Monique Farook, the host of the award-winning Infertility and Me podcast, joins Julia to discuss her journey through infertility. Monique faced a multi-year battle with infertility in which she grappled with feelings of shame and anger, experienced racial discrimination by her doctors, navigated a tubal blockage, hypothyroidism, surgery, and natural cycle IVF.   We discuss her decision to return to the medical system following a loss of trust in the medical community following experiencing racial bias in her fertility treatment.  We laugh about the challenges of raising toddler boys and celebrate that her podcast reaches the unseen and underserved communities facing infertility.  In addition, she candidly reveals her story about her marriage, her medical diagnosis, and the premature birth of their son. Don’t miss this honest and sometimes emotional episode of Stork’d.     IN THIS EPISODE:   [00:00] Julia shares Monique’s accomplishments  [05:09] Monique discusses why she started her podcast and the difficulty of finding podcasts created by women of color  [12:02] The journey of navigating infertility and the discrimination Monique felt, and how this situation affected her marriage  [23:25] Monique finally accepted that God wasn’t punishing her; it was a medical problem  [28:32] Making the analytical decision of why you want to be a mother  [30:17] Raising children to become decent human beings that will have an impact on the world  [34:41] The process Monique and her husband went through to become pregnant  [39:12] A son is born and is in the NICU for 129 days  [45:12] Monique speaks about listeners of her podcast. Women need to discuss their grief  [46:31] Monique shares her definition of family    KEY TAKEAWAYS:    Anger, denial, and even jealousy of another woman who can become pregnant are all natural emotions when going through infertility.   Blaming the inability to become pregnant is not a punishment from God. It takes time to see the issue as a medical problem, not a punishment.  It is critical to decide why you want a baby.  Just wanting a cuddly baby isn’t reason enough.  Being a mom becomes a job for a lifetime.     RESOURCE LINKS:    Stork'd - Facebook     Stork'd - Instagram     Stork'd- YouTube     Monique Farook - Website    Monique Farook - Instagram    Infertility and Me Podcast    BIO: Monique Farouk is a wife, mom, women's health, and infertility advocate. She has been an entrepreneur for more than ten years and likes to give full credit to her husband, Omar Sr., for helping her stretch her entrepreneurial wings.     When she isn't obsessing over the home and work life, you can find her on Instagram creating content for her award-winning podcast, "Infertility And Me." She started the podcast after her path to motherhood was disrupted by female-factor infertility. Through the podcast, Monique has reached thousands of men and women from all over the world—passing the mic to other survivors to share their stories authentically. Monique's podcast was featured in Apple iTune's "New & Noteworthy" editor's picks in March, April, and May of 2022.