Orla Kerbey is a fundraising professional, runner, yoga teacher, dog fanatic, and lover of sea swimming. We recorded this episode in October 2020, when she was heavily pregnant with her daughter, who was born a few weeks later after a long journey with endometriosis, cysts, and IVF. We talk about the pain and procedures Orla went through before getting her diagnosis, the medications she was offered and the questionable way in which that was done, the relentless talk about fertility and questions about when she might want to start a family, the road ahead when she finally decided she did want to be a mother, the IVF treatment and a first, very difficult miscarriage, and the experience of going through the maternity services during lockdown.

If you think you might have endometriosis and want information or advice, visit the Endometriosis Association of Ireland website or follow them on Instagram. The book Orla mentions a couple of times in this episode is by Dr. Marilyn Glenville, whom you can read more about here. There are also previous episodes of Bits of Me that deal with endometriosis, such as episode 2 with Kate Brayden, episode 8 with Sarah Rose McCann, episode 14 with Carly Bailey, and episode 23 with Angela Coraccio.

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Music: Ice and Snow by Icreage, licensed by Soundstripe.

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