The Long Road to Surrender: Dr. Rachel Welbel's Fertility Journey

Dr. Rachel Welbel is a PM&R physician, a Love & Science community member, and today she's four weeks postpartum with a daughter she wasn't sure she'd ever have. Her journey spans three years, multiple retrievals, canceled cycles, a heartbreaking loss at 16 weeks, failed transfers, a chemical pregnancy, and diagnoses that came in layers — each one another thing to absorb and move through.What brought her through wasn't one breakthrough moment. It was slow, quiet, hard-earned surrender.In this episode:The loss that started it all — and the decision no one prepares you forWhy IVF felt like the logical answer, and why the journey turned out to be far more complicated than expectedThe diagnoses that kept coming: adhesions, a possible stage IV endometriosis diagnosis, Lupron suppression, canceled cycles, a chemical pregnancyWhat the shift toward surrender actually looked like — and why it took months, not a momentBecoming genuinely okay with other outcomes: gestational carrier, child-free living, one child instead of twoThe mantra that carried her: the more control I relinquish, the more control I actually feel — because the control was never mineStanding in Auschwitz with the hope that her ancestors were blessing her new pregnancyThe Love & Science tools that helped most: common humanity, authentic hope, and the physician-only communityHonest postpartum reflections: grief alongside gratitude, and why she never wants to forget what it felt like to still be waiting Support the showAs always, please keep in mind that this is my perspective and nothing in this podcast is medical advice.If you found this conversation valuable, book a consult call with me using this link:https://www.loveandsciencefertility.com/private-fertility-consultFollow us on social media:IG: www.instagram.com/loveandsciencefertilityFB: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553692167183Please don’t let infertility have the final word. We are here to take the burden from you so that you can achieve your goal of building your family with confidence and compassion. I’m rooting for you always.In Gratitude,Dr. Erica Bove