Life Uncut - EGGS ON ICE! Britt shares her egg-freezing story

Episode Date: August 2, 2021

LIFERS, we are BACK BABY!!!We are coming in hot with a really important and heartfelt episode, diving into Britt’s egg freezing journey and answering all of the questions that you had about the process, the costs, how it felt and what was expected/unexpected. We talk a lot about hormones and how it all works – the female body is a wild and miraculous machine!Britt initially decided to have her fertility assessed after an interview that we did with Dr Cheryl Phua from Genea Horizon. It was from this chat that Britt became a little more curious about her own fertility; a curiosity that revealed that she only had around a 15% chance of conceiving naturally, largely based on age. This led to her investing in her potential future family by having her eggs frozen. A decision that ended up lifting a large weight off her shoulders.If you have ever been curious about egg freezing, or possibly thought about looking into the process for yourself, this episode will feel like sitting down with a girlfriend who can tell you exactly what she experienced (spoiler, there were a fair few tears).We are passionate about taking away the stigma associated with fertility so If you know someone who may benefit from this episode (let’s be real, we feel like all women can) send it their way! We would also like to note that fertility issues and miscarriage are discussed in this episode. If you would like to listen to our initial chat about fertility “How do you like your eggs? Frozen or fertilised? TALKING FERTILITY” you can do so here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-do-you-like-your-eggs-frozen-or-fertilised-talking/id1472126503?i=1000498869597 We hope you get some questions answered in this episode and if you have any more, you can send them through on Instagram @lifeuncutpodcast! Hit 5 stars, subscribe and share the love, because, well, we love love xSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey guys, and welcome back to another episode of Live Uncut. I'm Brittany and I have missed you guys. I feel like I haven't been on here in so long. Laura. Matt's been moving it on my turf. I don't know how I feel about it. Oh yeah, you need to be careful Brit. He's really, he's hot on your tail. So we've had a little bit of a break and we keep saying the word break, right? But none of us have actually had a break. We had a break, but Matt and Laura are obviously doing the batch recaps, which I'm super proud of because you guys are loving them, but I'm also not going to lie. There is a like teeny little smidge of jealousy that

maybe he's taking my spot. I don't know how to feel. He's already got you as his wife. Like he needs to share a lot we have been gone for four weeks now but we really haven't been gone at all it doesn't feel like we've been far away although we've missed you there's so much that has been happening I mean we've been gone for so long that the Olympics came back around we also turned two it's been four years the Olympics is back okay hang on how many times have you cried in the Olympics because I've cried probably four times already do you know what this is the most controversial thing I'm going to say and I know that everybody listening is going to kind of check out now I haven't watched it I have barely watched it I have watched more bachelor than I

have watched uh the olympics which I think I'm the only person in Australia according to the bachelor ratings but I don't think this is something you should be admitting to on this podcast man I've seen some things over the past four weeks there's a lot going on in Sydney right now is there so what's okay talk me through it what have you guys been doing how have you been in lockdown I don't want to talk about lockdown for too long to be honest because I mean one I'm very conscious that no matter what I say everybody who's from Victoria has done it 10 times worse and 10 times longer than what we've done it so far but it just comes with its own challenges and Britt while you're overseas I genuinely feel like I am hogtied in a basement of Sydney like just

let me out I know but like it's totally and in relation to what you just said it's funny that I mean you and I have spoken about this on the podcast before and that's a funny comment where say like I know this person has it worse or they've done it worse so I don't want to comment but each individual is still allowed to feel their pain their relative pain you know it's what you go through and every single person whether they've been locked down for one week or six months everyone's experiencing something so like don't take away from the fact that you haven't done it as much as Melbourne or anything like that I think everyone each in their own is going through so much shit in Australia right now. I absolutely 100% agree with that sentiment and I think it is

so important for every single person who's listening that if you feel a certain way those feelings are valid and you are absolutely allowed to be sad or angry or hurt or whatever it is and I don't think it is a helpful argument or a helpful conversation for people or for anyone to say oh but you know what I can't be sad because somebody else has it worse. It doesn't take anything away from somebody else you feeling those feelings as well. I guess the biggest thing about this lockdown in Sydney is that it feels quite different to last time last time and this is probably another controversial thing to say but for me it kind of still felt a little bit novel like even though businesses were shut my business was shut even though we were hugely affected

it was an experience that nobody had had before and there was a lot of fear surrounding it but it also kind of felt like a little bit of a novelty you know we were making TikTok videos this time around the novelty has well and truly fucking worn off like it is old we are over it and we are tired and trying to do it with two kids in the house is a whole other experience so yeah next time hopefully we don't have three kids in the house oh my god well i mean that's up to you you have control over that laura so don't be like oh i hope the universe doesn't give us another baby you have control over how much sex you have mate i have fallen for that before you have told me you have had zero sex before and then out popped another baby so i'm

on to you but anyway tell me what has been happening in your world and tell everyone who's listening i mean this might come as some surprise to some of you listeners but Britt and I haven't spoken that much over this break because she's kind of been in all different places wi-fi connections haven't been great we normally don't go a single day without speaking to each other and we have gone several days without speaking to each other it's funny you say that because I mean everything you said is true but I feel like we actually still speak to each other every day but it's always we're on different time zones and it's always work I was like we haven't actually caught up as friends and I feel like we had a little group FaceTime the

other day producer Keisha Laura and myself and I don't know about you Laura but I forgot how nice it was just to sit there and talk and have a laugh for a second because it's so easy to get swept up but how am I I am well I have been watching so much fucking tennis it's like all you do I didn't realize that it was like seven days a week so I am in Atlanta America right now and it's really nice to be in America because they're free here and they just to be honest they act like COVID's not a thing it's bonkers it's so weird to see that Australia is in complete lockdown and Americans are just running wild, but it does mean that we don't have our bubbles anymore. So Jordan and I have actually been able to go to a few dinners because I feel like we never really got those

dinner dates or anything like that. Even when we met in Australia, it was always in this lockdown time. So talk to me about why it's different there. And cause like, obviously going back a couple of months ago, the whole COVID situation in the States was pretty fucking rife. So not that I want to sit on COVID for too long, but why is it different now? And why are they treating it differently to what we are experiencing since the Delta strain basically came from there they've just done such a good job here with the vaccination so I'll tell you a story that was it just blew my mind I have friends back home that have been and as you all know people trying to get the vaccinations and it's impossible they didn't order them places that do have vaccinations it's so hard

to even get a booking that's what it's been like it's been so bloody hard here myself and Jordan and one of Jordan's friends another tennis player and he literally just decided he was like I want to go get the COVID vax. We're like, cool. How do we do that? He's like, oh, we'll just go to the chemist. We just stopped in the car. It wasn't planned. This is five minutes later. We stopped at the first chemist. We walked in. He is an Australian, was like, I would like to get the COVID vaccination. They were like, cool, just take a seat. Gave him the vaccination. 15 minutes, we were out the door. And I was like, this is why America is ahead of the game with the vaccinations because it's accessible and they're encouraging people to get it. They're making it easy for

people to get the vaccination. And I mean, anyone can walk in and get it whenever they want. And the very encouraging of it so let's hope Australia can jump on that bandwagon so I have a question for you which is Jordan related what noise does Jordan make when he's playing tennis and is it the same as the noise he makes when you guys are having sex hang on did someone write this in or is this your sick question no this is my sick question I was watching tennis recently and I was like god these men just sound like they're having sex and I'm really curious now how Jordan sounds okay so the grunting in tennis is actually a thing between players they all talk about the noises that each other make it's a thing because some people don't like other people that make

noises some people say that people's noises are too loud it's like political noise in tennis is this huge thing Jordan doesn't make a lot of noise in tennis every now and again if he has some big exertion he'll go like that that's it probably similar to sex yeah whenever he has a big exertion Now, look, Jordan's, what I will say, Jordan's not an overly noisy man. He's also going to fucking kill me. I hate this so much. Look, I do have something really funny, actually, that happened to me that I want to tell you and I was so excited about and I'm just, all it's going to do is really like drive home my nerd burger status, but I was beyond excited. You are not going to believe this. Okay, all of you OG listeners, you will know that there is one

show that I constantly recommend it's like my favorite show in the universe it's called this is us I've spoken about it a million times the main guy looks like Jack that's why I'm dating Jordan because they look exactly the same he's got a mustache and black hair there's a guy in it called Kevin he's a main character and he's so fucking hot like I can't explain how sexy he is how brilliant an actor is how obsessed I am with the whole show I was with a friend yesterday and they were like oh my friend's coming and I was like cool and then around the corner walks Kevin from this is us and I was like oh my god that's Kevin like that his name's not Kevin it's Justin Hartley I was like oh my god that's Justin Hartley and then he walked over to us and I was like

hang on it's just like it's Justin Hartley your friend or anyway I was like play cool Brittany oh my god and he was I was like hey this is Brittany Brittany this is Justin I was like oh hey like how are you cool like pretended I was like the coolest human in the world I was like nice to meet you blah blah hanging out for a while my internal monologue was like just fucking be cool just be cool so I was just like I was doing my version of cool which I can guarantee was not cool and then my friend walks away and just leaves us the two of us there and I was like okay think of something cool to say Brittany because there was a silence and I was like all right look I got something to tell you you're like I fucking love you I was like I love this is us so much it's my

favorite show I've watched every episode and then he was like oh I'm like dying thinking about it and then he was like oh that's cool I kept trying to cover up and make me sound cooler and I was like oh look I also had this podcast it's like like 13 million listens and stuff and just so you know I've got all my listeners on to it I tell I talk about you every day and he was like okay cool and I was like great and then it gets worse then we're talking about tennis and I know well no because my friend was like Brittany's partner's a tennis player that's why they're in Atlanta we're talking about the US Open he was like I'd love to go to the US Open and I was like okay now's your time be cool and I was like oh cool like just totally slide into my dams and I'll get

I'll organize your ticket he's like oh cool thank you and I was like no worries then in my head I was like what the fuck Brittany you don't have that power I was like what are you doing I went home to Jordan I was like Jordan I may have just promised a Hollywood star a ticket to the US Open is that a thing that can happen he's like not really and I was like can you make that happen And he's like, I'll do my best. But anyway, I just had the biggest fangirl moment. I think that I did my best at being cool. Maybe the real test of you being cool is did you drop Panalol or fucking Lola Derby

or any of the other Britney-isms? That would have been a true moment of showing your real self. And I don't know if the States is ready for that yet. When it was time to go, I was like, sorry, I've got to head out. I've got to catch a roller coaster. No, but just so you guys know, he was even better looking in real life than on the show. We have the best episode for you today. I am actually so excited for today's episode and it's something that we have been talking

about on this podcast literally for six months, maybe even longer. And that is that today's episode is Brit is going to be sharing her egg freezing story, which I know so many of you have been following Brit along her social media. She's been really open with her journey so far, but basically Brit is going to be telling her story from start to finish. And I know that a lot of you have listened to the episode that we did with Jenea Clinic ages ago, which was with Dr. Cheryl Foie. And that was all around fertility and IVF and sort of the whole process of going through egg freezing as well. That conversation was the real catalyst that made Brittany want to go and have her own eggs frozen. So I am so,

so excited to be able to do this episode. And Britt, it feels weird that I'm going to be interviewing you but I'm so proud of you for sharing this story because I know that there are so many of our listeners who have considered egg freezing who may be in a similar situation to you think that they might want to have children but not just yet and I think this is going to help so many people yeah I'm really excited for this episode and we're going to get into it in a minute so I don't want to get too much into it now but I put the questions out on my Instagram to you guys and I said what do you want to know ask me anything about it and I couldn't believe I had the most responses I've ever had from any Q&A on Instagram.

I got the most DMs. There was just so much interest. And I just realised that there's not enough people talking about it because a lot of the questions were the same, hundreds and hundreds of people on all the same questions. And I just think that there's not enough people telling their stories. So many people have heard of egg freezing, but not that many people know someone who's actually been through the process

or physically experienced it. From the conversations that we've had, there's been so many parts of this experience that were different to what you had expected. I really hope that everybody who's in a similar life phase to what you are get something out of this episode and the questions that we did get did really reiterate to me that there is not enough knowledge going around because some of the questions were things like do you need sperm to freeze your eggs things like that which the answer is no you absolutely do not so I think

that that's really important that if you know someone that might benefit from this episode on egg freezing or a family member or anyone share the love because there are a lot of people out there that I think can learn a lot from today's episode. So before we do unpack Brit's experience I wanted to bring up a very important news headline that I saw this week which you know what out of everything that's been happening in the world this is the one that really stood out to me and I'm gonna read it out to you. Was it another pinky in the stinky? No not quite actually do you know what something went into a stinky. We could it wouldn't be an episode of Life Uncut unless we started talking about butts. Here we go. Man uses live eel to cure constipation, nearly dies. That,

ladies, gentlemen, friends. Hang on, he put an eel up his butt? Is that the colloquially what you're saying? Could you imagine being constipated and thinking that a good way to solve that problem would be to put more things up your backside? Do you know what, actually? There's probably something to that. The eel would probably eat the poop and cause a free passageway so unfortunately the eel actually ate a hole through his intestine and it made like leakage all throughout his abdominal cavity so he almost died from it i recommend not doing this this is a terrible terrible terrible idea but the thing actually get it up there it was fucking alive okay he's sure but it's not gonna it's not like

it's a hard stick like it would how does he like i don't know do you roll in a ball and put it up there and find this way do you put it on the face first or fin first like what way do you put it up with its face facing up your butthole or do you think you'd have to I think you'd have to cut face first into the butt I mean like we don't really need to know the answer okay so the funniest part of this whole thing and like look it's not funny somebody almost died from this it's pretty hectic but the funniest part is that when he presented to hospital the doctors asked him how did the eel get up there and because he was so embarrassed and he didn't want to tell them He said, it swam up there by itself.

Yeah, the old fell on the deodorant can trick. We know what you're up to, buddy. That eel did not swim anywhere on its own accord. No one voluntarily swims up a butthole if they absolutely don't have to. Well, I mean, there's definitely been a few men who tried to swim up that butthole. Anyway, okay, I have something else I want to say on this. If you are constipated, there are plenty of other options instead of putting a sea urchin or a sea creature up your butt side.

Yeah, I don't know, maybe like a laxative. or like some fruit or drinking extra water uh yeah look there's definitely lots of other things that you could try first maybe go and get like a little abdominal massage don't stick a live animal up your bum oh it's never a good idea and it's illegal in most countries the eel was still alive when they did the surgery to fix his intestine so they removed a live eel from this man's backside but brit what's it called in medical terms when somebody presents to a hospital and they have something up their backside isn't it like foreign object anal is this a thing talk to me as like a health care worker it's just called a foreign object we'll just get a

feral that says query rectal x-ray foreign object that's it and then they'll say sometimes what it is if the patient has told them they'll be like query deodorant can query toy car query pool ball which are all things that have happened to me what is the weirdest thing that somebody has presented with that's been up their backside toilet brush with the bristly side up like the bristly side up yeah no I'm not even kidding I wish I wish I was kidding actually it's pretty like it's pretty genius it'd be act like a little bit of a tickler I don't think it would I mean I think there is something a lot better that you could put out there than a toilet brush I agree but I like I mean it was probably in the bathroom it was accessible and he's going to be

clean as a whistle after that one anyway I think we've talked about that enough guys we do have time for our accidentally unfiltered stories though before we get into the main chat which would be a lot more serious than this now if you haven't listened to our episodes before the accidentally unfiltered is basically us just sharing your most cooked embarrassing stories you write in your embarrassing stories to us and we share them with you all so we have received I can't even tell you over the last couple of weeks because we've been away we have received so many messages of embarrassing stories of ask uncut questions and if you have one for us please slide into our dms on instagram it's life uncut podcast and we'll keep it for next week but we

have some crackers for you today and it would not be life uncut unless we came back with some bodily function stories i'm gonna start and i really feel for this girl i don't know why because she's anonymous but i feel feel for her i was at my boyfriend's football club watching the end of their game when I started to feel really sick in the stomach my tummy was gurgling like a washing machine and I knew that I had to get the bathroom quick smart I dashed into the women's bathroom and ran into one of the cubicles without looking around there was just no time had I looked around the locker room I would have noticed all the sports bags and realized that the opposing men's team were using the women's locker rooms as the women's games had all finished now I am doubled

over in pain in the toilet waiting for takeoff when suddenly I hear the loud voices of 20 plus men enter the locker room and I realized what was going on at this stage I could have left without too much embarrassment as they hadn't stripped off and started showering yet but by that point I was only a few seconds away from a proper explosion I didn't have time to find another bathroom I had to admit defeat I had no choice but to stay and let the floodgates open and truly it was the worst diarrhea I have ever experienced after about 20 liters of liquid poop and my soul left my body the toilet wouldn't flush motherfucker I have got this shit all over the I'm talking it's down the walls it's down the bowl I'm sitting there in the biggest bit of stench I had to sit in the cubicle

for half an hour with my insides plastered on the toilet bowl waiting for these guys to finish showering and leave oh my god so these 20 men I've walked in she shat herself for like 20 minutes and then she had to sit in they all heard they all were looking at her feet under there but she just didn't come out I'm like I just feel something I wouldn't come out either it reminds me of when I accidentally walked in on you pooping and remember when we went to Kyle and Jackie O in the radio and you blamed you I remember the other lady thought it was me so if you guys don't remember this story Britt and I went to a meeting at Kyle and Jackie O's studios you know we're feeling ourselves we were like yeah there's an opportunity and holy hell when it hits it hits you just can't

you can't necessarily prepare for these times in your life anyway I was like ran so Britt was still like getting out of the car and like parking the car and I was like I must go so I ran inside ran to the receptionist and I was like where's your toilet she's like you have to check in first and I was like no time no time just give me the fucking key I ran to the toilet anyway there was no one in there unleashed the fury anyway Brit came in about five minutes later and then luckily it's one of those things where you always kind of wait until whoever's in the bathroom at the same time leaves before you like you never want to leave and then accidentally be at the basin at the same time that shit's just way too awkward especially when it's only two cubicles but it

was three so it was fine I was like well she already knows it's me so I leave the bathroom and then at the same time as I'm leaving the receptionist walks into the toilet yeah this is the worst stench ever and it was like it's like someone a skunk had died in there and Laura blamed me and I as a good friend just rolled with it I was like hey sorry just like I was like Sorry, Brit's not feeling very well. She's had a bit of gas lately. She's been a bit gassy. I mean, like, I should get an award for that.

That is, like, far out. All right, I have an accidentally unfiltered story for you guys, and it's also to do with bodily functions. I apologize that we have come back hard with the poo stories, but, you know what? I don't. Fuck it. That's just a part of our podcast. Okay, this one time at uni, I was in my second year,

and I was seeing this guy that I was really, really into. He was so hot. He was so rugged. He played rugby and all of his friends were really, really fun. I really wanted it to turn into something more. After a big night out, he stayed at my place. We were both pretty drunk and in the middle of the night, I heard this water just trickling noise.

I thought, that's really fucking weird. There must be some water running somewhere. Suddenly, I knew that it definitely was not as my lower body began to become saturated. I quickly realized that he had pissed the bed and it had soaked through my sheets it had soaked through my mattress it had soaked all over me and now I was laying there in a puddle of his piss I was really this has fucking happened to me I was really freaking out because it was so gross that I was just laying there in his pee but I liked him I liked him so so much and I wanted

us to become something so I didn't want to embarrass him I decided the only thing I could do was to try and suck it up and pretend and go back to sleep later on in the morning he woke up and then accused me of pissing the bed I'm sorry but no you have to draw the line here what did she do he said his side was dry and then it was my side that was wet obviously because we had been cuddling and his penis had been facing towards me he'd pissed all over my back and my butt I could not believe that this guy was trying to say that I had wet my own bed he even had a bit of a reputation as a bed wetter when he got drunk anyway it didn't work out and now sometimes i think back on how i took the fall for a guy who pissed on my own bed you know this is just like

this is a prime example of the difference between men and women she's in the bed with piss all over her and she's like do you know what i just like him i just won't want to embarrass him i'll take one for the team he wakes up there i bet you there wasn't one second of hesitancy he was just like you pissed on me straight up calls her out and it was him this is the difference between men and women. You need a medal. This is actually outrageous. The fact that you liked someone so much that you were like, I didn't want to embarrass him and I'm just going to lay there in his urine. Wow. You know, he stole all his friends. And then you got gaslit. Like this guy just gaslit you over a wet bed. Let's be real. A hundred percent. You poor thing. Don't ever do

that again. And that should be a lesson to every woman that's listening to this podcast right now. Have you been weed on in the bed before? If you take anything from this podcast, please let that be the listen that you walk away with. Yes, actually something very similar to that happened to me I was dating a guy in Wollongong I really liked him he was super hot really cute we got along really really well and he shat on me but I didn't care because he was cute we like to get kinky sometimes no he had gotten absolutely just turbo at a concert like I mean he had I don't know what he had drunk or taken or whatever but he was off his face and I was sober and we went back to his house and I put him to bed and then I went to bed because it was too

far for me to drive from Wollongong to Sydney I woke up thinking I feel really clammy like I felt you know when you get like the night sweats so I woke up thinking I had the night sweats because everything was wet like the whole duna was wet and it was like up to my neck and I was like god I feel so clammy and then I realized the smell and it also it also smells like urine and then I woke him up and I was like dude you pissed the bed and he denied it like fully denied it for about five minutes until I was like, you need to smell this. You have pissed the bed. And then he started to cry. There's only one thing that makes pissing the bed worse. And then he's pissing the bed and crying. What? No. Guys, that is it for the start of this episode. If you have any accidentally

unfiltered stories, send them on in over at Life Uncut Podcast. And also make sure that you join the Facebook discussion group because that is where all the good stuff goes down. It really does. All right let's get into the episode. As most of you know I did put a few stories up on my Instagram at the time. We have spoken about it periodically, sporadically if you will on the podcast. I did freeze my eggs before I came overseas and that was a long time coming so I actually went for my consult back in December. I went for my consult back in December and it took me that long to freeze them and I will get into that but I have wanted to talk about it for a long time because I know a lot of you have had a lot of questions. I know there's a lot of interest

in it and I know a lot of people aren't openly speaking about it. So I have put together all your questions that you wanted to know and I'm going to try to get through, if possible, all of them. I guess I'll start with the why. I'm 33 and last year most of you would have already listened to an episode we did with a Jenea fertility specialist, Dr. Cheryl Foir. Now Dr. Cheryl foyer is amazing we really did our research when we did the fertility episode because we wanted to get somebody on that was that really knew their stuff and they have helped a lot of women and couples with their fertility so we got Cheryl on and by the end of the episode I spoke to Cheryl off record and I just said look you've basically without meaning to convince me that I need to come

in for a consult is do you think that I should and she's like absolutely she's like I mean the fact of the matter is there's probably probably everything's fine but you're 33 it wouldn't be the worst thing for you to just come and check out your fertility I was single at the time there was like no relationship in sight you all know how long I've been single for I wasn't dating anybody at all and I work in the medical industry so I know that there are problems with fertility I know that unfortunately our eggs do deteriorate and I had some really good friends so Renee Arish she's recently come out and she's spoken about her fertility issues she's one of my best friends she's now pregnant which I'm so stoked on but she also went through Jenea Clinic and she had

a real battle with fertility so I had all these people close to me that for no reason or they couldn't figure it out were having a lot of trouble with their fertility so I was like boom I need to go and do something about it I need to take control of my own life because nobody else is going to take control of this life for me and I decided to book in for my consult with Cheryl. so one of the things I found so incredible about that chat with Cheryl is like I guess it was this understanding that going and freezing your eggs even if you don't freeze your eggs just going and speaking to someone who is a fertility expert if you think maybe you want to have children in the future if you're not sure whether you want to have children or not but if you find that you're

single in your mid-30s and you want to have the opportunity of choice that was the thing that really struck me she was like you don't have to make the decision to freeze your eggs but understanding what your options are gives you the agency of choice not knowing and not having those conversations only means that if you then decide when you're 38 or 39 or 40 that you've met someone who you really want to have children with it makes your decision making infinitely harder and maybe limits your choices so I know that like at that point when we had that interview Brit you hadn't met Jordan yet you weren't together you were completely single and children for you hasn't necessarily been something that's like on your immediate radar but I think I'd love you to

explain kind of what your perception is and how you feel about having kids that's right like the younger I was I always thought I was going to have four kids have a white picket fence the two dogs live on the beach that's the life I thought and I just I'm one of four kids and I always just thought my life would be exactly the same and I love kids I love my nieces and nephews love my friends children and the older I got and I don't know if it's because I was single for so long that my brain just subconsciously started to plan a different journey for me but the older I got the longer I was single I started to think maybe it wasn't for me and at the start that was really really hard because I didn't feel like I was making that decision I feel like life was making

that decision for me and I was I remember saying to you Laura like I remember getting upset with my sister saying you know crying being like it's not for me life doesn't want to give me a partner life doesn't want me to have the happy family life doesn't want me to have children and I I was looking at that completely the wrong way and I know a lot of people out there right now that are single that are in their late 20s early 30s 40s that are you know don't have children that they think the same thing they think that because they don't have a partner life doesn't want them or life's plan is not to have children but that is absolutely incorrect and I think we're seeing people now like Natalie Imbruglia just came out she's in her 40s she just had a child on her own

through IVF you absolutely are in charge of your fertility journey and the older I got I started to sort of challenge my own thoughts and I realized that I actually if I had met I asked myself if I'd met the right person right now and he wanted kids would that make me happy and would I do it and the answer was no I still wouldn't have had them I just wasn't ready for it and I wasn't 100% sure and the reason I decided to freeze my eggs was exactly what Laura just said I wanted to know that I would have the option down the track if need be. Because the fact is when you freeze your eggs, your eggs are snap frozen in time at that age. So my eggs now, if I use them in 10 years at 43, they will still be the health of a 33 year old egg. If the time comes and I can't fall

pregnant naturally, there's a weight off my shoulders that I know that tucked away on ice some little baby Britneys that are waiting to be created. So that's, I guess that's the why. And this is kind of irrelevant to your decision-making, but does Jordan want to have children? I just want to say, when I say it's irrelevant to your decision-making, what I mean is, is that even if Jordan decides he doesn't want to have children and you guys aren't together in the future, obviously that's not what you're hoping and not what we're expecting. But if you were single when you're 40 and you decided to have children, I guess I want people to understand that if you're choosing to freeze your eggs you don't need to be in a relationship you have full autonomy

and agency over your eggs so I was very single when I chose to freeze my eggs and this is the funny thing that I think I booked my appointment a long time in advance for my first consultation and I went to my consultation and it was a Friday I'll never forget it it was 3 p.m on a Friday that I had this consult and I was like 100% let's do this sign me up let's get the hormone injections ready and then that night I met Jordan that was when we had our first date so the day that I finally was like oh well I'm going down the track on my own I'm going to do this whole journey on my own I met Jordan that night and most of you know Jordan and I just fell head over heels in love from day one and we started to spend every day together so after about a week it was really

soon I just told him what was happening because I knew that I was going to start these injections it's something that you couldn't really hide from your partner and I didn't want to hide it the older I get the more confident I get in who I am and what I want to do and that people that want to be my life need to be a part of my life as it is instead of I'm not going to change a decision because I've met someone so I remember we're at Bondi Beach we're going for a walk and I told him I said so I'm about to freeze my eggs he's like what does that mean I was like well I you know I'm 33 he was 26 so there was a big difference I said I'm 33 my eggs I don't have that many eggs he's like what do you mean you have like 200,000 of them and I'm like well you don't

I was like you originally do one day and then I explained it to him a little bit and I was like oh is this going to scare him off because he thinks I just want to settle down and have kids now and he didn't really say anything we didn't have a big conversation about it we just changed the subject and then the next day he came back and he's like so I've done a lot of research in the last 24 hours and he went away and he researched on his own so that he would come back and have a proper conversation about it and I was so thankful for that he just asked a lot of questions he said I understand now why you want to do it I'm completely encouraging of it but he's like I don't know if I want kids he's like I just want to tell you that straight up and I said well I

think that I do want kids so I want you to know that and then we had to have a conversation on whether we even continue dating if he was a strong no and I'm a strong yes but neither of us are strong on either he would be probably leaning more towards not kids for like another 10 years whereas I'm like I definitely have to have kids before then so the best thing that we could have done in this situation is freeze our eggs because if in 10 years time we do want to have a child and I can't anymore I've got those there so he was really great about it and we had a lot of people writing in saying they're in new relationships and they don't know how to broach it with their partner they ask for advice on what to do is it going to turn them off is it too much too soon

and I just think the best thing you can do is be honest just because you're taking you're making the decision to freeze your eggs doesn't mean you're trying to lock someone down and have a baby with them in a week in fact it's the opposite it's you trying to say to them I don't want this right now but I want to have it later if you're going to have a conversation with someone and they're going to run the other direction I just think they're not the right person for you and I really do believe that so if any of you are in that situation now where you're like I don't know how to approach him he's going to think it's too much it's absolutely not too much it is your life and if they want to be a part of your life they need to understand what you're going through and

why you're going through it so I think you just need to have the conversation I 100% agree and I also think that as women as we get older you do need to be vocal about what you want in your life because like I mean and I've heard it so many times I did it myself I was in a relationship for six years with someone who didn't want to marry me and didn't want to have kids with me and nothing fucking changed like that's the thing right we can we can be so fearful about saying the wrong thing or coming across as though what we want in life doesn't match up and that person leaving you know there's fear about being left or being abandoned but if what you want isn't on the same path you're never going to get there you're not going to just convince them one day if they've

shown you time and time again that you know maybe what you guys want in the long run isn't compatible then i really think that those hard conversations have to be had as early as possible so that way you're not wasting time on someone who doesn't want the same things as you in hindsight if i didn't meet jordan i would have frozen my eggs months ago the reason i waited so long because i ended up waiting probably nearly four months between the consult and cheryl foye my doctor she said look you can wait up to six months that's fine she's like your eggs will still be the same in six months i knew that i had then had a limited time with jordan and i didn't want to spend a few weeks three to four weeks just feeling shitty whilst I was on these hormones injections I just

wanted to enjoy our time together. So I guess we should start right at the beginning like after you've had this consultation with Dr Cheryl Foie when you actually made the decision to go down this process of egg freezing can you tell me what that process was like and also how did you find out what the quality of your eggs were like? So I guess to start with you have to get blood tests done and an ultrasound and that's like base level fertility tests you get a blood test to test your AMH level now your AMH level is anti-malarian hormone and that is a hormone that is secreted by your ovarian follicles so essentially the higher the level of your AMH the more follicles aka potential eggs that you have so you want to get a high number that's literally just a blood

test you just you can go to your GP and you can say hey I want to test my fertility let's do this and 99% of GPs will encourage you to do that and they'll give you the blood test then you need to have an ultrasound, an internal ultrasound. So transvaginal, that means the probe goes in your vagina. If anyone hasn't had that before, I mean, if you've had babies and all that kind of thing, you would have had it, but the probe goes in your vagina and they literally just count the follicles that you've got. So my AMH was 13. And so that shows that my follicle count is 13. This is actually not that abnormal for my age. So it's not like the best reading that you want. It's not the highest reading you want but what Cheryl told me is it's pretty standardized for my age for 33 and

that is the whole reason that people will encourage people above the 30s to go and get these tests because you can be I know how healthy I am I don't do drugs I don't smoke I've always treated my body well and the fact of the matter is there's nothing you can do to prolong the health of your eggs in women they just deteriorate so this AMH level of 13 and follicle of 13 these don't predict the chance of falling pregnant naturally but the chance of falling pregnant is more linked to your age so I was given a chance and Cheryl told me in the office when all my blood test results came back and all my follicles she sat me down and she said look you have about a 15% chance of falling pregnant naturally and I was gobsmacked I was like 15% I mean 15% every month is really quite low and

I was very upset I was like this is not what I expected I thought you were going to say that I had a really healthy body that everything was great and I would be able to just go and pop out some eggs and put them on ice. How did you process that when you were told that your fertility wasn't what you expected? It was really hard I hadn't met Jordan yet I went to the consult on my own because I just didn't expect to get any bad news and it wasn't bad news I don't want to say it's bad news but I wasn't expecting a 15% chance of natural pregnancy it was really hard I cried I got really upset because I immediately went and I don't know why because I'm not usually like this and I wasn't expecting it but I immediately went down the thought track of you're never going

to have a baby your fertility is low you don't have a boyfriend it's not on your cards like you're going to be alone and and then I got you know when like one thing's really bad in your head it's like a snowball I was like not only are you not going to have a baby you're going to be forever alone no one's ever going to love you no one's going to date you you're never going to have a family and I just so I got so down on myself and I and I went home and I didn't tell anyone for a little while oh for like 24 hours I told my sister Sherry the next day and she was really good too she's like that's all right let's just get those eggs on ice which is exactly the response you want from someone in your life if you tell them that you don't want anyone to sort of feel

sorry for you or you just want someone to say that's cool that's normal let's just do what we have to do and that's all there is all you can do is go and do what you have to do and put them on ice now what Cheryl did say that did make me feel better when I spoke to her again after because I was so upset she's like Brit to be honest like she's like it's pretty normal for your age it's just one of those things it's unfortunate there's nothing wrong with you I had no cysts I had no endometriosis I had nothing inside of me the only thing that was against me was my age I remember this time I remember when you got that first news that your fertility was at 15% and I remember how upset you were and I think that for anybody like it comes as such a shock because you know you

always hear about those cases where people just seem to get pregnant so easy and that for me like we've had conversations about miscarriage on this podcast it's fertility has been like a constant running conversation on this podcast because it's so important to talk about how fucking hard it can be for some people and how challenging it can be to actually fall pregnant and have that family because I think we see so much that it's like it looks easy social media makes it look easy every fucking day there's a pregnancy announcement and I even remember when like we announced that we were having Marley it was really important to us to talk about the fact that we had had a miscarriage because I would hate for somebody else who is struggling with their pregnancy

to see another happy pregnancy announcement and think it's so fucking easy for them because for a lot of women it isn't and I think that this whole concept of egg freezing and being able to have some choice and being able to just know what's going on in your body is so powerful because without knowledge you can't make the best decision for yourself so let's get into like the actual practical and physical side of it because I don't think people are aware of how physically demanding actually collecting the eggs is and I know that it was a process that was really full on for you you had to inject yourself every day there was a lot of hormone treatment that is involved in this could you talk us through the process that you had to go through every day

so that your eggs could actually be collected yeah and just in addition to what you just said it was really important for me to talk to people about it because it made me feel better I didn't I didn't want to sit in my room and dwell on it and think the worst which I think a lot of people don't want to rely on their friends and family or they don't want to put pressure on them or they don't want to bother them but I think it's really important to talk about it I was and I don't want to say lucky because it's not lucky but my girlfriend Renee like I said she was literally injecting herself at the same time that I was so that was quite nice for us to be able to both talk to each other about how are you feeling did you get this feeling and then she had done already

a round of it before me so she's like what your feelings normal hang in there tomorrow's gonna be worse it was just really nice to have someone to go through that with and talk to about it but the two-week hormone injections are in all honesty not what I expected and now I want to say that they are different for everybody so what I'm going to tell you now is my experience some people might feel 10 times worse some people might feel 10 times better normal symptoms are like fatigue and headaches and weight gain and when I say weight gain it's not actual weight gain it's just you get very heavy in your lower abdomen like you're on a it's like a period on steroids so you get a lot of pain and heaviness and you swell a lot so a lot of people can look a couple of

once pregnant but it all goes away at the end now for my experience you start injecting the normal cycle is 14 days of injections and every couple of days you might introduce another injection so I went from starting at one injection and I ended up being doing three injections a day that is individual to you so that is what your doctor will tell you you need and that is based off your constant ultrasounds and blood tests so egg freezing is quite demanding you need to be available time-wise every two days I had to go into the city to the clinic and it's very time sensitive so it can't be like oh I'm busy today can I go tomorrow I'm busy now can I come tonight you have to go when they tell you to in the morning because it's I can't believe how much

your body is like a clock and timing is imperative so every two days you go back in for a blood test and another internal ultrasound and off those readings it determines are your follicles responding to the hormones how much they're responding to the hormones what your levels are at and that depends if you need more or less of the injections that you're giving yourself so my follicles weren't responding very well some of them were some of them are growing they measure them it's so amazing so they measure them and they grow so much overnight a lot of mine weren't responding which is why I went a couple of days extra and I had some more injections at the end just to really pump them through so the first two days I got a really bad headache like I'm talking

one of the worst ones I've ever had and they do warn you of that they're like the first two days is a really bad headache I was in bed I was light sensitive I was taking painkillers it was really bad then it just went and I didn't get another headache for the two weeks first five days I called up the fertility clinic and I let no joke I said I don't think I'm injecting it properly I'm worried it's not going in she's like what do you mean I was like I don't feel anything I feel 100% fine life was normal I didn't feel one thing she's like that's that's normal she's like not everyone feels everything and I was like this is great what's everyone talking about I'm having a wonderful time and then the second week came and oh my god everything just changed and I was

Laura you probably remember I was just like crying at everything I was so emotional everything feels like the world's against you I would cry at an ad on tv I was at Jordan all the time like we were having arguments on the phone I was like you don't love me you're not giving me enough attention he's like whoa bro he's like he's like everything's I'm exactly the same as I was yesterday what are talking about and I was just so needy and so emotional and and I knew that as well so I would have this fight with Jordan and then I would call him back and I'd say I'm sorry it's the hormones he's like I know it was really fine because he'd done his own research as well but the hormones the feelings you get like the sadness and the tears are a real thing and it was it was really

crazy to experience I imagine and I can't I don't know but you can tell me I imagine it's like pregnancy i imagine it's like those early feelings when you get rushed with these hormones i mean i guess i can compare it to when like the couple of days before i get my period i'm like such and i know that this is like that on literally on steroids on hormones yeah like like actual but like i remember this time and i think you know this is actually i'm learning so much from speaking to you about this because i remember this time i remember when you were going through this and I was like why is Brit being so sensitive like I didn't know this we for everyone listening like we had probably our first actual argument during that period and it was like I wish I had

better understood what you were going through like and it wasn't an argument in that you know of course like fuck we're like sisters guys we argue and then we make up five minutes later like nothing changes but it was you weren't you you were very sensitive I think like normally nothing really phases you like you're very go with the flow and when somebody has such a shift in their personality I guess it's hard to understand and also we hadn't had a lot of conversations around what the hormones were actually going to do to you and how you were going to respond to them so I'm learning this now from having this conversation with you I didn't realize that that's how strongly you were affected by I didn't realize you were so sad like I'm so sorry that I wasn't more aware of that at the time

I mean like you don't have to apologize it was I probably didn't tell you either but I am very much I don't want to put anything on other people I don't want to cause a problem but I didn't realize how much it would affect me otherwise I would have told you I honestly was expecting nothing and then one day I woke up in a wave of emotions like anyone could speak to me and I was in tears I was just beside myself all the time and that's like you just said that's not me in my relationships I'm going with the flow in like work relationships I'm going with the flow all the time not a lot stresses me out but yeah it was fucking crazy man it was like I would just sit in my lounge room and cry and nothing I'll just actually I would sit there I remember this

one day and I took a video of it because I was going to put this whole highlights reel up an explanation on my stories for Instagram to answer everyone's questions before I decided just to do the podcast because there was just too much information but I was just sitting there and I remember I got a message it was like some bad news but no it wasn't bad news it was news it wasn't bad and I remember just hysterics I was sobbing and I couldn't breathe and I remember recording it just to point out being like guys this is what I'm this is what's happening to me right now and I can tell you right now there's no reason for me to be doing this I just I remember I wanted to note that I was like you should not be crying right now but I was beside myself

and I think it's important to to give yourself enough space if you're going to freeze your eggs you need to be aware that this can happen and make sure your schedule's pretty free you're going to want to just be cruising around the house not having a lot of places to go don't be booking things in with people and I think it's really important to tell people around you what you're doing and what might happen because there'll be a lot more understanding when you burst out into tears you know it's such an unfair thing because I think that you know if you're going through the process of egg freezing in one side of it it's very empowering because you're taking that agency and you're having that choice but on the other side like it is incredibly emotional it is personal

and there are these other feelings that are loaded into it maybe you haven't met that person yet maybe you're unsure as to whether you're going to have children on your own or with someone like there's a lot of unknown and that can be really fucking scary as well so then to think that you're already dealing with these big emotions and then to just turbocharge it with a bit of hormones seems incredibly unfair to have to process all of that in one go so you have to inject yourself every day can you talk me through once your follicles are actually at an optimal level what happens then how do they actually go about collecting the eggs and what is the process once they have collected the eggs you inject yourself every single day you're right and then

after a few days you add in another injection and that is all very time sensitive so the same time every day a lot of people ask if you can still go to work do you have to take time off work you don't have to if you can great because you might feel really shitty or at least the second week but you do have to be accessible to go to your appointments in the morning which is usually between seven and nine for most clinics you have to be accessible for that and you have to be able to inject yourself at the same time every day so I picked lunchtime so mine was about 12 o'clock every single day because for me that was easy I could get up go for a walk do my work in the morning and when I had my lunch I just knew that I would remember to inject myself in terms of

injecting yourself it's not painless but it's not painful I don't want anyone to be scared of it now I know I work in a hospital and I inject people I found it very easy I know a lot of people don't but I don't want you to be scared of if it hurts because it really doesn't you just get a little bit of fat the needle is so skinny like it's so thin and then you don't even really feel maybe the second injection I did you feel it going in but otherwise it's so quick and easy the way that they give you the medications is foolproof like you draw up exactly the amount you need you can't really make mistakes so I don't want anyone to be scared of that at the end of the second week you do start to get really bloated and I'll put some stories up on my

Instagram to show you guys I'll put some on the life on card Instagram as well but I didn't get nearly as bloated as I've seen a lot of other people because you know a lot of people share photos of themselves a lot of forums and things like that I was lucky I didn't get that swollen you do get a lot of fluid retention and things like that but you've got to remember your follicles inside you are literally swollen the whole point is that they're growing so all of a sudden you have 20 follicles in you that are taking up extra space so they have to have somewhere to go I know that this is something that it's like a cruel irony of IVF as well you know IVF and also egg freezing is that a lot of women do have bloating and it's around the area where you put

on size when you first get pregnant and for a lot of people it's this irony of like you're not pregnant you're going through fertility issues or you're working through your own fertility and yet you're having some of the symptoms and side effects of what you would if you're pregnant and the cruel irony of that I know can be emotionally really hard for some people to actually process and deal with I had a girlfriend who went through IVF and she said that that was one of the hardest things was like feeling like she looked like she was pregnant feeling those changes to her body and knowing that she didn't have a baby which is what she so desperately wanted and I think that like Brit said earlier like there's so many parts of this that can be

a really emotional journey for someone so I don't know if this is typical for egg freezing but I imagine this is what it was like to be pregnant but the hormones I went off a lot of food that I would usually love and I was wanting to eat a lot of food that I wouldn't usually eat but like things that I would have every day coffee certain smells and pastas I was really off them and I didn't get it at the start and then after a few days I was like oh I think this is probably from the hormones because they're doing the same thing as when your early pregnancy so I think that whether that was just me whether a lot of people experience that I don't know it was something else I had but the day before the biggest change for me the day before collection when your follicles

are at their absolute biggest because they've just been stockpiled to the shithouse with hormones I went for a walk in the morning with Sherry I remember seeing Matt actually halfway on the walk I went for a walk with Sherry I left my house and walked to the beach and I was fine and then it just hit me I could on the way back the pain was excruciating I couldn't every single step was jarring and this is just what happens when your follicles are at capacity you can literally feel them like bouncing around in your abdomen I just had to go home and crawl into a ball I was walking they call it like the pregnancy waddle you know when you're pregnant you have to waddle into the hospital you can't walk properly you do that when you are at collection day you can't walk properly

every bump in the car hurts every step hurts to touch your abdomen hurt it was so highly sensitive I was really gobsmacked at that I did not expect that at all but that is one thing that I really want to drive home to people is you can probably work most of it but the last few days I would 100% you recommend you taking that time off work so how do they actually collect the eggs so I was actually put under so most places at Jenea you can choose whether you want to be put under anesthetic or you want to just get an anesthetic put into your vagina so that the area is numb I just chose to be knocked out I was like I do not want a needle going into my cervix while I'm awake but that's also a difference in price to what you decide if you decide to get anesthesia or not

not all clinics will offer the choice I do know this Jenea offered it but not all of them will do it some will only have one option but they essentially and this is I'm not going to get technical but they basically put they just like a little vacuum slip and slide it's like a little I think of it like a slippery dip I remember when they were telling me I was like they just put it straight into the sauce and they just like slightly suck the eggs out and then they immediately check on the spot there's a I'm sure she's not called a scientist I don't know her official name but there is someone in the clinic with a microscope ready and the eggs literally come straight out they go straight into a petri dish and they check to see which ones are at full growth and which

ones are healthy enough to be frozen on the spot so it's very very quick and I think the whole thing was like half an hour that you're in the operating theater and then you wake up you don't remember anything and you go home can you tell us how many eggs of yours were collected and what was the quality of the eggs once they had actually been able to extract them so we were expecting they really want to manage expectations and I think that's a really great thing they don't want to give you any false hope they don't want to talk it down too much but she said look if we can get eight eggs on ice I'm going to be happy because you might get 10 eggs taken out then they go into a little petri dish you look at them under the microscope and five of them are good and five of

them are they're not always all good so she's like I'd be aiming for eight if we can get eight I'll be stoked and I was like great eight chances I would be so happy and when I woke up we got 15 baby britneys so that's that was like beyond anything I could have hoped for what that meant is 15 of them were healthy enough to be frozen that does not mean that all of them will survive defrosting come the time so there's always a chance that some of the eggs when it's time to put them to use them whether that's IVF or however you want to do it not all of them will always survive so the more that you can get frozen the more chances you have so I got 15 what that meant is I don't have to do another cycle. So if you only get a few eggs on ice, if I only got three

or four, I probably would have done another cycle again to make sure I could try and get another three or four. So I had more choices down the track, but I've got 15, one hit wonder, and I'm not going to do it again. How many cycles can someone do if they find that they're not getting the right amount of eggs or a high number of eggs? Because I do remember when we did that interview with Dr. Cheryl, she said that it was around 20% that can be damaged in the defrosting process how many rounds can you essentially do before or is that a completely personal decision you I mean look essentially you can do as many as you want as long as you're producing eggs you can go through another cycle I think what's more stopping people is the emotional toll it can

take financially obviously every single cycle costs you cost was a really big question here so a lot of people saying what is the general cost from start to finish that people can expect is it different for everyone what does that depend on then what is the cost of storage so I really wanted to make sure of this one so I went back to Jenea and I just said tell me how it works for everyone what are the options because the fact is cost is a really big thing for a lot of people and a lot of people that freeze their eggs are single people so they might not have two people's incomes to work with they might have you know higher bills to pay higher living expenses so I'm going to break down there's probably three main costs and like it's a bit numbery here and a

bit of word vomit but it's important that you know what you're paying for again every clinic's going to be different. I can only tell you about the clinic that I went through and the experience that I went through. So for me, the first cycle of egg freezing with Jenea costs $4,600. Now, this includes the cycle cost, the freezing and six-month storage. So that's $4,600. But then on top of that, you need to pay medication costs, which are about $1,500. And I say about, that's different for everyone. It depends on what medication you need. and then $1,529 for the day surgery fee. So that's the actual extraction fee.

So we have $4,600, $1,500 and $1,529. So that, just so you know, that equals $7,629. That is just for this clinic alone. Everywhere's going to be different. What I would say is you need to remember a few things. You need to factor a few things into that price. so you've got your $7,629 but you do need to pay storage on top of that after that six months fee so the storage on top of that is $45 a month I mean to me I worked that out to be a bit like a

coffee a day but yeah the surgery fee and the medication fee they're the two fees that can't really be standardized because people need different amounts of medication and people are either going to choose to be put under anesthesia for the procedure or they're going choose not to be and that's going to affect your price as well. It's not a small amount of money and I know that a lot of people listening it's a privilege to be able to make these decisions and these choices but it is a payment that gives you peace of mind you know it's an investment that gives you peace of mind depending on where you're at in your own fertility journey. I think being able to have that choice in the future is going to be something that's really empowering for a lot

of women but maybe to be able to get yourself there you have to think okay I'm going to save $10,000 and have that money set aside and know that that's what you're going to be investing it into. And I think fertility is one of those things that unfortunately for a lot of people, there are a lot of hidden costs. There are a lot of hidden costs around having kids or a lot of hidden costs around IVF. And for every single person, that experience can be very, very different. Britt, was it painful at all? Oh my God. The last day, extraction day and the day after is really painful. You can't walk. It's unlike anything I could have imagined. No one told me that either. so I didn't really expect that people tell you you're uncomfortable but I was beyond uncomfortable

I was it was so hard to walk so yeah that was the only painful thing the injections again they're like a little prick towards the end you do sort of like this one I can't remember the correct terminology but you do one sort of it's called a trigger shot and it's to start ovulation so that you can they can and it's very time-based I had to get up at 1am in the morning to do it on the dot you have to set three alarms because you cannot miss this or you've ruined everything mate I can't even remember to take my contraceptive pill let alone remember to get up at one in the morning to take a fucking fertility shot you need to start remember taking to take your contraception woman but yeah so like to get up at 1am that last trigger shot it's only one that really hurt that

was the one that hurt the most like not to the point that I couldn't do it but I was like this is shitty this is a shitty shitty needle the other ones were like the other ones are a piece of cake I guess that that's one thing that people kind of it can be a barrier for people is being fearful about it being painful do you think even with everything that you went through even with like the ups and downs of the hormones even with feeling like it was really painful and extraction day do you feel like it has been worth it this experience 100 i'm so glad that i did it i ended up with 18 eggs of which only three were bad so i got the 15 frozen and i honestly felt like the second i was told in the waiting room in the recovery room that i had 15 eggs it was a weight

off my shoulder I was so high as well like when they tell you you're still so high from the drugs anyway we'll if if you watch my Instagram you'll remember I ended up posting some sort of drug induced video I'm so glad I feel like I don't have to think about it anymore because as a woman you do you think about it constantly you're like holy shit I'm running out of time what if when I do meet someone it's not going to work what if it's not easy I'm seeing my friends struggle I'm seeing my friends have miscarriage I'm seeing my friends go through IVF like we all know that it is very real fertility is not very easy for a lot of people and a lot of people don't speak about that I have so many friends that have had trouble with their pregnancies and they're all healthy and I'm

not saying that to scare anyone I have a lot of friends that have had babies really easily too the fact of the matter is we just don't know so my advice is to you if you're thinking about it you don't have to jump into it but just start the process just get that initial blood test and the initial ultrasound so that you can have the information you need to make the decision that's all you need to do you don't have to get on the track you don't have to commit to anything but you've got the information and that way you know I've spoken to a lot of people that have gotten to 40 realized that they can't have a baby anymore and they're like I wish I took the advice of other people when I was younger I wish I froze my eggs in my 30s I just didn't know because people

weren't speaking about it so if anything can come from this episode it's that if it has been on your mind at all or even if it hasn't and now it is on your mind and in your late 20s your early 30s just get the blood test just go to the doctor get the blood test get the follicle count and then you're armed with all the information you need to make a decision and you won't have any regrets later down the track. Brie I just want to say as well like I'm so proud of you for going and doing this and and like sharing this experience and for like making those choices for yourself I know that last year, this was something that was really weighing heavily on you. And obviously we share so much of our story with you guys, but I don't know if you shared the full extent of how much

this had emotionally affected you. And especially before you met Jordan, I'm really fucking proud of you. It's something that you are never going to regret. And it's given you this peace of mind and this comfort that no matter what happens in the future, you're still going to be able to have that choice. And for that, like, I'm really grateful that you've been able to make that decision I was like wow that made me feel really great no and that is true and I don't think I've even spoken about on this episode yet but for probably 18 months subconsciously and consciously I was really down about it I was I mean I'm in my I'm heading towards my mid-30s and everyone around me was having a baby and I felt like I was the only person or even if they weren't having a

baby they were trying and it was really it was really hard to think that I was going to have this really lonely life and no one wanted to be with me and and I know that's not true now but it's so easy for us as women to start to get really down on ourselves and feel like we're the reason and what's wrong. And I had so many conversations with Laura where I was so upset, just saying, no one loves me. I'm never going to have a child. I'm never going to have what you have. And of course I see Laura more than anyone. She's got a beautiful family. You've got two kids that I was always around. You've been pregnant since I've met you. Like you were always pregnant. I don't know anyone that's like pregnant as much as you. And it was like, it was fucking shit. I

it was, I, but you don't want people to feel sorry for you either. But it was a shitty couple of years where I was like, I just felt like a loser. And I don't know what other way to explain it. I was like, I'm a loser. No, I'm a loser. I'm unlovable. It's not meant for me, but I hope no one else feels that. And if you are, I wish I could snap you out of it because it has nothing to do with you and you are in control of taking control of a situation. So all I can say is if it's on your mind do yourself a favor and go and start the investigation okay i know that was a lot to digest but we are moving on to our second favorite segment which is suck and sweet the way we wrap every single episode our highlight now low light of the week

laura i feel like you're i mean you're in perpetual lockdown is that your suck uh i haven't left my house in four weeks um yes it's my suck i am i'm drowning i'm drowning in fucking baby lockdown Sydney hell and also the fact that we were supposed to like Matt and I you know I know that everybody has had a lot and made a lot of sacrifices during these lockdowns but like this mid-year break for Brit and I Matt and I were supposed to go to New Zealand we were supposed to start planning our wedding and everything got cancelled and we've just pretty much taken our year break which was this last four weeks and spent it in our apartment I really hope you can still have your wedding same guys same I know that there's so many people listening

to this who have already had to postpone their weddings but I think I might be in the same basket as you so that's pretty crap but like do you know what overall even though we're in lockdown even though we have been kind of like you know having a bit of a tough week in that respect it's one of the nice things that almost every day Matt and I are like it's really nice that we love each other and therefore it's kind of nice spending so much time together like there are worse people to be spending lockdown with than Matthew Johnson. I have freaking loved, and I'm going to tell you my sweet. I've actually got a couple of sweets. So lockdown's my suck. My sweets are one, Lola has cut her first tooth, which is wild. She's like, it feels like just yesterday when I did

the episode where I give him birth. So now the fact that she has cut a tooth and she's dragging herself across the floor is crazy to me. And also my sweet is just being back. Like I've loved doing the batch recaps with matt i'm so happy that we're back to doing these episodes again even though this is work for us this is like such a highlight of every week i fucking love bringing you guys these episodes so i am so excited we also had our two-year birthday and we hit 13 million downloads so there are so many things to be excited about and guys we put our merchandise up and you guys bought it and sold it out in 20 minutes you crashed the site and then we sold out so stoked that there are going to be so many of you out there wearing our life uncut jumpers and we do

have another drop coming so don't worry if you missed out but you still need to get in quick brit what is your suck and sweet okay my suck i guess it's a suck and a sweet but my suck is i probably can't come home now when i was supposed to come home i mean i should laugh but australia my suck is that i'm gonna stay in america for the next like four months no basically the flights have been cancelled brit was supposed to come home at the end of this month or at the end of august that's not going to happen now at all for who knows how long. There is a chance that I can't come home now. We just have to wait to see what the government does with letting people in and out. So that's just a waiting game. My suite is honestly, it has just been so nice to be with

Jordan. I feel like I'm in my own little bubble here with Jordan. It's just him and a couple of friends. Jordan and I spend so much time together. We haven't had one argument. I just honestly feel like I have met my soulmate and I was really worried about coming over here about if it was going to be different what it was going to be like to be in each other's pocket all the time and we're just obsessed with each other so I'm just I'm just really happy with him disgusting and I love it so much I'm so here for it I know that there are so many people who followed along in your disaster dating stories who are now like yeah Brittany's found love we fucking love love anyway guys that is it from us it is a big one but also we really wanted to bring you and do

justice to this episode because it's been such a huge part of Brit's story over the past year and we actually have a bonus episode coming out for you tomorrow which is going to be great so many of you reached out in regards to ellie from comfortable in your skin and now this interview actually comes as a recommendation from so many of you we did a ask uncut question quite a few weeks back now where we talked about labiaplasty and after that episode i cannot tell you the number of people who slid into our dms and said you have to get ellie on an interview on the podcast so we have a really special bonus episode coming out for you tomorrow this week is going to be just life on cut week we are coming back with a bang baby but that is it from us

today so thank you so much to everybody who's listened and if you have any questions for ask on cart slide on into our dms at life on cut podcast the same thing goes for accidentally unfiltered tell your mom tell your dad tell your dog tell your friends and share the love because we love love and we are back We'll be right back.