{"podcast":{"title":"Infertile AF: Infertility and Modern Family Building through ART","slug":"infertile-af-infertility-and-modern-family-building-through-art-206488","podcast_index_feed_id":206488,"rss_url":"https://feeds.redcircle.com/0de6df85-dd92-47bc-acde-76dd6447d1ea","website_url":"https://redcircle.com/shows/infertile-af-infertility-and-modern-family-building-through-art","image_url":"https://media.redcircle.com/images/2024/7/19/21/e5a0e5ee-7c22-4dbd-9c0d-4970df7981ce__4796d451-1a0b-470a-b769-96fb152be1d9_img_0661.jpg","author":"Alison Prato","episode_count":387,"summary":"In this unfiltered podcast about infertility, Brooklyn-based journalist and mom-of-two Ali Prato, who went through secondary infertility and IVF herself, talks to women—and some men—about the messy, frustrating, painful, heartbreaking, absurd and sometimes hilarious journey to have a baby. Or in some cases, to not have a baby. Each episode tells a different story about family building, getting real about miscarriages, egg freezing, sperm and egg donation, IUIs, endometriosis, male factor infertility, adoption, surrogacy, genetic testing, single parenting by choice, LGBTQ+ fertility, living childless not by choice, depression, relationship issues, money issues, jealousy, PTSD, and so much more. Ali covers all of the outcomes in this safe, non-judgement zone: the happy endings, the soul-crushingly sad ones, and the ones still in limbo.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-12T18:18:07.711380+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/infertile-af-infertility-and-modern-family-building-through-art-206488"},"episode":{"title":"Infertility, Intrusive Thoughts, and Three Kiddos Through ART: Ruby Smoot’s Story of Surviving the Dark and Finding the Light","slug":"infertility-intrusive-thoughts-and-three-kiddos-through-art-ruby-smoot-s-story-of-surviving-the-dark-and-finding-the-light","published_at":"2026-01-29T22:08:01+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/infertile-af-infertility-and-modern-family-building-through-art-206488/infertility-intrusive-thoughts-and-three-kiddos-through-art-ruby-smoot-s-story-of-surviving-the-dark-and-finding-the-light","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/infertile-af-infertility-and-modern-family-building-through-art-206488","url":"https://www.infertileafgroup.com/podcast","audio_url":"https://audio1.redcircle.com/episodes/f1d4515c-1453-4a53-a634-99b4a17d2edf/stream.mp3","summary":"On today's episode, content creator and mama of three Ruby Smoot gets real about the parts of infertility and pregnancy after infertility we don’t talk about enough — the mental health spiral, the obsessive thoughts, the fear, and the quiet, heavy darkness that can creep in while you’re trying so hard to become a parent. In this deeply candid conversation, Ruby opens up about pregnancy after infertility while battling OCD and intrusive thoughts, navigating severe nausea called hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), and what it felt like to hold hope and despair at the same time, and how becoming pregnant didn’t magically erase the mental health struggles she was carrying. Because as many of us know: having babies doesn’t fix everything — you still have to heal. She also talks about getting pregnant again, and having HG a second time. Now a mom of three kiddos, Ruby reflects on what she wishes she’d known, how she got support, and why talking honestly about maternal mental health might be the most important thing we can do for each other. Follow her on IG: @rubydu91 And TikTok: ruby.du EPISODE SPONSORS: THE WORK OF ART BOOK SERIES Ali's Children's Book Series about IVF, IUI and Family Building Through Assisted Reproductive Technology https://www.infertileafgroup.com/books The latest book in the Work of ART series, “You Are a Work of ART,\" is for every kiddo born through ART -- and the people who love them. Order \"Work of ART,\" \"Beautiful Bird\" and \"You Are a Work of ART,\" now at https://www.infertileafgroup.com/books FERTILITY RALLY IG: @fertilityrally www.fertilityrally.com No one should go through infertility alone. Join the Worst Club with the Best Members at fertilityrally.com. We offer 5 to 6 support groups per week, three private Facebook groups, tons of curated IRL and vir…","meta_description":"On today's episode, content creator and mama of three Ruby Smoot gets real about the parts of infertility and pregnancy after infertility we don’t talk ab…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2902,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/infertile-af-infertility-and-modern-family-building-through-art-206488/episodes/infertility-intrusive-thoughts-and-three-kiddos-through-art-ruby-smoot-s-story-of-surviving-the-dark-and-finding-the-light/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/infertile-af-infertility-and-modern-family-building-through-art-206488/infertility-intrusive-thoughts-and-three-kiddos-through-art-ruby-smoot-s-story-of-surviving-the-dark-and-finding-the-light.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}