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(NEW YORK) — Kristyn Hodgdon is a professional writer, voracious reader, and proud mom of IVF twins. After her own battle with infertility, Hodgdon co-founded Rescripted, a media platform for fertility, providing technology tools and resources for wherever you are on your family-building journey.

I’m embarrassed to admit this, but when my husband and I started trying to conceive, I didn’t know that I needed to ovulate in order to get pregnant.

As someone who has always struggled with irregular periods, I still thought that if we had unprotected sex I would get pregnant right away. This was five years ago; I was 28-years-old. That’s a big problem, and I know I’m not the only 30-something who feels that way.

My story is, unfortunately, a common one. For years, whenever I brought up my irregular menstrual cycles to my doctor I was told to either go on the birth control pill or to “wait and see.”

It wasn’t until my husband and I decided we were ready to grow our family that I was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and referred to a fertility specialist, entirely unaware of what I was getting myself into.

Being diagnosed with infertility at 28 years young, there was so much that I didn’t know. I didn’t know what having PCOS meant for my fertility. I didn’t know anyone else who was going through fertility treatments. I didn’t know that committing to IVF would be like having a second job.

I didn’t know how lucky I was to have fertility coverage, unlike over half of all patients, who have to pay tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket for the chance to have a baby. I didn’t know the toll infertility would take on me, physically, mentally, and emotionally. No one warned me about any of it. I’ve never felt more alone.

Despite all of the pregnancy announcements on social media, having trouble conceiving is surprisingly common. Yet many people are completely blindsided when they receive an infertility diagnosis, leading to feelings of guilt, shame, and thoughts that their body isn’t doing what it’s supposed to. I know, because I’ve been there.

Visit a fertility clinic waiting room, and you’ll find no shortage of patients; and yet, they are almost all avoiding eye contact with one another. In fact, in the years I have spent regularly undergoing fertility treatments, I still rarely see anyone looking up from their phones. If that doesn’t paint a clear picture of the stigma that surrounds infertility, I’m not sure what does.

But, I have also noticed something pretty amazing. Nearly every time I have opened up about my fertility journey to someone — and, in turn, given them unspoken permission to do so as well — I have been surprised to find out that infertility has either affected them or someone close to them.

That’s powerful. In sharing our stories, however uncomfortable they might be, we can begin to rescript the conversation around fertility so that no one else ever has to feel as alone as I did on the road to parenthood.

Now, after five years, two IVF babies, and more blood draws, ultrasounds, and injections than I can count, I have discovered that while so much of infertility still remains out of my control, there are ways to be proactive rather than reactive when trying to conceive.

Here are a few ways I have learned how to advocate for myself on my fertility journey (and how you can, too):

1. See a fertility specialist, early: While I was initially uneasy about starting fertility treatments, I will say that in hindsight, I’m happy I sought help when I did. Being proactive about getting information and advice about your fertility potential can make a big difference when it comes to treatment and outcomes.

As a general rule, you may want to see a fertility specialist if you are under 35 and have been trying to get pregnant for 12 months without birth control, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The same applies if you are over 35 and have been trying to get pregnant for six months, if you are 40 or older, or if you have had one or more miscarriages.

Even if you aren’t ready to have kids yet, it never hurts to make an initial appointment to find out more about your ovarian reserve, hormone levels, and overall reproductive health so that you can make informed decisions for your future.

2. Don’t be afraid to ask questions: Whether you start with your OBGYN or jump right to a fertility specialist, don’t be afraid to bring up everything that’s on your mind.

Do you have irregular menstrual cycles? Ask the question. What about pain during sex? Ask the question. It might seem embarrassing, but if it could potentially help you get to the bottom of an underlying issue that could be preventing you from getting pregnant, you’ll be glad you inquired.

When it comes to your health and fertility, no question should be off-limits.

From how to interpret test results to what a potential treatment plan could look like, your provider’s answers will help ensure that you feel comfortable and at ease with your care team and their strategy for moving forward. If not, don’t hesitate to get a second opinion.

3. Be as healthy as you can be: This might go without saying, but a healthy lifestyle has been shown to have a positive epigenetic impact on eggs, sperm, and pregnancy outcomes.

So, make sure you are getting good quality sleep, eat the rainbow, take a quality prenatal vitamin, and exercise regularly, according to the CDC. It really can make a difference when it comes to your fertility; just try not to drive yourself too crazy.

4. Find support: Dealing with fertility challenges is extremely stressful, and you don’t have to do it alone. Join an online fertility community, find a therapist that specializes in infertility, or start a new hobby. You can’t pour from an empty cup, so be sure to take care of your body and mind during this time, even if that means taking a break from treatment.

If you’re struggling to conceive or grieving a miscarriage, I feel your pain.

I also promise that despite what it might feel like right now, you are not alone. If I could go back and tell my 28-year-old self anything, that would be it.

There is an amazing community of infertility warriors who have made it their mission to support others through this heartbreaking, expensive, and often overwhelming process. There are millions of us who get it, and we’re rescripting fertility, together.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — The number of ways in which climate change is predicted to affect human life and vitality continues to increase.

Scientists now believe that global warming will significantly increase the number of viral transmissions across species in the coming decades, therefore posing further risk to other animals and humans of infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, according to a study published in Nature on Thursday.

As the global temperatures continue to rise, many animal species will likely migrate to new environments, taking their parasites and pathogens with them and facilitating viral sharing between species that previously had no interactions, according to the study. That increase could then assist in “zoonotic spillover,” or the transmission of pathogens from wild animals to humans.

The researchers suggest at least 15,000 new cross-species viral transmissions are forecast to happen by 2070, driven by climate change of 2-degrees Celsius, which is the worst-case scenario highlighted under the Paris Agreement.

While novel encounters between mammal species are expected to occur everywhere in the world, they are especially expected to take place in tropical regions home to most of the infectious diseases capable of the zoonotic spillover transmission, such as regions of tropical Africa and southeast Asia that have a high population density of humans as well.

These novel virus sharing events are predicted to be driven predominantly by bats, which are likely to harbor viruses with a high chance of being transmissible to humans.

Climate-driven shifts in hotspots for species dispersal and viral evolution may already be happening, given that warming is already well underway, the authors wrote.

The COVID-19 virus likely originated from animal to human transmission, the World Health Organization determined. The virus likely transmitted from a bat to another animal and subsequently to humans, according to a joint report by China and the WHO released in March 2021.

“I think we will continue to see risks from female viruses like Ebola, from corona viruses, from flu in particular,” Colin Carlson, a research professor at Georgetown University’s Center for Global Health and Science Study and author of the study, said during a press conference Thursday.

The findings suggest that climate change has the potential to become a dominant driving force in cross-species viral transmission, which could increase the risk of transmission of infectious diseases to humans, the authors said, highlighting the need to combine viral surveillance with assessments of changes to species range as a result of climate change.

“This is happening,” Gregory Albery, co-author of the study and disease ecologist at Georgetown University, said during the news conference. “It is not preventable even in the best case climate change scenarios, and we need to put measures in place to build health infrastructure to protect animal and human populations.”

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(WASHINGTON) — U.S. and global health officials are sounding the alarm about an increasing number of mysterious cases of severe hepatitis occurring among children.

Earlier this month, researchers in the United States and Europe announced they were investigating small clusters of the cases emerging across the globe. Soon after, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released an alert to doctors and providers to be on the lookout for the unusual cases.

Globally, around 170 cases have been identified, according to World Health Organization officials, with many of the children under the age of 10.

“What is particularly unusual is that the majority of these children were previously healthy,” Dr. Philippa Easterbrook, a medical expert with the WHO’s Global HIV Hepatitis and STI Programme, said during a press conference on Thursday.

The causal agent of these cases of acute hepatitis, or liver inflammation, in children, remains unknown. Experts say hepatitis is often caused by an infection, but not always.

In an effort to identify what may be driving the outbreaks, the WHO has initiated a full investigation, encouraging countries to report concerning cases, with their scientists hoping to find any potential connection.

Domestically, Alabama, Delaware, Illinois, New York, North Carolina and Wisconsin confirmed to ABC News that a total of more than 20 cases of severe hepatitis have been identified in the U.S.

At least four children in the U.S. have required a liver transplant.

On Wednesday, officials from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services issued a health alert over concerns over the discovery of a recent cluster of cases in children of acute hepatitis. Of the four cases identified, two children developed severe outcomes, including one child who required a liver transplant, and one child who died.

Likewise, at the University of Alabama Hospital at Birmingham, physicians have been investigating a concerning uptick in the number of children infected with severe acute hepatitis since the fall.

“What caught our attention, from the beginning, was that all of these cases were testing positive for adenovirus,” Dr. Helena Gutierrez, medical director of the UAB and Children’s of Alabama Pediatric Liver Transplant Program, told ABC News on Thursday, adding that officials were also alarmed by the severity of the cases.

Nine patients with pediatric hepatitis in Alabama have been shown to be positive for the adenovirus-41 strain through blood work, two of whom have required liver transplants, according to state officials. However, an official correlation has yet to be confirmed.

The majority of these children, mostly under the age of 10, and many of them under the age of 5, came to the hospital with similar symptoms — diarrhea and vomiting, which subsequently led to dehydration, according to Gutierrez. These initial symptoms were followed by jaundice, with the skin turning yellow, and then the sclera, or white, of the eyes subsequently turning yellow.

Experts say these outbreaks are very “unusual”, and there is likely a confluence of factors behind the rise in severe cases.

“These unexplained cases of hepatitis have always existed, but at a very low level, where the standard tests have been done, and there’s no clear cause. And these happen at a very low level in most countries,” Easterbrook said.

WHO officials reported that one of the “leading threads of investigation” is the potential connection to the adenovirus. However, a direct link has yet to be made.

“At the end, most likely, this is all going to be multifactorial, it could be a virus that’s driving it, plus an exaggerated response from these patients to try to combat these viruses,” Gutierrez said. “Knowing that there are different centers that are seeing more of these cases, it is definitely rare, and it’s not the norm.”

With a hepatitis outbreak, physicians often look for infectious and non-infectious causes to explain the uptick in disease, according to WHO officials. Thus far, none of the common hepatitis viruses (A, B, C, E) can be traced to this outbreak, and there have been no other known potential exposures to drugs, environmental agents, or toxins.

The emergence of these clusters of severe hepatitis among children comes after many children have been forced to stay inside and distance themselves from social activities, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. One hypothesis, that the outbreak could potentially be linked to a lack of exposure to other germs, is one that health experts are investigating, Gutierrez said.

The COVID-19 pandemic reduced the circulation of other viruses, and now that life is getting back to normal, officials have seen an increase in adenovirus.

It is still unclear what role COVID-19 is playing in this outbreak, according to Dr. Richard Peabody, who leads WHO Europe’s high-threat pathogens team. It could “potentially” be playing a role, but any link “really needs further investigation to understand whether [COVID-19] might be a factor.”

There is also no evidence, at this time, that vaccination against COVID-19 is related to the outbreaks, as the majority of the children were unvaccinated.

When asked what parents could do to protect their kids, given the lack of information pertaining to the causal agent for the hepatitis infection, Gutierrez said that parents should not to be alarmed, given that kids get sick routinely, and if they developed symptoms such as diarrhea and vomiting, it is critical to keep them hydrated.

However, she urged parents to seek medical attention if the children developed symptoms that are not normal.

If symptoms “continue to be an issue, and hydration is a problem, just like any other type of illness, just go to your pediatrician, but especially if you see that your kid starts to have skin that’s turning yellow, or the white of their eyes turning yellow, or urine that’s very dark in color,” Gutierrez said.

Such symptoms should be brought up to the attention of the pediatrician, so that the child can be assessed, and to determine if care should be escalated.

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