My Story
Over the two years it took me to get pregnant with my son, my world was turned upside down with a miscarriage, a failed IUI (when they use a turkey bastor to inseminate you), four rounds of IVF, heartbreak, marital tension, self-initiated Instagram boycotts to avoid looking at pictures of pregnant bellies, and many crying meltdowns. I had no idea the toll my fertility challenges would take on me, my life, and my marriage. Yet, years later, I’m a well-researched IVF warrior with a toddler son and a baby girl.
For two years, I was lost, confused, and angry. After a devastating miscarriage and a lot of twists and turns, my husband and I turned to IVF. I bumbled my way through my first egg retrieval (the first stage of IVF), which was a complete and utter failure. At the age of 34, our cycle resulted in zero healthy embryos and we were told we would need to repeat the process all over again. After more lows than I care to share, I picked myself back up and decided I refused to give up. I told myself I would do whatever it took to build a family and advocate for myself. I read studies and conducted in depth research, I peppered doctors with questions, and pushed for additional testing. I approached it the way I would any other problem in my life - obsessively. During the course of my four egg retrievals, I often reflected that there was a huge gap in terms of the support for people in my shoes - emotionally, informationally, and tactically. I promised myself that when I was on the other side of it all, I would find a way to help people through this process.
So here I am. I’ve combined my personal experience with my professional forces that have made me who I am - my years as an educator, my time as a strategy consultant, my MBA, my Coaches Training Institute courses and my courses at the Integrative Women’s Health Institute. I provide personalized fertility coaching and consulting services, as well as speaking engagements and workshops.
For more about my services, click here.
For those of you who like more formal bios, here it is:
Leslie is the founder of Fertility Forward, a business focused on fertility coaching and fertility education/awareness. Her practice combines her experience in education, consulting and coaching. She previously worked as a strategy consultant at The Bridgespan Group on projects related to education, women’s reproductive health, philanthropy and diversity. Prior to Bridgespan, she was an educator for six years, teaching in public schools in Dallas and New Orleans. Post-Katrina, she served as a founding teacher at Langston Hughes Academy and as Director of High School and College Readiness at KIPP New Orleans Schools. Leslie is a CTI Co-active trained coach and has also taken courses at the Integrative Women’s Health Institute. Leslie graduated from Dartmouth College with a B.A. in English and holds her MBA from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.