just very lethargic. And then I like get myself together. I pack up my ice pack of all my meds. And then I like feed the cats. I'm on the phone. I leave.

I get all the way to the doctor. I sign in. I'm like, cool. That ice chest is on my kitchen counter. Had to drive all the way back to the west side, get them, come back. But it was like, that was one bad day out of a month and a half of just, you know, blood work and ultrasounds and supplements and all that. But I mean, the shots, yeah, it's only been 11 days. And I'm like, wow, I feel great.

And now I'm done. I have one more big shot tonight and I'm done. It's a good reminder for people. I have one more big shot tonight and I'm done. It's a good reminder for people. When you're doing this when you're like 30 years old and for all the right reasons, you go to bed like feeling good about yourself. Yeah. So true. So that you're not in that situation, Gretchen, and I'm sorry you had to deal with this just like even I had to deal with my wife and we had to struggle to make our dream happen.

So when you're doing this for all the good reasons, you feel good. You're in a good head space. It's very different from someone who's tried for three years. You're so right about that. But I got to tell you something. I was telling Sheena this. My first round of IVF, I felt exactly what you guys are saying right there. I was excited.

My hair was shiny. I looked great. I had like this glow. And I was like – everyone's like, oh my gosh, what are you doing? I'm like, IVF? And they're like, what? And so it's funny because you're right. The mindset when you're right the

mindset when you're just like oh my gosh this is for a good thing i'm so excited i'm pumped it really the first round did not it was not hard on me it's when you start doing third rounds and fourth rounds and you lose 14 embryos and you go through all of that you said a really so frustrating you said a really smart world word it's the mindset yeah and i don't want to ever forget that there is a complete emotional side that goes along with this. Totally. And we're talking – you guys are very pragmatic and no one sees what goes on in your head. But the emotional aspect of fertility is huge.

It is. And I don't want to ever play that down because there could be people listening and maybe you don't have the funds to freeze eggs or maybe you don't have this or that and there's a lot involved in it and i just don't ever want to downplay that in any way for anyone because it's such a significant thing but we've arranged for specials that get it down to like 181 a month which is unbelievable yeah we've you know we are really there our team is just like so supportive of our patients and there team is amazing. And they're for our patients. Patients fall in love with our nurses. I mean, they're such good ones. So that's really important. And I also want to say one thing.

No one should make a decision on doing fertility treatment or freezing their eggs because of an injection. Yeah, right. Even my wife would see needles and pass out. Oh, wow. And by the end of this, when I was like, I'm home to give you an injection, she's like, I already gave it to myself.

So this is like, we went from like an extreme, like see needles and pass out, you're having your blood drawn. Right. So like, I just gave it to myself. And now she's completely over that in her life. Right. Oh, I started having fun with it. Like when my friends would come over and like grown ass men, I was like, do you want to

do it? And they're like, I don't want to do that. And I was like, do you want to watch me do it? And they're like, no, no, no. Needles freak me out. And I'm like, you have a sleeve of tattoos. Like what are you talking about? Men are of tattoos like men are the worst men are the worst yeah so I would I like to show people videos of me just like injecting myself and they would be like squirmy and whatnot

um speaking of the cost a lot of questions have come in about this what is the average cost what's the least the most and tell me about financing. So we have an entire division that helps you make all these decisions the right way. And so for egg freezing, it's around 7,000 something. I'm sorry, I'm not very good at the numbers, but it's about 7,000 something. The younger you are, the less medications you're going to need. The medications, we tell you what to buy. You have a choice of getting them from wherever you want. We tell you where we think are the cheapest places in town. The medications can cost anything between $2,000 to $6,000. Is that on top of the $7,000? On top of, yeah. So the $7,000 is for all your ultrasounds and all your blood tests and your surgery and anesthesia and all these lovely

things that you have to do in the office. The medications you have to pick up from a pharmacy and they can add up. If you are coming and doing this when you're like 39 and you're not that fertile, you're going to need to buy a lot of medication. I mean, mine were about $5,500. Yeah, that's exactly. Because I had such – We had to add some special medication, but thank God they really helped. Yes, oh, my God. They were worth every single cent of it.

Like I was telling Gretchen before you got here, I was like, when Dr. Gadeer saw my first ultrasound, he was shook. Like, oh, my God, you responded so well. Like, I don't think you thought that I didn't i didn't think at all that your ovary would wake up like it did yeah it has done great that's so i'm beyond ecstatic that the medication protocol that i put you on has done really well for your body yes so that's been really good so like on average you would say a round of egg freezing would be just under 15 000 for sure under 15 so the financing department of our office made a special plan with Lending USA and they've gotten it down to $181 a month.

Which is so incredible. Oh my God. That's nothing. And honestly, by you saying that, I've had so many of my girlfriends go in and do the egg freezing because of that. So that's so great that you guys offer that. Can I make a comment? Yes.

As the person who's operating broke.com, having to go through IVF for four years, the big difference I've found at SCRC is the fact that you are so well taken care of and so closely monitored with specific levels and the exact amount of medications you need that I think that's why there's so much success. In going through rounds prior to, I don't think we were watched as closely. We weren't actually requested to come in and do blood work and ultrasounds as frequently as we did in this round. And I think that's why the levels are just so perfect. Your body is put into an optimal position so that you can produce the greatest amount of high quality eggs. And the same thing for the pregnancy, your body is put in this optimal state to accept the implantation that hasn't happened to us in

the past. And that's why you hear about all these people, five rounds, six rounds, seven rounds. And that's honestly unheard of in our office. No, it's so true. And like, and then here's the thing I got to tell you too, what he makes such a valid point. I've had a couple of friends of mine to go, Oh my gosh, your doctor's in Beverly Hills. He's probably so expensive data. And I go, listen, first of all, that's not necessarily the case. It's not true at all. I just want to clarify that right now. So every year we have people that reach out to every single clinic in the city, and we check our prices to make sure we're competitive.

We are definitely not the most expensive out there. So that's great to know. We are the only clinic that is located in the heart of Beverly Hills in a prime premier location. But I guarantee anyone we are not the most expensive. Now, we are also not the cheapest. Right. And in life, if you haven't learned by now, you get what you pay for. Well, that's where I was going with this is that what is so frustrating to me is I've now had girlfriends that go to these other places that are less expensive.

And they're just another number and they're not being watched as closely like slade saying and they're not on the proper doses of meds and they're not taking the time to do the right ultrasounds and blood work and all the things that yes you do pay for but at the end of the day every single one of my friends have gone to austerity has got pregnant the first round not 12 rounds later our success rates getting you pregnant on the first round, not 12 rounds later. Our success rates getting you pregnant on the first round has hit 80%. I know. I just heard that. That's amazing.

I mean, that's absolutely amazing. And it's, I mean, Dr. Barrett's gloating. I know. He just told us that number. He's like flying around the office. So we're beyond happy. And I've got, I don't know how to explain that. I had a patient recently that came in.

She's like, well, I did three cycles with a clinic. I said, why recently that came in. She's like, well, I did three cycles with a clinic. I said, why did you do three? She's like, well, I bought a package for three. It was really cheap. You're right. That's what my friend just told me. That's exactly what my friend just said. When the three didn't work. Was it a Groupon? Yeah, exactly. When the three didn't work, she signed up and did another

package. Can you believe that? Because her doctor said we're getting really close. So after she failed six cycles she came to our office but that's my point it's like that's what frustrates me it's like if you just spent the money a little bit more at a good better clinic right you wouldn't be doing six cycles you wouldn't be first of all that's not good to be going through that many cycles no of course it's not good for anyone yeah it's not good for your body it's not good for your mental health it's not good for your financial health. It's not good for your body. It's not good for your mental health. It's not good for your financial health. So that's my point. It's like,

yeah, sometimes you might go, gosh, that seems like a lot of money, but in the long run, it's the better decision. Listen, I'm everyone who knows me knows I love a good deal. Yeah. There are some things in life that the good deal may not be the best option. And when you're doing eye surgery, when you're doing fertility treatment, maybe going to the best place is the most important and not finding the cheapest route out. Unfortunately, I know for a fact, because I know what's involved with running a phenomenal IVF lab, we use the best of everything. From the catheters to the materials to the mediums to everything that we have in the IVF lab. The use of our embryoscope incubator that takes 1,000 pictures a day of your embryos growing.

Yeah, it's amazing. You know, 90% of the clinics in the country don't even have an embryoscope. Yes. So all of these things that we have have really added up. I don't know if you're aware of this, but they spent over $1.5 million on our air filtration system. Yes, I did know that. Dr. Barrett told us that. And also we have special lighting.

There is no UV lighting in the lab. All of the countertops are temperature controlled. So, I mean, there's a phenomenal amount that's gone into making the lab amazing. But this is the secret, doctor. This is the secret side of SCRC because what happens is I think most people assume we go to the doctor, we take the meds, we cultivate, we retrieve eggs. They don't realize how important having an on-ite laboratory. Yeah, because everything's done there. Everything is done in there. They're not sending out. You have the ability to do genetic testing,

everything that you would need. Well, the genetic testing goes out, but the point is the embryo doesn't go out. The embryo never leaves. It doesn't leave. In other cases, it does. So it stays there. But the point is that what goes on behind the scenes is such a massive part to the success ratio of what you guys do. It's massive. Everyone just sees their doctor because they're forward-facing. They don't understand all the things going on behind the scenes. Yeah. Having an incredible lab is very important.

God, you guys have learned a lot. Yes, we have. I know. I learned so much from them when they did my podcast a few months back. And that was a huge reason of why I wanted to do this. Her and MJ were very convincing. And I'm so glad I did. my podcast a few months back and that was a huge reason of why i wanted to do this her and mj were very convincing and i'm so glad i did i'm like i would regret not doing this you know five years down the road then it's like why didn't i do that when i was 33 it was a month and a half out of my

life yep so i'm like i would have it would be so selfish of me for my future self and man I haven't found yet to not do this. But you know. Okay. A couple other questions that came in are I had a lot of people ask how long can you store them for? Is 10 years the correct answer? There's no answer. So we definitely think that eggs and embryos can be frozen indefinitely. I think our IVF lab had an embryo that was thawed 14 and a half years later that led to a pregnancy. That's amazing. Yeah, unbelievable. And this is with technology that was like a long time ago. Yeah, that's so true.

So imagine what's going on now. Yeah. So these embryos are being frozen in phenomenal ways with that fast freeze. It's called the flash freeze vitrification. So there's really no time limit. Okay. I mean, if I don't have kids by 43, I don't know what I'm going to do. So that's exactly what I tell patients. And 43 is not out of it at all, so don't you worry. Okay. I mean, if I don't have kids by 43, I don't know what I'm going to do. So that's exactly

what I tell patients and 43 is not out of it at all, so don't, but I have patients that come in at like, you know, 35,

they're like, is it like 15 years? I'm like, yeah, but please don't come back when you're 50. Right. You know,

just like, I just don't think that that's healthy or you're going to have to use a surrogate, but then you're going to be a 50-year-old mom for the first time too,

which is okay. We've had some great ones, but I don't recommend it. Did you hear the 73-year-old woman that had a baby? I mean, to me, that's malpractice.

I love it. I mean, that's malpractice. Did you hear the guy that was pregnant? No. I didn't. He touches my,

he touches your belly. Did you know what? Remember when I told you, here's what's happened. You know, I told this to Sheena last time. I've got a really bad condition and it's called Dunlap's disease.

You heard of that, right? Where the belly Dunlap'd over the belt? No, it's worse now. You know what happened? What? It's called booty do. Booty do? Yeah.

It's actually where your stomach sticks out further than your booty do. It's getting bad. You're having – what do they call it where you start just eating like I do? Like pregnancy symptoms? Sympathy. Sympathy weight. Sympathy weight. Sympathy weight. That's what that means.

That happens to all men whose wives are pregnant for the first time. I think I gained seven or nine pounds or something afterwards. No, he's like 20. But I'm like this. I'm like, babe, you've got to stop eating. You can't eat what I'm eating. I can't let you and our unborn child have it unless I've tested it. You've got a keeper.

You've got a keeper. I know, right? How many of your patients would you say are not local? Like, do you have a lot of people who fly in just to use SCRC? Yes. That's why we have the SCRC airport. Oh, wait. I was like, wait, what? I was like, how come I was never transferred? You know what? For a second, that was like, sounded really good to say. That's why we have the SCRC jet. We have no jet and we have no airport. But we have people that fly in from around the world. So we've had a lot

of patients that have come from Russia. China's big. China's huge. A large number of people coming from China. I saw a slave making some Chinese friends in our waiting area. I think I met an Australian woman in the waiting area. Yes.

Right now we have a... So where the laws are tough, we do really, really well. Okay. So like in Australia, there's a lot of ridiculous laws. Europe has a lot of ridiculous laws for LGBT. Uh-huh. Wow. And our division of LGBT is growing very, very rapidly. We are having an event at the office on February the 23rd.

I just posted about it today for you guys to see. It's a brunch from 11 to 1. I'm becoming a certified trainer. Yeah. And that brunch is for all gay men who want to become dads. Yeah. That was so cool. That's amazing.

Yeah, I posted that today. I was like, that's so cool that you guys are doing that. I'll have to repost that too. Yeah. I do love that. I mean, I'm local, so it is nice having everything in Beverly Hills. I do my podcast in Beverly Hills. I have SCRC. I have my eye doctor, my dentist, Dr. Smiley. Why aren't you a dentist?

He likes to play doctor all the time. But for those of you speaking of Dr. Smiley, you kept saying this. So for those of you who can't make it to Beverly Hills to have, you know, one of my amazing doctors or dentists, if you have like a smile that you're maybe not so proud of and you hate smiling all the time and you want to hide it, I have an option for you guys. It's only $80 a month. You can have a smile you'll love and a lifetime of confidence. So if you guys just go to smile direct club.com to see real and before and after photos, more than 350,000 satisfied grins,

you guys can order a free impression kit with a rebate or schedule a free 3D scan at one of their Smile shops. Plus, Smile Direct Club has an exclusive offer for our listeners. You guys can get $150 off your invisible aligners at SmileDirectClub.com slash podcast and use offer code Sheena. So if you guys are listening, this offer's for you. Get $150 off at SmileDirectClub.com

slash podcast offer code Sheena. I'm actually doing that. Really? Yeah. Yeah. It makes it easy. You can get everything delivered to you nowadays. I know, right? Yeah. I know, but I'm excited about that. A lot of people also asked about insurance. Does insurance cover anything fertility-related?

So many people have what's called diagnostic testing, so it allows for all of the ultrasounds and the testing in the beginning to figure out what's going on. You have to check with your insurance carrier. So if you have diagnostic testing, we can do your consult, do your initial testing, figure out exactly what's going on, and go from there. But it all depends on your own insurance. If you have fertility coverage, we'll take it.

Okay. So that's the most – and if you have it, we take it. So what's really awesome, though, is that there is a company out there called Progeny. And Progeny is a company that is helping bridge the gap with regard to insurance and corporations. So you can actually ask your employer to look at getting this gap insurance that helps and covers this. And so it's something that Google has adapted.

Yahoo, some of the bigger corporations are looking to progeny. So as regular insurance stops, progeny steps in and makes sure that their employees are actually covered if they want to go through the IVF process. And we got, I mean, really, this is just something that bothers me so much.

I don't know if you guys know this, but there's over 7 million people that struggle with infertility. Oh, my God. And it's just crazy to me that the insurance does not cover this. It's so sad. It is so sad. It's really sad. That insurance companies do not think of this – they think of fertility as an elective procedure.

I know. They don't think of it as a medical condition. And it's insane. It's like that. It literally, I've, I've spent so many hours crying over this and having fans reach out to me and tell me like, you know, they've had to mortgage their homes and they've lost their home and they've done this and they've done that just to try and have a baby. And it literally breaks my heart. That's why things like progeny are so important. And I really think that like there needs to be some change on this, but that's a whole separate subject. I have to commend both of you because this is something that we've learned through this process.

Because so many women do suffer and suffer in silence, they shouldn't have to, number one. A big part of this is the guys. How do we know that the IVF process isn't because of something that's happening on the male side of things? Everyone assumes it's a female issue. It's not. I'm sure the doctor would have a better statistic as to what percentage is actually a male issue versus a female issue. And it's important that

we continue to talk and educate people about it. We even got to the point where we made an announcement regarding our pregnancy, even before the end of the first trimester. Cause we're like, look, this is such an exciting thing. It's something that we should be able to openly share. No matter what happens, we should be able to share this. Why keep it a secret? We want to keep it a secret. You know, this is something that needs to be talked about. So it's cool that you're willing to be so open and discuss it with people. Yeah.

I wish we were filming right now so everyone could actually see this. But that's why I've been covering as much as I can on social media. I have a whole highlight saved with a freezing face sign and an egg sign. So I know that that's the highlight to watch. face sign and an egg sign so you know that that's that's the highlight to watch but i have just tried to document every step of this process just because it's not going to be on season seven because i'm doing this right now and we're not filming but i just want people to see that i mean it's not that bad i'm giving the shots to myself i'm laying there i don't even flinch like it's not the first time i saw the i was like damn she's, she's just like, bam, bam, bam. I was like, oh. I was like, ooh, I got this down. I know.

I know. That's awesome. But it hasn't been that bad. What percentage of – It's a great question, Dr. Smiley. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Smiley. She's like, I've never had such a good wingman in a podcast ever, ever, ever.

By the way, doctor, every time we're in the doctor's office, okay, we're always there. And I ask a question, he answers it, and all the nurses are like, well, thank you, doctor. Siri offered me a white coat. You did. You did you did we're gonna do a white coat ceremony we have a special one yes smiley okay um so about 40 percent of fertility issues is the male factor yeah about 40 is the female and the saddest thing is that we've got about 20 which falls completely under unexplained and And we're not sure why. Interesting. Which is like, you know, it's not necessarily that you're old. It's not necessarily anything.

But somehow when we do IVF on those unexplained, they do really well. Because maybe the egg is too thick. Or maybe the sperm can't squeeze in. Or maybe the head of the sperm isn't strong enough. Or maybe they have polyps that they don't even realize. Or maybe they don't have polyps. You know how many polyps have taken out and then the next month people got pregnant? And they're pregnant. It could be the simplest of things like that and some people don't know. But you said polyp and most people don't even know what that

means. I know. And a polyp is a benign growth of a little tissue that's inside of your uterus. It kind of works like an intrauterine device or an IUD and it keeps you naturally from getting pregnant. Yeah. And a lot of people don't even realize that. And this is what frustrates me about some of these doctors out there. Again, they're going to have you go through nine rounds of IVF and they don't even do a simple test like that to begin with, to just test. If you have those issues, it could be the simplest thing, a tiny little surgery to go in there and remove that. And the next thing you know, you're pregnant. And that's why I love SCRC is because I think that they are so thorough in the tests that they're running and what they're doing. Their goal is to get you pregnant as quickly as possible. They are not there to make money off you.

It's not like one of those, you know, you take a number and you're just there. You know what I mean? Like it's a machine for some of those places. We absolutely do our best to help every single person because we've realized, first of all, that our biggest marketing tools are our lovely patients. So we want them to do well. For me, it's easy. My heart gets so into this with my patients that it just flows naturally every single day. And I feel like I have the best job in the world because of the satisfaction I get out of helping people just is really crazy. But I did want to touch base on the male thing.

So we have a lot of men that are coming in nowadays and freezing their sperm. Oh, really? And it's something that we really want to get the word out. Oh, interesting. We need some kind of campaign of some young guy that's going to come out and do it. Lots of studies have shown that after the age of 40, male sperm quality goes down significantly. Oh, interesting. It increases chromosomal abnormalities. It increases even chances of autism and other kind of behavioral issues there's a lots of things go up so we are i mean it's the smallest population of patients we have are the guys coming in just to freeze their sperm but it is growing every single year so it makes sense because we never quit

making sperm men don't ever quit making sperm you don't quit making it but the quality quality they don't swim as fast they don't look as good but that's new that's new information because I think people are like oh

you could be 70 and getting everybody pregnant you can totally be 70 and I promise you that not that many 70 year olds are getting people pregnant

because their sperm is not as good right but see I think it's important that you say those things because see I think again people are always

just putting it on the women. It's like, oh, the women are old and they're eggs and they're the ones that are causing autism and all these things. No, it has a lot to do with it. And I'll be really honest. We've got a ton of guys using growth hormone and testosterone and this and that and all these things. It affects all that. You know, most of those guys have no sperm. Wow.

So when you give yourself testosterone, your sperm itself innately just stops creating. Really? And three months later when you stop yourself testosterone, your sperm itself innately just stops creating. Really? And three months later when you stop, it comes back. Okay. But definitely that's a major, major issue. Interesting. That's so interesting. So yeah, the freezing of the sperm for guys is really important.

Is that as expensive as freezing of the eggs or is that a totally different thing? Not at all. I mean, I think it's around $1,000. Oh, my gosh. Well, think about it. There's no meds and the retrieval process is pretty easy. Yeah. That's true. They. Well, think about it. There's no meds, and the retrieval process is pretty easy. Yeah. That's true.

Unless you have... They're like, this is fun. How many more times do I get to do this? Hey, see you... Come out of there, please. Come out of there, please.

See you in 30 seconds, doctor. Now, you said the cost of the freezing of eggs is just under $15,000, but then when it comes time... So the cost of the eggs is... I'm going to just go back on this. Okay.

Because some people's medications – some people's insurance is paid for their medication, by the way. Okay. That's right. So it's about $7,700, I think, is our egg freezing. So plus medications. Plus medications. Right. Which could be up to –

Up to a certain amount. Right. But again, I mean, don't think the worst. Always think the best. Yes. Yes. And the next is the IVF process. That's my question.

So I'm honestly really bad at this, but I'm going to try. IVF usually starts at around $12,000. But with IVF, there's a lot of other things that we recommend. So if you just want to do IVF, it's around $12,000. We highly recommend that the intracytoplasmic sperm injection for anyone who's not been pregnant before or anyone that sperm isn't ideal. That's when you put the sperm under a microscope and you pick the best sperm. ICSI. Exactly.

ICSI is then we inject the sperm in. I think that's like a thousand, a thousand something. And then once we put the embryos together and they're growing, we like to do a little on day three of growth, a little bump on the outside of the egg, which we make a little crack. It's called assisted hatching. That helps the embryo open up easier. I think that's about $500. And then we let the embryo grow to day five,

six, and seven, where we do the biopsy on embryos. Now, the biopsy and genetic testing on embryos is expensive. We do not do, and it's a very technically complicated and difficult process in the lab, and only our most advanced embryologists are the ones that are doing that. But the biopsy and genetic testing, I think comes out to something around $5,000. And again, I'm not so positive of these numbers. I wish I would have brought a sheet with me. But that's about it. But just a rough idea.

It's a rough idea. You're looking at probably around 20,000 for an ideal IVF cycle. But what's important about what he said too in the genetic testing is that if you look at that. Sorry. That's okay. If you look at it, I think so many other fertility clinics are implanting two eggs or you're going through multiple rounds because they're not testing the eggs. Right.

And the truth is if they had had genetic testing, you might have found out that it wasn't a viable embryo anyway. You have doctors who aren't looking at that or patients who decide not to do the genetic testing. When they implant, you're taking a risk. You don't know if your body's going to accept or reject. I had a patient that just recently came to me, and she said, the doctor only did genetic testing on two embryos, not the other two. And I said, why? She said, because they have a 28% chance of destruction of and destroying the embryo by doing genetic testing. So I said, they obviously do not know how to do a biopsy. Yeah, I was going to say they didn't do it right. So I'm not sure what they're doing.

But there are a lot of clinics that are not that good at doing the biopsy. So they're scared to do it. And I'm sorry, SCRC's motto is to genetically test a lot of embryos. Yes. Because we've had such phenomenal situations of older women that we're able to just make one genetically normal embryo out of a chunk of them. And we're able to take that beautiful one, fix the uterus in every single beautiful way that we can and test it and then put it back in and have some great successes. That's what happened with me. Exactly what you just explained.

So that's a perfect, perfect, perfect example. We had one. Yeah. Out of my round, I had 10 eggs and then six fertilized. And then I was like, this is great, da-da-da. And then we came back and only one was genetically sound. And that's the one that we got. That's the one we implanted. And we did it right. So in a lot of other clinics, they would bring you back for six frozen embryo transfers, put them back one at a time, one at a time.

And if your good one was number five, you would be getting pregnant on the fifth one. That's crazy. And that means you've wasted now all that time and money. And you could potentially have one implant and then have a miscarriage and then you fall like five months behind. See, but that's what frustrates me so much in this part. And I'm sorry, I'm probably going way too into depth about this,

but this part is so important to me and I really want everyone out there listening to hear this. Genetic testing is very expensive, yes. But I have to tell you you to save yourself a lot of heartache, a lot of pain, a lot of crap, I really, really, really recommend going through genetic testing because if you don't, like the doctor is saying, you are going to implant more than likely an embryo that isn't genetically sound and just through science, and this is why there's miscarriages because technically, or most of the time that something isn't genetically sound, it's not meant to, to come to fruition. Like it's not, that's not meant to be a regular pregnancy. So your body just naturally discharges that. And that's why people have miscarriages. So why would

you put yourself through that heartache? Why would you put through the going through getting, oh, my God, I'm pregnant. Oh, my God, this is so exciting. And then you're going to not keep the pregnancy anyways because it's not genetically sound. I mean I've had so many of my friends go through this because they're like, oh, I don't want to spend the money. But then they are going through so much emotions after the fact of losing the baby. And multiple rounds. And multiple rounds. That costs way more money than just having the dang thing tested. And that's what frustrates me is I think that, you know, doctors really do

have a fiduciary responsibility to really let their patients understand that genetic testing, how important it is and what the results might be if you don't genetically test. And some people can't afford it and that's okay. And they're still going to do it the way they need to do it. It's also something to save up for because it's important. But they need to just – they need to be aware of the chances because I think people are just like, oh, yeah, let's just do it around. Let's do it around. Let's do it around. And they keep getting let down and it's just really disappointing for me to see people

go through that. Is it weird to think that it was really sexy the way you said it for the share of your responsibility? Why, thank you, Dr. Smiley. Thank you, doctor. One of the last things – I've been waiting until the end because I haven't looked into this. I haven't asked. I don't really want to know, but I know my listeners are going to want to know.

What is the actual retrieval process? What am I about to go through Saturday morning? Piece of cake. It's going to be amazing. Piece of cake. Are you going to tell about the Velcro? Yeah. The Velcro.

Oh, my God. We actually use Velcro Velcro? Yeah. The Velcro. Oh, my God. We actually use Velcro. What? Yeah. So I'll tell you exactly about the Velcro. Okay. I don't know if you knew about it, but we do know. So you're going to show up, and our nurses are going to lay you down in a comfortable bed.

Do I fast the night before? Yes. After midnight, you do not. Okay. Because the next day, it is – we don't want you, like, while you're under that sedation, to cough and, like, your pancake flies into your lung. Right. We don't want you like while you're under that sedation to cough and like your pancake flies into your lung. Right. We don't want you to aspirate or anything.

So you just come – no food. You show up. They start an IV. It just goes right into one of your veins. They give you some fluids. And when we're ready, the bed kind of rolls back into the operating room. They put you onto the main table. Then our anesthesiologist – and you've gotten some medication already in there to kind

of relax you. So when you go in there, you're totally relaxed. You get on the main bed. Our anesthesiologist starts to give you the real good stuff. Like I'm talking real good. And you're like, they say count backwards from 10 and I go 10 and then I'm out. I've only been put to sleep once and it was when I got my wisdom teeth out 15 years ago. Oh, it's totally different now. So this is – I had to have colonoscopy because of a family history of colon cancer. And the only reason I look forward to it every five years is because like that's the – I don't do drugs. So that is my –

Yeah, that's my go-to. That's my go-to and propofol is unbelievable. It's like the best nap you'll ever have. It is. It's crazy. You won't remember or feel anything. And the next thing you know, and I've had patients wake up and are like, when are you going to do it?

I'm like, you're done. Yeah. And they're like, no, come on, really. When are we doing it? And I'm like, I swear to God, you're done. It's the craziest thing ever. And they don't remember or feel anything. And they're in the same exact place where they were beforehand.

Interesting. And you said this only takes like 15 to 20 minutes? Yeah. Not even. Not that. Oh my God. That's crazy. No, it takes about 15 to 20 minutes. Yeah. Not even. Not that. Oh my God. That's crazy. No, it takes about five to 10 minutes.

Um, and we do have an Alexa and they'll play any song you want for you while you're falling asleep. Yes. Yeah. Oh my God. It's actually, they make it really,

really easy. And honestly, the, the recovery is not bad at all. I mean, sure. There's cramping and that kind of stuff. Bloating.

Um, I don't, I don't remember bloating. Cause actually the bloating goes away a little bit the bloating goes away immediately and then when the eggs come out over the next couple of days they usually refill with fluid and blood

and lots of stuff and you feel a little bloated again for about a week or so the more eggs you make the longer is your post-retrieval bloatingness if you make three eggs the next day you feel great if you're making like 10 to 15 or 20 like that

it's going to take a little bit longer. But when you lay down, they do put your legs up into the stirrup. Thank you, Dr. Smiley. That's when the velcro, they have these special velcro tires they put around your leg, so your leg doesn't fall out.

That is so funny. How did you even know that? You weren't even in the room with me. He asked to take some home. Yeah, yeah. Were you planning on doing something else when you got home? I was actually in the room with Dr. Yes, I was. He asked to take some home. Yeah, yeah. I was in the room. I was actually in the room with Dr. Suri.

The retrieval was... No, you weren't. No, you were not. The retrieval is actually the easy part, honestly. And then diet after, I was told to have a higher sodium and protein diet because then that goes to the fluid in the ovaries.

Yeah. So this is the thing. You know how after you had like sushi, you get bloated? Okay. Like all that soy sauce. After when your ovaries get kind of big and full of fluid, they start to leak fluid. We want you to have something a little salty or full of protein because protein and salty things pull the fluid back into your bloodstream.

Oh, interesting. And it doesn't allow it to go from your ovaries into your pelvis and you get really bloated. So that's why we like you to have more protein and maybe that's the time to have a little bit of saltiness. Like chicken top ramen? Sure. I didn't know that. Yes. Ramen.

You heard it here. I can have ramen. I'm jealous. You can have ramen. Nobody told me that. And I'm feeling like out of it right now because I really want sushi and I can't right now. Oh, yeah. Because I'm doing it.

But, yeah. Okay. Well, I feel better going into the Saturday. I didn't really know what to expect. But, I mean, I'm not getting cut open. No, not at all. It's not invasive in that way. Sorry.

I forgot to say. When you fall asleep, the same ultrasound that they did all your ultrasounds on is going to place vaginally. This ultrasound has a tiny little hole for a needle on the side of it. There's a needle that goes through and that's the needle that sucks the eggs out one by one by one. But nothing is cutting your body open. There's no stitches.

There's no cutting you, sewing you. Nothing like that. Now, asking for a friend on Instagram. How soon after the retrieval can you be sexually active? I'm asking for a friend. I love it.

So after the eggs come out, we usually have you come back like two or three days later. And we call that a hyperstimulation checkup. So we come back. And if your ovaries are back to normal that day, then we're good to go. 99.9% of people, their ovaries are not back to normal. And we usually tell them to take another week of break and then come back after that. So you can tell your friend that if she's lucky, a week later, her ovaries may be back to normal. She can exercise and do anything she wants at home in her bedroom. With Velcro. With Velcro, kitchen counter. This group is a little out of my comfort zone. Public bathrooms.

Don't hate on the Velcro doctor. Don't hate on the Velcro. It only stings for a second. I will. I will let her know. Thank you. And then just two more questions that came in on Instagram. Oh, and then I just want to tell you something funny.

So I've had some of my guy friends who just obviously have no idea about this. One of them asked if they were in my freezer. He's like, so are the eggs in your freezer right now? And then he's like, wait, so then do they just put them in and then the guy just comes inside you? I'm like, oh my god, you guys. How do guys not

understand? And then I had another one ask me why I was laying eggs. I'm like, I'm not a chicken. I'm not laying eggs. We're so dense. I just thought that was funny. Guys, we're super dense. Yes.

We need to assess your group of friends. Yeah, right? I know, right? They're really fun, though, because we've hung out with a lot of them. I can imagine. We have a blast. No serious conversations going on there. Okay, last two questions.

At Yesiv805 said, I got my tubes removed. What are my options to having another baby? So if you've had your tubes removed, the highway of the egg and the sperm to meet each other is gone. So it's very simple. When you do IVF, we suction the eggs out with a needle. We put them in a Petri dish and fertilize them outside of the body. And through the vagina, we put them back into the uterus, into your cervix. So there's no tubes involved.

So that person will have to do IVF but can do extremely well. That's really good to know. Yeah. And at simply underscore David underscore C wants to know what my best friend Adam thinks about freezing my eggs. And he is all about it. He was actually one of the people who convinced me to just do this because I kept talking about he's like, stop talking about it. Just do it already.

Like, you know, you're not going to regret doing this. And when I had to come to the podcast today, I get a call from the office and they said I had to pick up another prescription because it's not just the one shot. I need like Lupron and the Pregnol. And I was like, I don't have time to go get that because we got to do this podcast. So Adam was so sweet and he went to the pharmacy and picked it up for me. Maybe he needs to come in and actually save his sperm. That's a good guy.

You know, that's, yeah, maybe one day we'll mix it. I almost said baby batter, but I think that's kind of a rude, inappropriate description. That sounds like a good guy. I like him. Come in and save the baby batter. Can you see? That's a campaign. Well, thank you all so much.

We're going to expand our campaign before we do that one. Have you been thinking about saving your baby batter? Well, come to us. No pun intended. Oh, my God. Come to us. Oh, dude. Hashtag baby batter.

But seriously, thank you guys, especially in this weather. It never rains in Selig, California. I know. This week it's rained every day. So thank you so much for being here. You're welcome. And yay. I'm about to get triggered tonight.

I'm excited. So the moral of the story is go freeze your eggs, people. Yes. And your sperm. Do it. Freeze it. All right. I will be back next week, and I'll let you guys know how the procedure went.

Yay. Shenanigans. Bye. Thank you. Thanks for listening to Shenanigans. Download new episodes every Tuesday and subscribe on the Podcast One app at PodcastOne.com or at Apple Podcasts. And don't forget to rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts. General Hospital's Steve Burton and Bradford Anderson have been playing buddies on screen for years,

only to discover that their real-life dynamic is perhaps even more fun with guests from daytime TV, the entertainment industry, and beyond. No joking around. None allowed. We're a very serious show. Download That's Awesome every week on Podcast One or wherever you get your favorite podcasts.