IVF Roadmap: Timeline, Protocols, and a Personalized Approach | Dr. Amanda Skillern

As a Woman

Natalie Crawford

Health & Fitness, Medicine

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 2 December 2025

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Dr. Natalie Crawford is joined by Dr. Amanda Skillern to break down the IVF experience in a way that feels supportive, clear, and reassuring. Together, they discuss what to expect from beginning to end, choosing the best care team for your needs, and how to feel more confident and prepared during your fertility journey. Key Topics:1. Understanding IVF - What IVF is, and why it often takes more time and steps than people expect - How clinics create a plan that matches your personal goals and circumstances - Setting realistic expectations and keeping perspective throughout the process 2. Knowing What to Ask - Simple questions you can ask during appointments to stay informed - Why understanding your options and speaking up matters - How to communicate with your team 3. Personalizing Your Journey - The importance of having your care tailored to you- How making adjustments along the way can lead to better support and outcomes - How to know when it’s time to get another opinion or try a different approach 4. Empowerment and Support - How to keep yourself motivated during ups and downs - Tips for choosing a clinic and team that make you feel heard - Reminders that you can’t control every outcome, but you can control the journey Pre-order Dr. Crawford's debut book, The Fertility Formula, now! ⁠https://www.nataliecrawfordmd.com/book⁠ Follow Fora Fertility on Instagram ⁠@forafertility⁠ Become a patient https://www.forafertility.com/ Want to receive my weekly newsletter? Sign up at ⁠⁠⁠⁠nataliecrawfordmd.com/newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠ to receive updates, Q&A, special content, and freebies If you haven’t already, please rate, review, and follow the podcast to be notified of new episodes every Tuesday. Plus, be sure to follow along on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠@nataliecrawfordmd,⁠⁠⁠⁠ check out Natalie’s YouTube channel Natalie Crawford MD⁠⁠⁠⁠, and if you're interested in becoming a patient, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠Fora Fertility. Join the Learn at Pinnacle app ⁠to earn FREE CE Credit for listening to this episode! This episode is brought to you by The Pinnacle Podcast Network! Learn more about Pinnacle at http://learnatpinnacle.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	So let's start by kind of breaking down IVF.
0:01.7	Antrial follicle count embryo transfer cycles, semen analysis, egg retrieval, what's at the top? How many follicles do I have and what is my age? They don't know what to expect. They don't know if their experience is the norm. That is highly improbable at the age of 38 years young. If I'm very young and my triangle looks like this, they invest financially, emotionally, otherwise in IVF.
0:22.9	What kind of testing usually needs to happen before we start a cycle?
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1:01.1	Welcome back to the As a Woman podcast.
1:03.3	I'm your host, Dr. Natalie Crawford, and today we're taking the mystery out of IVF.
1:07.5	What happens when, what your protocol is, and what you need to do after a cycle doesn't work.
1:13.0	I'm joined by my clinical partner and co-founder of Fora fertility, Dr. Amanda Skillern.
1:17.6	Dr. Skillern is double board certified in OB2N and reproductive endocrinology and infertility,
1:22.7	and she's known for clear, compassionate care and meticulous protocol design, especially for poor prognosis
1:28.5	patients. We built forward to be physician-led and patient-first, and you'll hear that in how we
1:33.1	walk through each decision point. In this episode, we're covering the IVF timeline from consult to
1:38.6	transfer, what different protocols are and how they are chosen, and what should happen if you need to do another cycle. So if you are looking at IVF or in the midst of the journey, this is the episode for you. Dr. Skillin, thank you for joining me again. Thanks for having me. All right. Well, IVF, you and I talk about IVF every single day and there's so much we're going to say about this topic. But one question I have for you before we dive in is I think everybody wants to know,
2:03.7	how did you get into this field?
2:05.3	How did you become a fertility doctor?
2:06.6	Well, you know, I knew.
2:08.7	So when I was in medical school, I knew that I wanted to take care of women.
	...

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