Share

cover art for Dr Helen O'Neill: The woman who is changing what we know about hormones

Big Fat Negative: TTC, fertility, infertility and IVF

Dr Helen O'Neill: The woman who is changing what we know about hormones

Season 8, Ep. 4

Dr Helen O'Neill is many things: a mirror twin, an associate professor in reproductive and molecular genetics at UCL, and also the co-founder and chief executive of Hertility, the at-home hormone testing company which is changing what we know about infertility: the company has built up a database of 700,000 people whose responses to its health survey may shed new light on its causes. Meanwhile, O'Neill's research is giving us new information about why, for example, male embryos develop slightly faster than female embryos.


Meanwhile, Emma Whitney, director of embryology and genetics at The Evewell, explains PGT-A to us. Is it worth it?


Swears throughout (probably).

More episodes

View all episodes

  • 6. Sheyi Martins-Allen on the pain of secondary infertility

    54:46||Season 8, Ep. 6
    She's a performer, musician and wickedly funny creator: Sheyi Martins-Allen joins us to talk about her experience of secondary infertility, and how her faith played into it. We also hear her gorgeous song, Stronger, which you can find on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/track/4cqnVteEnJmuttnOJ6wXFk?si=ar63ecyLTgyKOdTxuGx2Vw&nd=1&dlsi=2bdd768cd3fd4dc5 (or search for 'Sheyi').Mr Ed Coats, medical director of The Evewell, West London, joins us to explain whether IVF can help with recurrent miscarriage.
  • 5. The Fertility Disconnect: A Wild Nutrition special

    53:34||Season 8, Ep. 5
    SPECIAL EPISODE SPONSORED BY WILD NUTRITION.Gabby and Emma swanned off to London last week to attend the launch of a new report by Wild Nutrition called The Fertility Disconnect, which shows that 79% of people want more children than they have. The BFN girls were joined by Julianne Boutaleb, a perinatal psychologist; Gail Madelena, a nutritional therapist at Wild Nutrition, Ian Stones, the  director and co founder of Testhim and Izzy Judd, an author, podcaster and musician, to discuss what we're getting wrong about fertility -- including education, lifestyle, and asking whether it's a hidden health crisis.You can download your own copy of the Fertility Disconnect report, and book a session with a Wild Nutrition nutritional therapist, at https://www.wildnutrition.com/pages/the-fertility-disconnect.See you tomorrow!
  • 3. Kate-Lois Elliott: TTC, but still laughing

    01:00:15||Season 8, Ep. 3
    The comedian Kate-Lois Elliott joins us today to talk about how she's balancing the demands of a comedy career with TTC and infertility - and what the books don't tell you about how it affects your ambition.Meanwhile, The Evewell's Emma Whitney explains whether it's possible to rejuvenate older eggs.Swears throughout.
  • 2. Improving male fertility: 'I even went commando'

    56:59||Season 8, Ep. 2
    Jacky Maughan had been an international DJ before he and his wife, Eleanor, started trying for a baby. "His lifestyle was party, party, drinking, poor food choices... everything you shouldn't be doing when you're trying to conceive," says Eleanor. When they had trouble conceiving, they took a radical approach to finding out what was wrong, paying for add-ons and tests that weren't available on the NHS. Now they're launching Aloomah, a support platform for people going through infertility. Check it out at https://www.aloomah.com/.
  • 1. Solo, queer and trying for a baby

    58:45||Season 8, Ep. 1
    The actor and writer Natalie Walmsley tells us their story of IUI, ectopics and queer conception - and how they are turning their story into a sitcom. Swears throughout.
  • Dr Shanna Swan from The Plastic Detox

    47:34||Season 8, Ep. 0
    We're back! (Sort of). Today we're interviewing Dr. Shanna Swan, the presenter of The Plastic Detox, a new Netflix documentary examining the effect of plastics on our fertility. Dr. Swan explains how plastics affect our bodies -- and the small things we can do to limit our exposure.
  • Bonus: Dr. Jessica Zucker on miscarriage

    45:17|
    You might know Dr Jessica Zucker better as @IHadAMiscarriage, the campaigner who helped thousands of women to tell their stories of loss. She joins us to tell us about her new book Normalize It: Upending the Silence, Stigma and Shame That Shapes Women's Lives. She discusses pregnancy loss and how it can change your life. Sorry about the strange hum - that's a recording issue. See you soon!
  • 15. BONUS: Emily Oster

    42:47||Season 7, Ep. 15
    We're back for one night only and we're joined by economist, author, data scientist and all-round HERO Emily Oster, who tells us what the data says about everything from Just Relaxing to acupuncture.