{"id":28318,"date":"2025-07-01T15:33:46","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T15:33:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/progyny.com\/?post_type=podcast&p=28318"},"modified":"2025-07-01T15:33:46","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T15:33:46","slug":"episode-211","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/progyny.com\/education\/podcast\/episode-211\/","title":{"rendered":"Episode 211: UFCW Local 152: How Personal Pain Led to Life Changing Benefits"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"template":"","categories":[451,230,229,588],"tags":[213,225,569,480],"class_list":["post-28318","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","hentry","category-family-building","category-education","category-ivf-facts","category-labor-organizations","tag-fertility-benefits","tag-infertility","tag-labor-union","tag-need-for-employer-sponsored-fertility-benefit"],"yoast_head":"\nEpisode 211: UFCW Local 152: How Personal Pain Led to Life Changing Benefits | Progyny<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Could 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they offer fertility coverage to union families so others wouldn\u2019t have to go through what he did? ","episode_intro_guest":"Danny Ross, Jr.","episode_intro_company":"UFCW Local 152","episode_banner_section_intro_text":"This is Infertility is a bi-weekly podcast where we fuse narrative storytelling with experience and science to give you a new perspective on what it\u2019s really like to go through a family building journey. Each episode dives into the emotional, physical, and financial burdens carried by those who experience infertility on their path to parenthood. Be it IVF, IUI, egg freezing, surrogacy, adoption, etc., the path is never the same and it can be long, painful, and lonely. It\u2019s our mission to give those struggling a platform to be heard, a community connection, and an opportunity to raise awareness of the 1 in 6 who, for many reasons, struggle with infertility.","episode_page_title":"Episode 211: UFCW Local 152: How Personal Pain Led to Life Changing Benefits","episode_embed_code":"<iframe style=\"border: none;\" title=\"Embed Player\" src=\"https:\/\/play.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/37225555\/height\/128\/theme\/modern\/size\/standard\/thumbnail\/yes\/custom-color\/ffffff\/time-start\/00:00:00\/playlist-height\/200\/direction\/backward\/download\/yes\/stats-code\/landing111\/font-color\/000000\" width=\"100%\" height=\"128\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe>","episode_details":"<b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Guest: <\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Danny Ross, Jr., UFCW Local 152 President<\/span>\r\n<b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Host: <\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Dan Bulger, Progyny<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"auto\">Danny and Elizabeth Ross got married at 26, excited to start their lives together and hopeful about growing a family. When they started trying, they were met with a series of challenges that changed everything.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"auto\">Elizabeth was diagnosed with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/progyny.com\/education\/what-is-endometriosis\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">endometriosis<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/progyny.com\/education\/pcos\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">PCOS<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. Danny had male factor infertility. After a year of trying to conceive, they were told their best option was <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/progyny.com\/education\/ivf-facts\/what-is-ivf\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">IVF<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. At the time, they had no fertility coverage.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"auto\">They started with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/progyny.com\/education\/iui\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">IUI<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. One attempt turned into two, then six, then thirteen. They tore through their savings. Elizabeth suffered an ectopic pregnancy that led to the removal of one of her fallopian tubes. They had hit a wall. IVF was their next and only option.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"auto\">On their third round of IVF, their first daughter was finally born, and they welcomed their second, a few years later. Through it all, Danny and Elizabeth remained each other\u2019s rocks: husband, wife, and best friends.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"auto\">Today, Danny is the president of UFCW Local 152, where he oversees the benefits for thousands of union members. When the opportunity arose to improve those benefits, his mind immediately went to fertility. Could they offer fertility coverage to union families so others wouldn\u2019t have to go through what he did?<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"auto\">After an exhaustive search, they decided to partner with Progyny, a labor-friendly benefit with experience supporting union members. For Danny, what stood out most were the Progyny Care Advocates and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/progyny.com\/smart-benefits\/smart-cycle\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Smart Cycle<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> plan design. It was everything they never had: guidance, clarity, and a path to better outcomes.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"auto\">Tune into this episode as Danny reflects on the impact of adding fertility coverage to his union\u2019s benefits and the importance of leaving things better than he found them.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"auto\">For more information, visit Progyny\u2019s Podcast page and Progyny\u2019s Education page for more resources. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, @ThisisInfertilityPodcast and use the #ThisisInfertility. Have a question, comment, or want to share your story? Email us at <a href=\"mailto:thisisinfertility@progyny.com\">thisisinfertility@progyny.com<\/a>.<\/span>\r\n\r\nWatch this episode on YouTube:\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/rEuxgY17HPk","episode_host_image":22652,"episode_host_title":"Dan Bulger, Producer at Progyny","episode_host_bio":"Dan has been in the healthcare industry for the past ten plus years as a multimedia content producer. Better known as \u2018Video Dan\u2019 he has interviewed numerous doctors, patients and other experts in the world of fertility. He\u2019s also the producer for this podcast, This is Infertility and the producer behind the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/progyny\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-uw-rm-brl=\"exc\" aria-label=\"Progyny YouTube Channel - opens in new tab\" data-uw-rm-ext-link=\"na\">Progyny YouTube Channel<\/a>\u00a0which features interviews with dozens of the nation\u2019s leading fertility specialists. On a personal note Dan\u2019s parents started fostering kids when he was four years old, and he considers himself a proud older brother to over 100 foster children.","episode_guest_1_image":28319,"episode_guest_1_title":"Danny Ross, Jr., UFCW Local 152 President ","episode_guest_1_bio":"<span data-contrast=\"auto\">UFCW Local 152 President Danny Ross, Jr., has spent more than 25 years advocating for working families. Union Organizer at heart, Danny has successfully connected with many workers in different industries to fortify their trust in organized labor, specifically the United Food & Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW).<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"auto\">Danny's dedication and willingness to take on more responsibilities afforded him opportunities to escalate his career, holding many positions at his local union, ultimately be sworn in as President in May of 2024.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"auto\">Now, Chairman on multiple Taft-Hartley funds, Danny seeks to protect and improve benefits for participants while striving to maintain the fiscal responsibility needed to properly manage multi-employer funds.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"auto\">Danny resides in New Jersey with his wife Elizabeth and young daughters, both of whom were conceived through IVF.<\/span>","episode_guest_2_image":"","episode_guest_2_title":"","episode_guest_2_bio":"","episode_guest_3_image":"","episode_guest_3_title":"","episode_guest_3_bio":"","episode_guest_4_image":"","episode_guest_4_title":"","episode_guest_4_bio":"","episode_guest_5_image":"","episode_guest_5_title":"","episode_guest_5_bio":"","episode_music_section_links":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/progyny.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast\/28318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/progyny.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/progyny.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/podcast"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/progyny.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/progyny.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/progyny.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}