War Against Infertility: IVF Resilience

The Military Woman and so much More

“Our healthcare system is reactive, not proactive,” says Kelly Watts-Baca. On this episode of The Military Woman podcast, Kelly and host Sharika LaBrie talk about what it’s like to do IVF as a military woman, and how to stay resilient through this long and arduous process.

Kelly was 37 years old when she started trying to have a baby with her then boyfriend, now husband. After two years of unprotected sex and not even a pregnancy scare, she realized something was wrong. After discovering she was unable to conceive naturally, Kelly started the IVF process - which drained her emotionally, financially, and physically.

In this illuminating episode about the power of resilience when you want to start a family, Kelly shares how IVF impacted her work life, her marriage, her sense of self, and her ideas about women’s healthcare. Tune in to learn more about the rarely-told story of fertility and the military on this episode of The Military Woman.

Quotes:

• “There’s no easy answer to infertility.”
• “I hope it brings light to so many facets. There are so many facets to IVF that people don’t know or understand, and it’s difficult to navigate. And when we talk about the military and really needing mentors, being in IVF you really need a mentor, someone you can talk to.”

Links:

@themilitarywoman (Instagram)