{"id":29366,"date":"2025-10-21T14:11:38","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T14:11:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/progyny.com\/?post_type=podcast&p=29366"},"modified":"2025-11-05T22:06:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T22:06:15","slug":"episode-218","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/progyny.com\/education\/podcast\/episode-218\/","title":{"rendered":"Episode 218: Building Family After Breast Cancer: A Broken Brown Egg AHA Grant Winner’s Story"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"template":"","categories":[275,271,240],"tags":[242,355],"class_list":["post-29366","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","hentry","category-emotional-support-and-awareness","category-female-infertility","category-trying-to-conceive","tag-egg-freezing","tag-oncofertility"],"yoast_head":"\nEpisode 218: Building Family After Breast Cancer: A Broken Brown Egg AHA Grant Winner's Story | Progyny<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Our guests share their emotional journey navigating 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guests share their emotional journey navigating cancer treatment, fertility preservation, and the financial burden that comes with unexpected medical challenges.","episode_intro_guest":"Deniece and Gardy Delerme","episode_intro_company":"AHA Grant Recipients ","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 218: Building Family After Breast Cancer: A Broken Brown Egg AHA Grant Winner's Story ","episode_embed_code":"<iframe style=\"border: none;\" title=\"Embed Player\" src=\"https:\/\/play.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/38605800\/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\/Landing218\/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\">Deniece and Gardy Delerme, AHA Grant Recipients <\/span>\r\n<b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Host: <\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Dan Bulger, Progyny\u202f\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"none\">Deniece discovered a lump that led to a stage two breast cancer diagnosis just days before her 33rd birthday. In today\u2019s episode, she and her husband Gardy share their emotional journey navigating cancer treatment, fertility preservation, and the financial burden that comes with unexpected medical challenges.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{"335559738":240,"335559739":240}\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"none\">Faced with a fast-moving and shocking diagnosis, Deniece made the decision to freeze her eggs before beginning chemotherapy. That choice offered a sense of control, hope, and the possibility of family for her and Gardy. A few years later, Deniece was cancer-free, married to Gardy, and they were ready to embark on family building.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{"335559738":240,"335559739":240}\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"none\">But their journey was far from straightforward. Deniece experienced miscarriage, underwent major surgery to remove dozens of fibroids, and faced multiple rounds of unsuccessful fertility treatments. Each setback tested her endurance, but Deniece was strong and resilient, backed by Gardy\u2019s continued love and support.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{"335559738":240,"335559739":240}\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"none\">With renewed strength and financial support from programs like the AHA Grant from The Broken Brown Egg and Progyny, they are one step closer to making their dream a reality. This time with experience, hope, and support behind them.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{"335559738":240,"335559739":240}\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"none\">Check for applications cycles of AHA Grants at <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokenbrownegg.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">www.thebrokenbrownegg.org<\/span><\/a><span data-ccp-props=\"{"335559738":240,"335559739":240}\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"none\">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 <\/span><a href=\"mailto:thisisinfertility@progyny.com\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">thisisinfertility@progyny.com<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"none\">.\u202f\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<b><span data-contrast=\"none\">Watch this episode on YouTube:<\/span><\/b>\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/cyqXaP9DwmI","episode_host_image":22660,"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":29368,"episode_guest_1_title":"Deniece and Gardy Delerme, AHA Grant Recipients","episode_guest_1_bio":"My infertility journey began just six days before my 33rd birthday in January 2016, when I was diagnosed with Stage 2B breast cancer. That day, my world moved at lightning speed, much like the cancer cells growing inside me. With dreams of becoming a mother in the future, my oncologist recommended freezing my eggs before chemo and radiation, and I followed her guidance. In 2019, I was cancer-free, engaged to Gardy, and planning for our future family. On our 1-month wedding anniversary in 2020, I was scheduled for a myomectomy to help with conception, but to our surprise, I was pregnant! Sadly, I experienced a biochemical miscarriage a few weeks later. Though heartbroken, we proceeded with the myomectomy, expecting to remove eight fibroids\u2014doctors found nearly 40, leading to a blood transfusion. After a three-month recovery, we tried to conceive naturally, but after a year of no success, we considered IVF . Despite having 16 eggs frozen, the high cost and our existing medical debt from cancer treatment were overwhelming. We chose IUI as a more affordable alternative, but after three unsuccessful rounds and learning of a blocked fallopian tube, we were devastated. Another year of trying naturally passed without success. With support from our families and savings, we were able to try an embryo transfer in July 2023, and were thrilled to be pregnant again. Tragically, it ended in another miscarriage due to a blighted ovum, and I had to undergo a D&C. Now, with financial assistance from Broken Brown Egg x Progyny, we\u2019re preparing for another embryo transfer cycle with PGT-A testing. We remain hopeful that this will bring us our long-awaited dream\u2014a loving family of our own.","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\/29366","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=29366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/progyny.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/progyny.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}