Description
Today's guest is Dr. Kolbe Hancock, a fertility specialist at Spring Fertility in New York City—but before she was delivering babies, she trained to be a professional ballerina.
Kolbe's path took a hard left turn at 16, when a hip injury from years of overuse (and an unhealthily low body weight) ended her ballet career overnight. It was in the aftermath, interning at an orthopedic clinic for dancers, that she witnessed something that changed her life: dancers so calorie-deprived that their bones resembled those of women decades older. That was her lightbulb moment into reproductive endocrinology.
In this episode, we get into it all: what actually happens in your body when you lose your period from undereating, why she calls your menstrual cycle a "vital sign," the years she spent (like me) not truly understanding her own cycle while on birth control, and what it's like matching intended parents with gestational carriers and egg donors.
We also don't shy away from the ethics, including where the field is headed as genetic testing on embryos becomes more advanced, and the uncomfortable questions that it raises about what parents should be "allowed" to select for.
If you're in the trying-to-conceive world, or just want to understand your own body better, this one is a masterclass.
Visit https://www.springfertility.com to book an initial fertility consult to learn more about your reproductive health. Use code REALSTUFF for $150 off the consultation.
To apply to be a guest on the show, visit luciefink.com/apply and send us your story.
I also want to extend a special thank you to East Love for the show's theme song, Rolling Stone.
Follow the show on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealstuffpod
Executive Producer: Cloud10
Produced by Dear Media.
Shop all my favorite products: https://shopmy.us/luciefink
Listen to "The Real Stuff" on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-real-stuff-with-lucie-fink/id1724982367
Subscribe to my channel: https://www.youtube.com/luciebfink
INSTAGRAM: http://www.instagram.com/luciebfink
TIKTOK: http://www.tiktok.com/@luciebfink
FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/luciebfink
Subscribe to my newsletter "The Lucie List" here: https://thelucielist.beehiiv.com/subscribe
Thank you for watching and subscribe for more videos!