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In this episode of the AllPaths podcast, hosts Emily and Liane sit down with author Amy Gallo Ryan to discuss her infertility memoir, You May Feel a Bit of Pressure: Observations from Infertility’s Heart-Wrenching Ride. Amy shares her struggle with unexplained infertility, recounting the grueling process of multiple IVF rounds, the isolation of quitting her job to focus on treatment, and the heartbreak of an ectopic pregnancy followed by emergency surgeries. Despite these challenges, Amy eventually welcomed her daughter, Hazel, and later twins, through a journey that taught her the profound lesson of being out of control.
The conversation delves into the emotional “connective tissue” of the fertility experience, which inspired Amy to organize her book by universal emotions such as hope, courage, and shame rather than just medical diagnoses. She reflects on how infertility became an identity marker for her, leading her to transition from women’s journalism to writing as a way to process her trauma and reclaim a sense of control. By sharing her story with profound vulnerability, Amy hopes to make others feel “seen” in a way she never was during her own treatment and offers a message of hope to those in the “darkest depths,” reminding them that there is a future where this pain will not be their daily reality regardless of the outcome of their journey.
Amy Gallo Ryan is a writer and former Condé Nast magazine editor whose personal essays have appeared in Vogue, Lit Hub, Hippocampus, Self, Motherwell and Literary Mama, among other publications. Her memoir-in-essays, You May Feel a Bit of Pressure: Observations from Infertility’s Heart-Wrenching Ride, was released in October 2025 from Unsolicited Press. Amy lives in Brooklyn with her husband and three children, all conceived through IVF.
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