PCOS and Infertility in the Mormon Community (Episode 444)

Full Transcript: Episode 444

Lisa: This is the Fertility Friday Podcast, episode number 444.

Lisa: Welcome to the Fertility Friday Podcast, your source for information about the Fertility Awareness Method and all things fertility. I’m your host, Lisa Hendrickson-Jack. I’m the author of The Fifth Vital Sign and the Fertility Awareness Mastery Charting Workbook. I’m a certified fertility awareness educator and holistic reproductive health practitioner with over 20 years of experience teaching women to connect to their fifth vital sign through menstrual cycle charting, balancing hormone health, and optimizing the menstrual cycle without hormones. I have been consistently outspoken about hormonal birth control over the past two decades and its impact on fertility and overall health because you have the right to know how your body works and how artificial hormones disrupt that natural process. I teach women’s health professionals how to utilize the menstrual cycle as a vital sign in their practices and I host live coaching programs to help you achieve optimal fertility and health because it’s important to have healthy menstrual cycles regardless of whether or not you want to have babies. I’m also a wife and mother of two beautiful boys and a brand new baby girl. This podcast is designed to empower you to take full control of your cycles, your fertility and your overall health and I’m so excited that you’re here with me today.

Lisa: Today I’m sharing an interview with my FAM practitioner, Amy Sedgwick. In today’s episode, we cover important topics related to fertility challenges, PCOS, and how difficult it can be to get support for menstrual cycle issues and infertility—especially when symptoms don’t fit neatly into diagnostic boxes. Amy shares her experience of being part of the Mormon community and how it shaped her fertility journey. She also shares insights she gained through fertility awareness and how she plans to incorporate this work into her professional practice.

Lisa: I’m really excited to be here today with Amy Sedgwick. Welcome to the show, Amy.

Amy: Thank you, Lisa.

Lisa: I’d love to start with my favorite question. How old were you when you had your first period, what was that like, and what brought you into fertility awareness?

Amy: I was almost 14. I have an older sister and my mom was very open about menstruation, so I knew what was coming. I was homeschooled and very curious. I went to the library and got books about it. When I started noticing discharge, I wanted to understand what was happening. I remember being nervous because there was a lot of talk about infertility being the worst case scenario in a woman’s life. My grandmother didn’t start her period until she was 18. I had also heard stories about painful, irregular periods in my dad’s family. So when I started, I was excited—but also anxious.

I didn’t inherit painful periods, which I’m grateful for, but my cycles were irregular. I never knew when I would start. My mom was extremely regular—29 days—and even knew the time of day she would begin. As I got older, I intuitively felt something was off. I didn’t think I was supposed to be that irregular. I would ask health professionals questions, but no one really gave me helpful answers.

I’m a ninth-generation Mormon. In Mormonism, women are taught that their primary role is to bring spirits to earth. Motherhood is deeply tied to purpose. So when I didn’t fit that mold, even at a young age, I felt anxiety.

Lisa: Thank you for taking us through that. Not everyone grows up with that level of openness, and it’s interesting how much context and belief shaped how you interpreted your cycles.

Amy: Yes, my parents wanted to be more open than their parents were. My mom’s rule was that she would answer our questions. I never had a time in my life where I didn’t know where babies came from. But even with that openness, there was still anxiety around fertility and what it meant for my future.

Lisa: This is why it’s important to have basic information about our bodies. We can laugh about misinformation, but it’s not funny. This is a life skill.

Amy: You hear those stories about how girls thought it happened with kissing. My mom told me about a young woman she knew who ended up pregnant and she said, “But we didn’t kiss.”

Lisa: It’s complete euphemism. A big part of your personal story is how this all relates together. You mentioned your cycles were irregular. You also mentioned your sister—do you have more than one sister?

Amy: I have one sister and four brothers. My sister has 10 children. Watching her have baby after baby while I struggled was incredibly hard. I married young—first at 20, then again at 21. My current husband is 26 years older than me and had known fertility challenges. I went into the marriage believing that if we were faithful, God would bless us with children.

By 2004, I was already seeking medical help. A nurse practitioner suggested I might have PCOS because of facial hair, weight gain, and irregular cycles. She put me on a diet for a week, I lost weight, and she concluded I didn’t have PCOS. There was no real follow-up.

Meanwhile, my husband saw urologists because he produces sperm, but there was a transport issue. Years passed. My sister had babies. My husband’s children had babies. Everyone around me was having babies. I slowly shut down emotionally.

Within my community, a woman’s worth is often tied to motherhood. Well-meaning family members would suggest maybe I had secret sin or wasn’t faithful enough. I internalized that and wondered if maybe God didn’t think I would be a good mother.

Lisa: And yet, throughout all of this, you were advocating for yourself. You were seeking support.

Amy: Yes. In 2015, we were able to adopt my husband’s niece’s daughter. I became a mom. Socially, something shifted. I was finally “one of them.” But I still longed to experience pregnancy and birth. I felt guilty for wanting that.

We pursued IVF. In the U.S., it was about $23,000. In the Czech Republic, it was around $7,000. In 2019, we went to Prague. I became pregnant and miscarried at 11 weeks. After nearly 20 years of disappointment, part of me almost expected it.

We had additional embryos. We returned for a frozen transfer. It didn’t take. In 2021, I went back again. That transfer also failed. Those were our final embryos.

Lisa: When did fertility awareness enter the picture?

Amy: In 2020. I started listening to podcasts—including yours. That was the first time I truly understood cervical mucus, ovulation, and the diagnostic criteria for PCOS. I realized I likely did meet the criteria. I began charting. I opted out of birth control before my final IVF cycle because I wanted to let my body do its natural thing.

Even though it didn’t work, something shifted in me. I decided I wanted to become the practitioner I never had—the one who would listen and educate.

Lisa: Tell us about your work now.

Amy: I’m a licensed massage therapist and restorative yoga teacher working toward my FAM certification. I teach women to chart. Watching them gain clarity and advocate for themselves is incredible. I’m also co-hosting the Mormon Fertility Podcast. I want to create space for Mormon women—and women in other family-centric cultures—to share their stories. I also hope to host retreats integrating charting, massage, mindfulness, and shared storytelling.

Lisa: Amy, thank you so much for sharing your story.

Amy: Thank you. What keeps me going is turning my heartache into something that helps other women.