Latest / The Home of Fertility with Liz Walton & Helen Zee / Fertility Chat with Ileana on Empowerment and Resilience Through Endometriosis

Transcript

Fertility Chat with Ileana on Empowerment and Resilience Through Endometriosis · The Home of Fertility with Liz Walton & Helen Zee

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Fertility, health and Coming Back to the Self, an opportunity to go deeper into your journey of life, and all this can encompass with your host, liz Walton.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: This podcast follows the threads of life and the journey of fertility on every level emotional, physical, spiritual and the consciousness we consider our health and what that means in our lives today.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: And we bring all of this together with coming home to ourselves, the conscious and unconscious journey of life and how we traverse this in the best way possible.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: I am so grateful and humbled.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: You are here.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: Good morning.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: I'm here on this beautiful Saturday day in Canberra and I want to say good morning to the most gorgeous guest called Ileana.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: So, ileana, have I said your name correct?
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: So I want to say good morning to the most gorgeous guest called Ileana.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: So, ileana, have I said?
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: your name correct, so I want to make sure I've got it right.
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: Ileana, ileana, yeah, but I get called so many wonderful names and it gives me ideas for baby names, so that's a good thing.
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: So I like the spin on the way things are said about my name, so it's giving me ideas.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: Thank you for your graciousness.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: So, alina, it's absolutely wonderful to have you here today and I trust all is going well in lovely Sydney for you.
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: Oh, it's a beautiful day.
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: How is it in Canberra?
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: Liz, canberra is also sunny.
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: I'm excited.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: You know, for Canberra we can have the strangest of weathers, but it is good today, so it's really exciting.
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: So I want to let's just lay out you know where I've met you first of all.
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: So I earlier on this year did Australia's first fertility summit and I was introduced to you by the lovely Sheila V who was on Big Miracles, who then let me know that you're on Big Miracles and I was like so honored that yourself and Nick came down.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: You were on the panel and you guys were I don't know the words cannot explain it just amazing, because you both were raw, you were real, you shared your journey and also, I think the biggest thing was how to communicate with each other.
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: That was a big feedback.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Was you know, a lot of men saying now I understand how I can talk to my partner and my wife and it was just such an eye-opener to just how powerful panels can be when we're honest and truth.
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly right.
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: It was, I think, an absolute privilege just getting the message through from you, liz, and even just asking us to come join that panel.
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: I think me and Nick were just taken back to this love and support that the community that you've created has shown us, and it was just amazing to be there, and seeing a lot of men in the crowd was one of the things that actually blew my mind and blew Nick's mind.
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: It's like I'm going to be the only male there, it's just going to be women and seeing the amount of men there, it's beautiful.
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: And having them like you said, we've touched them in a way just being so raw and honest about how to speak to your partner, how to communicate, it was just an absolute.
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: We made it.
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: We felt like we've made a difference and thanks to you, we got that opportunity to be connected with amazing people and grow this amazing platform you've designed.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: Oh, thank you so much.
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: And you're right, it was great to have so many guys there because I, you know, you don't know who's going to turn up and there was a lot of couples, so, and I also agree in the fact that you guys talking really made a difference for those, for those men there.
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: So that was, you know, it's magic, isn't it?
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: It's just that great part of being honest and truthful and it shows those ripples.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: Now, because of that, we have stayed in connection and I wanted to know another way where we could share a bit of your passion and you know how could we do a podcast or a talk or whatever.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: And this is where you shared with me.
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: You know, you're, you're really passionate now with with your journey and understanding your journey about how could we help that next emerging younger generation just become more aware, have more knowledge.
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: Isn't that right?
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: Of course, I think, being on a show like Big Miracles and being on a national-wide show, you know after the show airs and you get these amazing people coming through I'm surprised of the younger generation coming through on my personal platform and just asking me questions through on my personal platform and just asking me questions, and I never thought there would be a need to want to help that generation and let them understand what's going on and how the things we did when we were younger affect us when we're older.
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: And it's just.
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: I didn't realize I'd have that.
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: I think the passion came from just, you know, it just came by itself.
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: I didn't think I would need that, that yearning or wanting to help these amazing younger women coming through into that next generation.
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: And it's just been a blessing, it's been an absolute blessing having people come to you and ask for help, wonderful.
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: Now I've just got someone that wants to come into the waiting room, so we're going to let them come in.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: So bear with me two seconds and we will welcome them and then carry on with our conversation.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: What happened there?
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: Technology.
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: We need these younger generations to teach us these technology.
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: She is joining, so, um, we'll let her to join and, um, we'll see how that goes.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: But, yes, absolutely, this, um, this path that is fertility and infertility and all of that that it encompasses is such a big subject and the emotions, the reality, the medical, the body, you know there's also much to be aware of.
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: So I was glad that we could come together and then have a talk that we can share from from that and share your passion.
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: Now, um, I know you're in your mid-30s and to me you still look like a spring chicken.
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: I'm now in my mid-50s and, look, I did not even start my journey till I was in my mid-30s because it took me forever to find, I say, say, a man of substance.
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so, and I feel that your awareness is far more than mine was, because I was, I felt like I was just stumbling in the dark.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's funny you say that, because I feel like I'm in that position too, now, being in my mid-30s, and I feel like I'm stumbling in the dark also and I'm like I'm still trying to, you know, get your feet understanding what was going on, and then you're seeing what, the possibility of what, the knowledge is out there and the studies and the research that's happening.
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: It's quite phenomenal.
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: I've never been exposed to that.
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: I've never been shown anything.
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: I had to learn myself.
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: I had to physically go into a clinic and physically ask these questions.
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: We never had access to socials and you know internet the way it is now.
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, I agree, I did not at all really, and yes, it was a very different social network then and, um, it's, yes, it's changed a lot, so let's, um, I think now it's really, what is it that was?
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: Is your passion to share and the things that you're wanting people to become aware and know?
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: As you know, fertility, infertility, the different space in that it's not going away, yeah, only growing, and for lots of different reasons.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: You know, I think we have a wonderful rainbow community.
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: They also need assisted reproduction.
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: We have women that are choosing to have babies later, which, in a way, was me.
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: You know, I didn't want it to have one on my own and I was a bit like.
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: You know, I need to find a man, not that, that's.
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: You know how it was, but you know I found a man, we fell in love and it was like oh well, I'm already, you know the checklist the checklist kicking, then you know you find a person and then you automatically it's the checklist after that, yeah, and, and that's that perception of how we're fed that information as children, you know you wait till you grow up and you get married and then you have children and that becomes this unconscious system that we believe in, which again now is changed so much.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: And it isn't always that way.
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's not as, not as traditional as we thought.
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: Growing up was where I was on the other side of things.
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: You know, like my mother had me when she was only 19.
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: You know she got married at 15.
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: It was.
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: It was so common to be married very young, have children young, and I grew up in that environment, that family community, that family bond.
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: And you know, going into our generation, my cousins, my friends, were getting married in their early 20s, having their kids younger, so it kind of was the norm for us.
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: And then being someone in my shoes and I'm like, okay, I haven't found love, I haven't found the right man.
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: I'm, you know, going into my 30s and is something wrong with me?
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: And I actually really put that much pressure on myself, thinking I'm doing something wrong.
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: Is it me?
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: I'm mentally broke down because I'm just like, why?
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: Why is this happening to me?
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I was so focused on that tradition and that custom that we had that I didn't focus on, medically, what was happening with me, what was, what were the signs that I wasn't picking up.
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: At the time I let myself get so consumed with the expectation of getting married, finding a man, kids, this, and you know, like I said, that amazing checklist that you know the universe has created.
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: But there were signs there that I was going, I'm gonna, I'm gonna struggle through infertility and trying to become a mother and looking back back now, I wish I knew the signs.
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: Ah yeah.
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: And I think this brings us nicely to you know, I was trying to find what would be the right way to word this was if I could talk to my younger self.
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: So please share what is your passion and voice that you would like to give to this, to help, you know, I suppose, that next emerging generation, as pluses, you know as as well as you know everyone that's in their late twenties, early thirties and even more, because I think you're, I think what you're going to have to say includes all of us women when we're in childbearing years to be aware of.
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: So please do share, beautiful Elena.
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: So, like my big passion now looking back at it is, like you know, I have my little cousins coming to me asking questions now and I've got these amazing people.
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: You know my daughter's going through endometriosis and how was it like for you.
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: You know what were the signs and you're hearing you know, younger girls in their 14, 15 years old suffering through conditions that, oh, I pray no one has to go through.
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: You know, and having parents generally ask me what they could do to help their children focus and realign to get the best outcome of becoming a parent later in life and that, like I said, that sparked that passion there where I really wanted to, you know, tap into that, because we're always talking about the women in their late twenties, early thirties and so on and so forth, but we're not actually talking to the younger people that might be going through a journey that's going to affect them later on in life.
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: You know, and that's that's where I wanted to put my my my focus in and unfortunately it's not spoken about.
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: We forget that.
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: We forget that younger generation coming through and we shouldn't.
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: We, you know, we do sex education.
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: We're talking about safe sex, how to prevent not having children and being careful and but no one's actually tapping into saying, hey, you might be going through this, something might be happening with your ovaries or your period.
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: It might not be regular.
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: These are the signs to look out for.
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: You're having constant pain.
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: That's not normal, but we come to the point where society has made us conditioned to accept the fact that it's a period pain.
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: You know you'll get it, but it's just trying to find that fine line between is it a period pain, is it a cramp, or is it endometriosis, or is it PCOS?
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: And these all underlining factors that you know we don't talk about in our younger years.
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: We wait for us to get tested when we're older.
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: It's just, it's not.
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: It's not fair.
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: It's not fair that we're not helping them.
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: It's it.
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: I wish someone could look.
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: You know, I wish I had someone there to be, like hi Alina, you know this.
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: This might be happening to you and if I knew that, I would have frozen eggs a lot younger.
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: I would have done a lot gone to doctors, get operated, get tested way earlier, you know, and and challenge my, my physicians, and challenge my doctors and, you know, trust my gut instinct and be like no something is wrong.
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: Help me.
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: You know, sometimes you just sit.
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: Then you take the doctor's advice and you're like, okay that that sounds normal.
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: I'm just going to go home and deal with that pain.
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: You know, it's just challenging them.
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: Also, if you know something's wrong, fight it.
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: I just didn't have the courage to.
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: Yes, well, it's good to you know we don't know what we don't know, and I think when we're talking to doctors because they are the fountain of all knowledge, although they are outside of our body it is, you know, it is about hindsight that lets us understand.
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: I should trust my gut, and we tend to not know how to challenge their words, do we?
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: So it's good to have just this conversation to go.
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: If, in your body, you're feeling something isn't right and it's not resonating with what your doctor's saying, then it's okay to either get a second opinion or third, and as well as look deeper and find out what that might be.
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: Because I know that now endometriosis is really affecting more women than ever before yes, younger, yes Than ever before.
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: So now is a good time to say look, why don't you just double check that ovaries?
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: then would you suggest that that's a good time to really consider and look into egg freezing and what that could mean for them.
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: Well, me personally, going through what we've gone through with my husband, I would like 100% say yes, go egg freezing straight away.
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: Give yourself the best potential opportunity later on.
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: But it's hard too.
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: You know, financially it's not cheap, it's expensive.
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: You know it's a conversation you might have to have with your parents and some parents might look at it and go I'm not going to spend money on that right now.
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: So it's really an untapped market.
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: Sorry, I'm just getting a phone call, that's okay.
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a very untapped market.
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: You know some kids might be scared to talk to their parents about that.
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: You know they might be like oh, mum, probably not understand what I'm going through or making.
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: You know I've had, you know, kids come up to me and say my parents don't believe me that I've got this pain.
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: You know it's hard, it's very hard.
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: But me personally I would honest to God say yes, the minute.
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: You know you've got those symptoms.
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: And if I could look back and freeze my eggs when I was in my you know, late teens, early 20s, the quality of those eggs, when you're in your 30s and you decide to start that family, it is totally we're talking totally different chances.
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: You know, instead of having a one to six chance of falling pregnant, or one to ten, or whatever it may be.
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: You know you're having one to three chance because the quality of those eggs are amazing.
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: You know that and that's what we want to tap into, that's what we want to save, we want to preserve that.
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: And yeah, going going through what, what we've gone through, I would, hundred percent, you know, go for it wow, okay, wow, so that that is actually quite young.
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: But again, it's those, that time when I sort of can recollect it is that time when we're having our cycles, um, learning about our cycles.
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: I don't feel that we, as in women and I definitely was not given that information of understanding my cycles, my bleeding, how that went with my um, you know, with with my hormonal fluctuation, and you know, I learned it all and I feel like I'm still learning it all, because I'm now obviously going on the opposite spectrum of leaving childbearing years and going into menopause, where I'm having to learn about all that again and again, and again.
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: I am also going gosh.
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: I'm still there's so much I still missed on my fertility journey when I learned so much, you know, yes, and it's another school.
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: It is, you know, yes, and it's another school.
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: Oh it is.
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: I think everyone's so individual and everyone's body reacts differently to different things.
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: It goes through its own roller coaster ride in, in sense, that not every person is the same.
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: You know, there'll be a group of people that have the same conditions, treated the same way, but then there's someone that's so different that you can't treat them the same way as someone else.
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: So we we're forever evolving, we're forever changing our bodies, our hormones, our mental state, the way we approach things, the way we feel is different to everyone else, and that's what makes us individuals, that's what makes us different, and you can't group every single person into that one category.
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: So everyone needs to be treated differently.
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: And, like I said, like you hit the nail on the head, like no one told me 21 days period or when I was growing up, this is like now we're talking about.
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: Like you know, years ago, and you know, my mom just said you get your periods once a month, that's it, that's all I was told.
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: And God bless her.
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: You know she was, she was.
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: You know I can't blame.
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: I can't blame her.
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: You know it's not her fault.
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: Like she was, just like you get your periods once a month, mom, you know you're just don't have sex, you're gonna fall pregnant.
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: Now, like you know, it was those types of conversations where I was like I don't want to have sex, I'm gonna fall pregnant, I'm scared, what's my dad gonna think?
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: And all that pressure goes through.
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: But with me I had my periods two weeks on, two weeks off, since since I was 14 onwards.
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: So that for me was normal, wow.
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: And in my mind I'm like I get my period once a month, this is normal.
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: And then I think we went to do a checkup with my doctor when I was like 19 and he just asked me what's your menstrual cycle like?
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: And I was like, oh, two weeks on, two weeks off.
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: And he just looked at me and was like no, no, no, no, no, no, that's so wrong.
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: I'm like what do you mean?
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: I get my period once a month.
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: You know it falls in that month and naive.
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: And I look back now I'm like you're so silly, alina.
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: Like how stupid were you?
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: Like you know, in confidence, saying to your doctor two weeks on, two weeks off, and he's sitting there going no, so for us, for over five years I was struggling with already the signs of infertility and not knowing about it, the signs of endometriosis were there and I did not know about it.
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: So five years I could have been treated for it, I could have gone on the pill and even though there's this um stigma about the pill that people like you know the pills causes more harm, in my situation it was going to cause me more good.
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: So it's just like I said, everyone's different, everyone's an individual, everyone's body reacts differently and it's just finding what's going to work for you.
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: And yeah, and then we went on the pool at the age of 19 and it was the.
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: It slowed down my pain, it slowed down my symptoms.
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: I had a quality of life I never had before.
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: My teens were taken away from me over a menstrual cycle.
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: When you look back, it's like over a period.
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: Yes, I lost a lot of my years and my youth because of my period, because I thought what I was going through was so normal and it wasn't.
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: Wow, wow.
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: So what I'm hearing from you, my love, is your periods were quite heavy, yes, and from starting your periods, if I'm right, till 19,.
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: It was two weeks off and two weeks on, and the perception of that this is normal, yes, so now, how are you to know?
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: And that's why I would say, please, don't call yourself stupid or silly.
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: You don't know what you don't know and it's about you know, once we have awareness and realizing that that's not right, then it's kind of like oh okay, what needs to happen?
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: What can we do about it?
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: And so, please, please, please, don't call yourself silly or stupid, because that's not really the truth.
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: It's just not knowing, isn't it?
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: And so once you were aware of that, you could do something about it.
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: And look, as you're right with the pill all sorts of connotations, but I have had friends also in the past when I was younger, that the pill really supported because it does, it can help balance out the cycle for the individual.
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: We are all different and there is, you know, there's pluses and minuses, but we're all different and it's creating something that is a solution for that individual yeah, and I think I think the scary thing about the pill also is is talking to your parents about that, like I was ashamed to tell my mom I was on the pill because I didn't want her to think, oh, now my daughter's sexually active, she's out there exploring and you know it's it's.
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: It's that shamefulness that comes with it too, but not realizing there's a medical condition behind the reason why the pill is being taken for my purpose, and this is what I'm saying.
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: Everyone's journey is different.
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: I'm only talking about what I've experienced and sharing that.
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: But, um, yeah, you know this, it's scary, it's so.
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: I think we live in such a judgmental world.
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: It's easing up, it's getting better, but you know they're all these little.
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: You know it's just hard.
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: It's easing up, it's getting better, but you know there are all these little.
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: You know it's just hard, it's just a lot of people would still judge and you're scared to be judged.
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: You know as much as social media is out there and you're opening up and talking about it, but there are still a lot of group of people out there.
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: There's still online bullying.
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: There's still all these things that's happening and it's quite scary to talk about how you're feeling and what you're going through without being judged.
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: You know being vulnerable, but we've just.
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: I think society's coming a very long way now.
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: They're becoming more accepting, and I wish I was in this type of community, in this type of generation now when I was growing up, because it's just, it's totally different.
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: It is, it is, and I think it's also, you know, with us growing up um, what would life?
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: You know, when we grow up, we change and we learn, and it's through our tough times that we then have more compassion and understanding.
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: So I really honor you doing this today, because I know this is a a big thing that you want to be able to share with others.
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: So what would you say then to people?
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: Because I know your background, you're religious, you're passionate about, you know, doing the right thing.
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: So when we have other women because there's low, you know we're all wanting to do the right thing.
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: We all have all of our different religions and faiths and you know spiritual or you know god-based, for whichever space you know, and having that conversation with our parents because we want to be the good daughter is difficult.
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: Yes, what would be some of your top tips or ways that you can help others to?
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: You know, I suppose, overcome some of that fear and what would be the right word?
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: Fear and maybe guilt, you know.
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: I think, like my mum was my best friend, my I could tell my mum anything, but at the same time, there was only certain things I would want to tell her because, like, again, you don't want to let them down, you don't want to disappoint them.
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so I always found like, having like, and you know, the cool aunt there's all.
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: Everyone has that cool aunt in the family or a cool grandma or someone that they can trust, that's in the family, that can probably open up, or like a sister or a cousin that can soften the blow to your parents is the way I went through it.
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: So I went to someone that I trusted in the family, that I knew could understand me and where I was coming from.
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: That would soften the blow to my parents.
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: And it feels amazing having someone in your corner because you know when you talk to your parents and then you know it's easy for parents how do I say it?
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: Like our parents will overreact.
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: They'll always, you know, go to a next level.
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: But it comes from a place of love.
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: It's never you know, it's never an intention to hurt you or anything.
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: It just comes from that place of protectiveness and wanting to protect you from harm and I found that having someone behind you when you're having those conversation was a lot better at understanding, because you feel like it's it's not just you against everyone, it's you've got.
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: You've got a team, you've got someone, you've got a somewhat of an army, you know fighting, fighting your battle with you.
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: And then what I find is once you open that conversation up and once you actually let your parents in or your cousins or family friends, whoever that may be, once you let them into that safe space and they understand you, my God, that army behind you just gets bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger.
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: And that support network is somewhat you just think I can't believe I was so scared in the first place to open up and talk about this.
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: Like, why was I so scared?
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: You know, it's just finding the right people to fight your battles with you.
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: No, that's a really good idea Seeing where else in the family to create that connection and cohesion.
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: I love that yeah yeah, um.
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: So what else?
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: Now?
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: I know your journey has been about endometriosis.
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: Is there something that you want to share with women, um, that may support them on their journey if they're not sure if they've got endometriosis or something about the body, you know what?
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: What can be some words of wisdom that you can now share?
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: obviously, it's always from our point of view, um, that may, you know, be really positive and beneficial oh so, like looking, like I said, looking back at what I was going through my younger years and not understanding the signs.
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: It's, you know, you get told a stomach cramp, it's, it's normal, you know you just, it's a period.
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: Your leg, your back, your bowel changes, the hot and cold sweats kicking, the headaches, it's just, oh, it's just, all these.
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: It affects your whole body, like it's just understanding, you know something doesn't whole body, like it's just understanding.
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: You know something doesn't feel right If that pain is so bad and it's taking over that quality of life and you're not feeling like you can participate and it's stopping you from being who you are, at your most capable capabilities.
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: Something's wrong, you know.
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: You want to better yourself in every way, you know, and health is the best and most important thing that we take for granted.
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: Our mental health is the one thing that it gets so destroyed that, going through anything we go through the signs for me, you know heavy bleeding, um, you know, pain, pain during sexual intercourse was one I never knew.
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: That was the reason why, you know, being intimate with the one you love caused so much pain for me and I was ashamed, you know.
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: There was moments where I was like I don't want to be intimate because I'm in pain, but I want to pleasure my husband.
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: I know this is, like you know, x-rated conversations here, but like you know, you want to be.
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: It's those things that that quality of life, that intimacy that you, as a woman, we want, we yearn, we need.
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: We're missing out on those and just the constant pain and the medication.
• 29:08
  Speaker 2: You know operation's not always the answer.
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: There's different avenues and unfortunately, endometriosis is one of the things that hasn't been cured.
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: We still don't know what causes it.
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: We still don't know what treatments to take to better something or, you know, to get rid of it.
• 29:25
  Speaker 2: It's not still diagnosed correctly and unfortunately it's a community of women that are going to suffer for a very long time, I think.
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: I think I've done so many research about it.
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: You know the the cure for it's probably 10, 15 years away.
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: You know it's going to be too late for me.
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: You know, even if you go through menopause and even if you go through and get a hysterectomy, it does not fix the problem and this is where people are getting confused with.
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: You know, I'm going to get a hysterectomy.
• 29:54
  Speaker 2: Endometriosis grows outside the cervix, so no matter if you get rid of your cervix.
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: It's still there.
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: So just take your time.
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: Just don't think that you know you're letting yourself down or don't think you're doing anything wrong.
• 30:08
  Speaker 2: Unfortunately, it's something that we can't cure, we can't fix, and it is, it's debilitating, it's.
• 30:13
  Speaker 2: You know, one minute I'll wake up one morning.
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: I'll have a nice flat stomach Next minute, you know, I look like I'm nine months pregnant, like my stomach is so swollen.
• 30:22
  Speaker 2: My legs are swollen.
• 30:23
  Speaker 2: I can't walk properly.
• 30:25
  Speaker 2: My knee locks up, like you know.
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: I feel like I'm.
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: I feel like an old woman, like ready to get the walking stick out sometimes.
• 30:33
  Speaker 2: You know it's really, really bad, but you've just got to mentally stay strong in these moments.
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: That's the one thing that I've tried to tell myself every day.
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: It's okay, you've got this.
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: You're stronger than what you look.
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: You know you can take on today better than what you did yesterday.
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: Just fight through it and you turn into a fighter.
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: You turn into someone that you know.
• 30:56
  Speaker 2: Looking back now, I'm like I never thought I could be this strong and have this much stamina to wake up every morning, still put a smile on my face, still take on the day like I would any other day.
• 31:09
  Speaker 2: You know I don't let it stop who I am.
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: I know I know it's hard and I know it can be debilitating, and you know there's days I just want to sit in the bed, netflix, chill order a pizza, uber Eats, and just no one disturbed me.
• 31:21
  Speaker 2: I have those days.
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: You're allowed you're so allowed to just let yourself, just break.
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: It makes us feel normal and our body needs that sometimes.
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely.
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: By allowing the body to stop and relax, we are definitely lowering our stress levels and our neurological system.
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: And yeah, it's needed for sure.
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: So I'm curious then.
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: Needed for sure, so I'm curious then.
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: So how do you look after knowing that?
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: Um, you know you've one big journey of yours has been endometriosis and you're just touching on that.
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: What do you do to look after your mental health?
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: What are some areas that you feel are really support you?
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: it's funny to say.
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: You know, it's easy to say I've got family, I've got friends, I've got my husband, I've got everyone supporting me.
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: But looking back at everything, you've got yourself only, at the end of the day, you yourself need to be strong enough to want to help yourself.
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: If you don't help yourself, you're just going to fall apart.
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: No matter how much people want to help you, no matter how much people want to support you, it's you yourself, as an individual, that's going to want to make yourself better, that's going to want to and push you through the day.
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: And that's my biggest advice I can give someone You're strong.
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: Believe that you're strong, allow yourself to feel like you can take on the world, because we are.
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: We're an amazing, the human race is a beautiful creation and we take it for granted.
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: You know, I think, going through my last endometriosis surgery and knowing, you know, every other endosurgery, within two days I was out of the hospital and then the last one, it was like a week and a half in hospital.
• 33:18
  Speaker 2: I'm like, well, something's up and then my heart failed and then being brought back.
• 33:24
  Speaker 2: And you know, it's just.
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: It really took a turn on me, thinking my body failed on me.
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: Is it because I allowed it to fail on me?
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: Is it because I was giving up?
• 33:34
  Speaker 2: What happened, what, what, what did I?
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: What did I do wrong?
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: Again, we put that pressure on ourselves and then giving a second chance in life really, really puts things into perspective, and it was just a moment.
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: I think to myself I survived, I could not be here today or I could not be here tomorrow, and I'm the one that has to push myself, I'm the one that has to stay strong, I'm the one that has to look after me first.
• 34:03
  Speaker 2: You know and it took a lot out of me.
• 34:07
  Speaker 2: You know it's so easy to fall into a state of depression.
• 34:11
  Speaker 2: It's so easy to fall into a state of depression, it's so easy to fall into a state of guilt and denial sometimes that you know I can't do this, that's fine.
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: Whatever you know, it is what it is, and just accept the fact that this is what you need to do.
• 34:26
  Speaker 2: This is.
• 34:29
  Speaker 2: It's a condition that you just have to live with.
• 34:31
  Speaker 2: No, we change our destiny.
• 34:34
  Speaker 2: We change our future.
• 34:35
  Speaker 2: We change the way we get up every morning, and I think the biggest thing for me, it's mentally staying positive.
• 34:43
  Speaker 2: It's mentally knowing you've got something to live for.
• 34:47
  Speaker 2: You know I'm not going to let something like endometriosis stop me being who I am.
• 34:53
  Speaker 2: And you know, going through infertility journeys, going through so many losses and failed cycles and failed transfers, and you know it's and it's.
• 35:03
  Speaker 2: We're not talking a couple of months, we're talking years of a battle of infertility and on top of everything else it's it's very easy to fall into that hole of depression.
• 35:16
  Speaker 2: I've just never allowed myself to be that person and I think going on the show was one of the most humblest things I've ever done.
• 35:28
  Speaker 2: I was so afraid to be judged, but it was one of the decisions.
• 35:32
  Speaker 2: Looking back now, I'm just so proud.
• 35:36
  Speaker 2: I'm so proud of everyone that's on that show, everyone that's going through this battle behind closed doors and having a voice for those people.
• 35:45
  Speaker 2: You just think to yourself we're better than this.
• 35:48
  Speaker 2: We're not going to let it define who we are.
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: Yes, we're just an amazing army.
• 35:54
  Speaker 2: We're just an amazing bunch of strong, powerful individuals, and we just got to allow ourselves to know we're superheroes.
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: Gosh, I love that, I absolutely love that, and I didn't realize that that had happened on your journey to have that almost near-death experience.
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: I just really want to honor that and be able to come back with even more gusto and awareness.
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: The decision to go on the show now, when we say the show, just to reiterate that Elena is on Big Miracles and sharing her journey, because it follows, I think, seven couples and you're one of the couples and, yes, I know, when I reflect, I kind of go, oh, my goodness, I just don't know whether I could have done that, but I, with watching it, I am.
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: I am so, like you know, crying.
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: You know we're on the journey with you, understanding, feeling, connecting, and I think you're, you're right, it's, it's a big journey to watch and to comprehend, because you don't realize what's in the journey, do you, until you're either doing it yourself or part of it.
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: And, yeah, I think it also allows the person watching, the watcher, if that's the right word, to also have a humbling experience, to realize.
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: You know just all of the different aspects because it's not just the medical.
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: The emotional journey can take over everything, can't it?
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: It can be.
• 37:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's so big it's so big and, like I said, it's, you know, being the watcher and watching it.
• 37:46
  Speaker 2: I've had to a lot of people.
• 37:47
  Speaker 2: You know feedback, so you know it's quite triggering for them watching the show because it brings back some raw emotions and what they go through.
• 37:54
  Speaker 2: And I totally understand that.
• 37:56
  Speaker 2: I really do, and it breaks my heart that people can't sit through a show and really like, get captivated in that moment and understand that you're not alone.
• 38:06
  Speaker 2: And I think people that you know feel triggered and feel a little bit, you know, taken back by that watching it.
• 38:13
  Speaker 2: It's just making them understand it's okay, like you're not alone.
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: There's a lot of people fighting this battle behind closed doors and the great thing about this show it's just there's no sugarcoating it, it is what it is.
• 38:28
  Speaker 2: You know You're seeing a real outcome.
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: You're seeing the real, real result of what happens behind closed doors through this journey that no one gets to see.
• 38:40
  Speaker 2: You have a bird's eye.
• 38:41
  Speaker 2: You know you're the.
• 38:42
  Speaker 2: You know how people go.
• 38:43
  Speaker 2: You're the.
• 38:43
  Speaker 2: I want to be a fly on the wall.
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: You're literally that fly on the wall watching all these amazing couples going through these journeys and like, and, if you look back, every single person's different.
• 38:54
  Speaker 2: Every treatment doesn't work same for everyone else.
• 38:57
  Speaker 2: So that's what I, that's what that brings me back down to.
• 39:00
  Speaker 2: Every individual is different.
• 39:01
  Speaker 2: Just because you do something, it's not going to work for someone else, you know, and it's just trying to that.
• 39:06
  Speaker 2: That's where it comes down to.
• 39:07
  Speaker 2: I'm trying to get the younger generation understanding that.
• 39:10
  Speaker 2: Read your body, understand your body, read those signs, because only you as an individual will understand what you're going through and you need to fight for yourself.
• 39:21
  Speaker 2: You need to fight for those answers.
• 39:23
  Speaker 2: You need to fight for a better, better way of living, a better understanding of what's happening to you.
• 39:30
  Speaker 2: You're yourself, you're your own worst enemy.
• 39:33
  Speaker 2: You need to stand up for yourself.
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: I love that.
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: Those are beautiful, beautiful words and it is.
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: It's about trusting our body and doing the best we can do for that um and um, yeah, seeing what are the solutions.
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: You know what is the problem.
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: What are the solutions?
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: Um, yeah, now I know that um, big miracles has a, because there's a lot to do with IVF Australia and they have been really supportive.
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: So how, when it comes to egg freezing and understanding a bit of egg freezing, because I know you're working with IVF Australia what are some of the nuts and bolts things that people might want to be aware of when considering egg freezing and moving forward with that?
• 40:33
  Speaker 2: so, uh, I egg freezing.
• 40:35
  Speaker 2: It's a totally different avenue that we we've never went through with.
• 40:38
  Speaker 2: With my husband, we were just right sorry yeah that's okay.
• 40:41
  Speaker 2: That's okay.
• 40:42
  Speaker 2: So we, we were one of those people cycle go, cycle goes we.
• 40:45
  Speaker 2: We never had that opportunity.
• 40:47
  Speaker 2: Um, we froze our eggs in between our cycles, right?
• 40:51
  Speaker 2: So at the end of the day, it's going, going to see your doctor.
• 40:54
  Speaker 2: They will do all these blood tests.
• 40:57
  Speaker 2: Make sure to understand what your body's doing, right.
• 41:00
  Speaker 2: Then you go into.
• 41:01
  Speaker 2: I believe what they say is a cycle.
• 41:03
  Speaker 2: You're to get the best quality to the best hormone, like the best way your body reacts to the hormones, to build you up to get the best quality eggs possible.
• 41:18
  Speaker 2: And then, once you get your eggs, they will freeze that for you and when you're ready, you just tap into that.
• 41:25
  Speaker 2: Science is amazing.
• 41:28
  Speaker 2: I still can't fathom how you know they take something out of you, they freeze it, it's ready to go and it doesn't tamper with anything Like it, doesn't tamper with the quality of it.
• 41:39
  Speaker 2: It's still yours, it's still how you left it 20 years ago or 10 years ago.
• 41:45
  Speaker 2: It's the way it's going to be.
• 41:47
  Speaker 2: They're frozen for you.
• 41:48
  Speaker 2: It's just fascinating.
• 41:50
  Speaker 2: You know, if you're taking eggs out at 19, your eggs when you're frozen, when you're 35, for example, they're 19-year-old eggs.
• 41:58
  Speaker 2: Wow.
• 41:59
  Speaker 2: So that's mind-blowing.
• 42:01
  Speaker 2: The technology has come a long way.
• 42:04
  Speaker 2: So when you look back, when you're ready to have a child in your early 30s, late 30s, 40s, 40s, whatever it may be and you've frozen your egg at such a younger age early 20s, late, even late 20s you know you're freezing them at the age of collection and that's the best quality, you know.
• 42:24
  Speaker 2: It's just I don't know.
• 42:26
  Speaker 2: I just I still, I still trying get my head, wrap my head around the way this whole process works and I take my hat off to these scientists and I take my hat off to all these things happening in the back end the way they grade eggs, the way the quality of the eggs are, the way they are frozen, extracted.
• 42:46
  Speaker 2: It's just phenomenal.
• 42:48
  Speaker 2: It is frozen, extracted it's just phenomenal.
• 42:50
  Speaker 2: It is Like I've been with IVF Australia and seeing the filming that happens behind when we're filming and it airs on the show, like we don't get to see that we never understood what was going on behind the scenes, and then watching it back on the show, knowing that you're going under, they're recording what's happening in that egg extraction scenes, and then watching it back on the show, knowing that you're going under the the recording what's happening in that egg extraction, and waking up and see how the scientists are analyzing these amazing ways of finding the perfect egg and and and everything it's, and getting them fertilized.
• 43:23
  Speaker 2: And you know, it's just, it's so.
• 43:27
  Speaker 2: Oh, I just I still can't, like I said, I still can't understand how science has I thank God that we have this right now Like thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you Whoever invented IVF, and all the amazing scientists to work to where we are today.
• 43:46
  Speaker 2: It's giving so much hope to people that have lost themselves.
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: It is very amazing Ivy and all of the latest technology with supporting the assisted reproduction.
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: It is quite mind-blowing.
• 44:06
  Speaker 2: I just yeah, I just yeah.
• 44:08
  Speaker 2: It's amazing the fact that, knowing that a lot of people going through infertility and they have this avenue to go down and get their dreams come true and yeah, and get what they want, at the end of it, you know, that's all that matters.
• 44:23
  Speaker 2: Doesn't matter how it came from, whether it's natural, whether it's through IVF or adoption or donor eggs, whichever way you get your miracle, at the end of the day, you've got your miracle.
• 44:35
  Speaker 2: That's all that matters.
• 44:36
  Speaker 2: That's all that matters.
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah for sure.
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: Now, what else would you like to share from your heart regarding if I could talk to my younger self, what else would you like to share?
• 44:52
  Speaker 2: oh, I'm getting emotional take a breath.
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: That's it.
• 44:59
  Speaker 2: Take a breath just you know, like there's nothing wrong with you.
• 45:07
  Speaker 2: You know, always, always, always, never.
• 45:11
  Speaker 2: Don't put yourself down, because we always do that to ourselves and it's okay.
• 45:17
  Speaker 2: When you find out something's wrong with you, don't give up.
• 45:21
  Speaker 2: You know, there's a reason why you're on this journey.
• 45:24
  Speaker 2: There's a reason why you're on this path, whether it was too late for you, whether you got it when it was early, and some outcomes are perfect and some outcomes are great.
• 45:36
  Speaker 2: Just take every day as it comes.
• 45:38
  Speaker 2: You know, learn from those experiences.
• 45:41
  Speaker 2: Don't make the same mistakes twice.
• 45:43
  Speaker 2: That's why it's called learning.
• 45:45
  Speaker 2: Learn from them, educate yourself.
• 45:48
  Speaker 2: Put yourself in other people's situation.
• 45:51
  Speaker 2: Don't judge others.
• 45:52
  Speaker 2: Please and this is the big one for me don't ever judge others.
• 45:56
  Speaker 2: You know.
• 45:57
  Speaker 2: Just be humble with everyone around you.
• 46:01
  Speaker 2: Trust your gut, get yourself tested, protect yourself.
• 46:06
  Speaker 2: Protect yourself.
• 46:07
  Speaker 2: You know there are a lot of things out there also, you know, sexually, just protect yourself.
• 46:14
  Speaker 2: Be smart.
• 46:15
  Speaker 2: Don't allow yourself to, you know, be silly.
• 46:19
  Speaker 2: You know this generation now is so smart I'm having these my nieces and nephews their mind at the age of six and nine.
• 46:28
  Speaker 2: I feel like I'm talking to a 24 year old.
• 46:31
  Speaker 2: These days, they're so smart and we're so consumed with knowledge.
• 46:38
  Speaker 2: These days, it's just trust yourself and allow yourself to live life at your absolute fullest, no matter if things do fail.
• 46:49
  Speaker 2: And if things do succeed, just allow yourself to hurt, allow yourself to crumble, but allow yourself to be a bigger and better version of yourself.
• 47:00
  Speaker 2: Learn from those experiences beautiful, beautiful.
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: That is so beautiful.
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: I like that.
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: I just put at the bottom personal message from Elena, my show notes um, is there anything else that we need to talk about that?
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: We haven't talked about anything else that you would like to share.
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: Um, I know that, um, big Miracles is doing the next season, which is the third season, if I'm right, and you know I, you know it's going to be amazing to see you on that, you know, traversing your next journey.
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: So so that's happening for everybody.
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: That's listening and also watching.
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: So please do tune in.
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: Thank you, liz watching.
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: So please do tune in.
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: Thank you, liz.
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: And is there anything else that needs to be said and shared that you would like to share before we end our conversation?
• 47:58
  Speaker 2: I do.
• 47:58
  Speaker 2: You know, I I.
• 47:59
  Speaker 2: I just want people to know there's amazing communities like yourself that you're creating.
• 48:04
  Speaker 2: You're creating this amazing safe space.
• 48:07
  Speaker 2: Don't be afraid to ask for help.
• 48:10
  Speaker 2: Don't be afraid to tell someone your story.
• 48:14
  Speaker 2: Don't be afraid to be judged.
• 48:16
  Speaker 2: Be who you are, be your true self, and it's just.
• 48:21
  Speaker 2: There are people out there.
• 48:23
  Speaker 2: I never knew there was so much support out there until I started talking about it myself.
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah and Well done.
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: You Be an advocate, so thank you.
• 48:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's just, it's just.
• 48:33
  Speaker 2: It's like getting to be on a live chat right now with yourself and putting a message across.
• 48:39
  Speaker 2: And I'm only talking from humble.
• 48:41
  Speaker 2: You know experiences of my own.
• 48:43
  Speaker 2: I'm not an expert, it's not.
• 48:44
  Speaker 2: You know, I'm doing this purely out of love, and you do this because purely you want to help people, and that's all we're here for.
• 48:51
  Speaker 2: We just want to help others.
• 48:54
  Speaker 2: So, please, I just encourage a lot of people to reach out to yourself, reach out to me, reach out to anyone that you feel like you need to talk to.
• 49:02
  Speaker 2: We're here to help each other.
• 49:04
  Speaker 2: You know, we're a beautiful community and we don't judge.
• 49:08
  Speaker 2: We're accepting of your triumphs.
• 49:10
  Speaker 2: We're accepting of your triumphs.
• 49:11
  Speaker 2: We're accepting of your fails.
• 49:12
  Speaker 2: It's okay.
• 49:15
  Speaker 2: It's okay to break down and be who you are.
• 49:18
  Speaker 2: It's normal.
• 49:19
  Speaker 2: You know, don't be ashamed of that.
• 49:21
  Speaker 2: We're here to help each other and that's my biggest message.
• 49:24
  Speaker 2: You know, allow yourself to put yourself in a community that that will trust, that has trust and will help and support you yeah, I hear you and I think that's um so important.
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: It is about being able to advocate, that it's okay to be vulnerable, it's okay to reach out and talk to people and, um, you know, if we don't, then nothing changes.
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: And we want to be able to change this rhetoric of fertility and infertility, that you're not alone.
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, there is people, there is community.
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: You are loved, you are supported, but it's difficult to support you if we don't know exactly right and just let's bring awareness, guys.
• 50:09
  Speaker 2: We need to bring so much awareness to this.
• 50:11
  Speaker 2: Let's let the more we yell and the more we shout and the more we grow this amazing community and we stick together.
• 50:19
  Speaker 2: You know, we can change a lot of things.
• 50:21
  Speaker 2: Maybe we can change the cost of infertility, the cost of cycles, uh, more research funding for endometriosis, pcos and everything that women are battling for their journey to parenthood.
• 50:35
  Speaker 2: The more voices we have, the more of an outcome we're going to get and that's, at the end of the day, the most important thing, and that's what I'm advocating for.
• 50:44
  Speaker 2: I want to change.
• 50:45
  Speaker 2: I want to help as much women out there and families and rainbow families out there.
• 50:51
  Speaker 2: I want people to have their joy and miracle they deserve.
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: I hear you, my love.
• 50:57
  Speaker 2: And.
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: I second that, and so I'm working now towards the next Fertility Summit in Melbourne and Expo, so that's going to be exciting.
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: Next Fertility Summit in Melbourne, an expo so that's going to be exciting Again, creating that platform, bringing everybody together so that we can give people on the journey, interested in the journey, you know wherever they are, the easiest possibility to understand all the help and solutions that are there, as well.
• 51:23
  Speaker 1: As I'll be doing something more in Canberra next year, so watch this space.
• 51:28
  Speaker 2: Well, I'll be there, Trust me.
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: I will be there supporting you well, I am honored and humbled, so thank you so much.
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: So let's um finish this wonderful conversation off, and if there was one thing that you wanted to leave people with, what would that be?
• 51:48
  Speaker 2: love yourself.
• 51:49
  Speaker 2: Love yourself and trust yourself yeah, yeah, I love that.
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: Love yourself and trust yourself.
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: Thank you so very much for being on this conversation today.
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: Let's see where this goes, and I think there could be opportunities for more conversations.
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: You know, if people want to speak more to elena and're, you know we can do it on an interesting platform then do reach out.
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: Let's see what we can do because, although our journeys were different, our intentions are the same, which is to support growth, advocate and be able to make a difference for everybody's lives.
• 52:25
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much for organizing this and creating this amazing platform.
• 52:27
  Speaker 2: I'm forever thankful.
• 52:28
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much for organizing this and creating this amazing platform.
• 52:29
  Speaker 2: I'm forever thankful.
• 52:30
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much thanks is all mine too.
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: I have a mutual, mutual appreciation society here, so thank you.
• 52:37
  Speaker 1: So sending love and to everybody out there, thank you and remember to trust yourself and to have compassion for yourself.
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: Thank you and goodbye Bye.
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to this episode of Fertility Health and Coming Back to Self.
• 53:05
  Speaker 1: If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the podcast.
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the podcast and consider leaving me a review, which will help me to reach others who may benefit from this information.
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: Feel free to get in contact at Liz Walton dot org or via social media at Liz Walton underscore fertility coach.
• 53:28
  Speaker 1: Fertility Coach.
• 53:28
  Speaker 1: And, if you feel called to, I would love you to share this podcast with anyone you think this could be a healing for, as an elixir for the soul.
• 53:36
  Speaker 1: I'll see you next time.