{"id":29536,"date":"2025-11-05T22:30:20","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T22:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/progyny.com\/?post_type=podcast&p=29536"},"modified":"2025-11-11T15:48:58","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T15:48:58","slug":"episode-219","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/progyny.com\/education\/podcast\/episode-219\/","title":{"rendered":"Episode 219: Building Military Families: Julie\u2019s Journey from Loss to Community"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"template":"","categories":[275,451,230,240],"tags":[236,295,434],"class_list":["post-29536","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","hentry","category-emotional-support-and-awareness","category-family-building","category-education","category-trying-to-conceive","tag-emotional-support-and-awareness","tag-infertility-support","tag-trying-to-conceive"],"yoast_head":"\nEpisode 219: Building Military Families: Julie\u2019s Journey from Loss to Community | Progyny<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" 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guest shares why she\u2019s determined to help others navigate a system that has historically overlooked the reproductive needs of those who serve.","episode_intro_guest":"Julie Eshelman","episode_intro_company":"Building Military Families Network\u00a0","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 219: Building Military Families: Julie\u2019s Journey from Loss to Community","episode_embed_code":"<iframe style=\"border: none;\" title=\"Embed Player\" src=\"https:\/\/play.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/38929055\/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\/Landing219\/font-color\/000000\" width=\"100%\" height=\"128\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe>","episode_details":"<b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Guest:<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0Julie Eshelman, Founder & CEO, Building Military Families Network<\/span>\r\n<b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Host:<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0Dan Bulger, Progyny<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"auto\">Today\u2019s\u00a0guest\u00a0always dreamed of building a family. But when she and her husband began trying to conceive, they faced years of\u00a0unanswered\u00a0questions and a string of devastating losses.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"auto\">Like many military families, Julie\u00a0Eshelman\u2019s journey was shaped not just by infertility, but by deployments, changing doctors, starting over in new states, and a healthcare system that\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0always recognize the unique challenges military families face in building a family. Julie and her husband were unable to access full fertility coverage under TRICARE,\u00a0creating\u00a0a\u00a0financial burden\u00a0to top up the physical and emotional stress they were already experiencing.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{"134233117":false,"134233118":false,"335551550":1,"335551620":1,"335559738":240,"335559739":240}\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"auto\">These years of\u00a0heartbreak also\u00a0led to\u00a0joy and purpose. Julie is now the mom of a rambunctious three-year-old, and she founded the\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.buildingmilitaryfamiliesnetwork.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Building Military Families Network,<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0a nonprofit dedicated to supporting military and veteran families through infertility, loss, and family building. Through resources, education, and support groups,\u00a0she\u2019s\u00a0working to ensure others in her position\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0walk this path alone.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{"134233117":false,"134233118":false,"335551550":1,"335551620":1,"335559738":240,"335559739":240}\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"auto\">In this episode, Julie shares her story\u00a0of\u00a0why\u00a0she\u2019s\u00a0determined\u00a0to help others navigate a system that has historically overlooked the reproductive needs of those who serve.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{"134233117":false,"134233118":false,"335551550":1,"335551620":1,"335559738":240,"335559739":240}\">\u00a0<\/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,\u00a0<\/span>@ThisisInfertilityPodcast, and use\u00a0#ThisisInfertility<span data-contrast=\"auto\">. Have a question, comment, or want to share your story? Email us at\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"mailto:thisisinfertility@progyny.com\">thisisinfertility@progyny.com<\/a>.\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"none\">Watch this episode on YouTube:<\/span>\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=MvyZ60IQMt0","episode_host_image":22658,"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":29537,"episode_guest_1_title":"Julie Eshelman, Founder, CEO, and President of Building Military Families Network","episode_guest_1_bio":"<span class=\"TextRun SCXW37549483 BCX8\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"none\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW37549483 BCX8\">Julie Eshelman is the Founder, CEO, and President of Building Military Families Network where she took her struggles and lack of support in family building and created an organization to fill that gap for military and veteran families. She uses her infertility and pregnancy loss journey to help others realize that they are not alone\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun ContextualSpellingAndGrammarErrorV2Themed SCXW37549483 BCX8\">and<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW37549483 BCX8\"> advocate for insurance coverage and care for military and veteran families. Julie believes in breaking the chains of shame and embarrassment that these topics carry and instead empowering others<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW37549483 BCX8\">\u00a0to share their journeys and advocate for the next generation. 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