This episode of the AllPaths podcast features Kallie Chausse, a baker and photographer, to discuss her journey to parenthood. After marrying the boy next door in her early 20s and trying to conceive without success, Kallie discovered at the age of 24 that she had the egg count of a woman in her 50s. This diagnosis launched her into the world of IUI treatments and strict hormonal monitoring. After a devastating first failure, Kallie successfully conceived her daughter Violet, though she candidly discusses the traumatic birth and postpartum depression that followed, which she believes were tied to “lingering infertility emotions” she hadn’t yet processed.
The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic added a layer of complexity to Kallie’s attempt for a second child, forcing her to navigate fertility treatments in isolation and manage stressful insurance delays that nearly canceled the cycle that ultimately led to her daughter Ivy. Kallie reflects on the “tunnel vision” of treatment and the intense pressure she felt to be the “perfect employee” while juggling medical appointments and the mental load of early motherhood. Through these challenges, she found strength in a supportive nurse and a growing online community of others who understood her “silent struggles,” eventually leading her to let go of the shame she once felt.
Now an AllPaths Walk Ambassador, Kallie uses her experience to advocate for others, encouraging those in the trenches of fertility treatment and parenting after infertility to honor their feelings and seek validation and community support.
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