How do we keep momentum for women’s health in a post-truth society?

💪 When the rewards go to the ones yelling the loudest, we double down on building safe community spaces.

Jan 30, 2025

What’s on my mind

2025 is starting off just as shocking, heartbreaking, and difficult as I expected.

For anyone affected by the LA fires, please reply to me directly — especially with any GoFundMes we can amplify. Growing up in Southern California, I am familiar with the ongoing threat of fires and the need for hypervigilance, but the 100mph winds and severity of the LA fires were unprecedented.

If you are looking to help, Mutual Aid LA has an extensive resource library and Altadena Girls has a fundraiser helping young girls rebuild their lives and confidence.

What infuriates me most is how so much tragedy has been turned into a narrative about celebrities and used as a political talking point to dismiss the impacts and blame California for climate change, as if fires are a local issue and easily contained unlike hurricanes, tornadoes, or blizzards.

It strikes me how similar this distortion feels to women’s experiences in healthcare: being told by outsiders who don’t live it that they know better than we do.

I keep asking myself, what does it mean to live in a post-truth society? One where fact-checking is equated to censorship and hate, slander, and misinformation is protected as freedom of speech?

Even what seems like good news requires a critical eye.

ICYMI: Before leaving office, Biden declared the Equal Rights Amendment “the law of the land.” However, it’s not that simple.

Within the women’s health space, controversy swirls around influencers who claim to sell “cures” for PCOS versus what doctors say and recommend. (To be clear, there’s no cure for PCOS.) Yet similar to media coverage of the fires, the BBC fails to present a balanced POV, sharing only one doctor’s opinion and writing what feels like a takedown article on women’s wellness specialists.

More of what’s on my mind below,but in light of this new era, I want to know how YOU feel.

Question for readers:

Do you feel comfortable communicating your thoughts and feelings openly?

Particularly with regard to women’s health issues but also in general.

Do you believe it matters? Why or why not?

Reply in the comments with your thoughts. Let’s get the discussion going. 💭

In this issue

MyAdvo launch party recap
Founder health update
What happens when your providers disagree?
Back to what’s on my mind
MyAdvo monthly reads

MyAdvo launch party recap 🎉

We had a sold out launch party last night at Parsley Health in NYC to welcome our founding members and officially kick off the MyAdvo community.

Stay tuned for highlights on our Instagram page.

Gathering together in community was so uplifting and inspiring, and I have no doubt that we can get through this time by prioritizing care, strengthening our bond, and building trust with one another in small but mighty circles.

Thank you to all who joined. I look forward to seeing more of you — whether in person or virtually, at another MyAdvo event this year.

Stay tuned for more events programming in 2025, including workshops, webinars with specialists, opportunities to network, and more.

🙏 A special thank-you to our sponsors 👏

January 29th MyAdvo Community Launch Flyer

📣For any founding MyAdvo members who couldn’t make it in person, be sure to check your email and our private WhatsApp group to find out how to claim your digital goodie bag! 🛍️

Become a MyAdvo Member

Founder health update

January has felt like a prolonged December. It’s been go-go-go. BUT I’ve successfully managed my PCOS and fibroid symptoms despite it all. My cycle remains regular (under 35 days) and bleeding is consistently around a week. Although my anxiety and fatigue are still present, they’re becoming more contained for a total of one week.

In my December health update, I touched on the fact that my partner and I have been looking into making embryos from the eggs I froze a few years ago.

A few MyAdvo members who have endometriosis and PCOS had specialists who recommended they consider making embryos to test egg viability since it’s the only way to confirm. In my case, this would mean potentially doing another round of egg retrieval before I turn 35. (I’m 33 now and we’re hoping to have two children in my late 30s.)

So I brought this issue to my fertility specialist — for context, my functional medicine provider is the one who diagnosed my PCOS — and he’s not worried. He only recommends making embryos now if there’s an overlap in my partner’s and my genes.

Egg quality is determined by factors such as your age, genetics, and environment, and with no test, there aren’t really options to assure quality.

I was worried that my high AMH levels — which is a measure of ovarian reserve aka how many eggs a person has and can be a sign of PCOS — may mean that my eggs aren’t viable, but that is not true.

We’re still waiting on my fertility specialist’s office to confirm, but my partner’s and my lab reports seem to show no overlap in our genetic carrier tests. With these results, we’ve decided not to make embryos at this time. We plan to try and conceive naturally when the time comes.

To me, this has been a super valuable exercise.

While I was influenced by the experiences of other women, it’s what urged me to bring the issue to my doctor. We had a productive conversation where he didn’t make me feel bad or guilty about it. He shared that he doesn’t believe there are any major indicators right now that we’ll need to go straight to IVF since we’d like to try naturally first.And while making embryos is one way to ensure quality, it didn’t seem like the right avenue for us at this time. I feel confident that I’ve made an informed decision about my health with the evidence that exists today about egg quality.

That being said, many women with PCOS or endometriosis, who are at different points of their fertility journeys may choose to take a more proactive approach after having conversations with their fertility specialists. Everybody is going to be different. Everyone’s health goals are going to be nuanced. Deciding what’s right for you in partnership with specialists–that is what self-advocacy is all about.

Join the conversation

What happens when your providers disagree?

Advocacy snapshot: fertility specialist vs. OB/GYN

THE ISSUE

When to have fibroid surgery. In this case, a myomectomy.

Learn more about fibroid treatment options.

MY SITUATION

I have a submucosal fibroid, which protrudes into my uterine cavity and can potentially get in the way of carrying a pregnancy to term. It doubled in size to 1.4cm from when I was first diagnosed in 2022 but has stayed consistent since.

THE DIFFERING OPINIONS

My fertility specialist recommends surgery ASAP because my fibroid is small and surgery can become more complex if it gets larger.

vs.

My gynecologist recommends monitoring its size but waiting until closer to trying to conceive to avoid the potential of multiple surgeries since fibroids seem to recur frequently.

MY SELF-ADVOCACY PROCESS

Both of my providers are well-intentioned.

Knowing my goal is to avoid multiple surgeries at all costs, I am focused on keeping my fibroid small through stress management, nutrition, and low alcohol intake among other things. I believe I’ve been able to do this over the last year as the fibroid has stayed stable in size, but I’m also aware that the research in lifestyle management correlating to fibroid growth is slim.

I get an ultrasound every year to check for any change in the size of my fibroid. And I’m aware that if my periods get heavier, longer, or have an increase in clots, I will have to get the myomectomy sooner.

MY DECISION

I feel confident in my decision to wait and monitor my fibroid. I know I can change my mind in the future. But this is self-advocacy.

There won’t always be easy answers.

But by educating myself and weighing my options, it’s empowering to make my own choices about my body and my health.

This is what we practice together in community. I hope you’ll become a MyAdvo member and join us.

Join MyAdvo

Back to what’s on my mind

We’re living in an era where those in power are purposely sowing distrust and confusion. This post-truth landscape will make it even harder to access the information we need as women and people AFAB (assigned female at birth).

Just a few of Trump’s initial first weeks in office that will impact us:

Freezes all Medicaid payments – rescinded as of yesterday 1/29
Withdrew national plan to limit “forever chemicals” in drinking water, which would have gone into effect in 2027 and removed six carcinogenic PFAS
Reproductiverights.gov website taken down
Withdrew US from the World Health Organization
Revoked the Equal Employment Opportunity Act that made it illegal for employers to discriminate based on gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, and more
Withdrew proposal to make insurance cover OTC birth control
Reinstated Global Gag Rule that decreases abortion access worldwide by blocking US funding to foreign organizations that provide, promote or discuss abortion care
Signs executive order declaring only two sexes
Signs executive order challenging birthright citizenship

Political appointments of note

On a somewhat brighter note, a few women who have shown support for women’s health issues, particularly menopause, in the past have been appointed to the Senate Appropriations Committee and health funding subcommittees:

Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) is now Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee
Rep. Lois Frankel (D-FL) is a cardinal on the Health Funding subcommittee
Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA), former Women’s Caucus Co-Chair, is a member of the Appropriations Committee and the Health Funding subcommittee

It remains to be seen what this will mean for funding into women’s health issues, but it’s important to be aware as and when we navigate advocating for change on the federal level.

MyAdvo’s mission: Empower women to advocate for their health.

It’s vital that we don’t lose hope. That we fight misinformation. And that we strengthen our ties to each other — and keep up momentum for better healthcare for all.

I’ve said it before: This is what it means to be part of history.

No one group or entity, including healthcare providers, media, and MyAdvo, will get it right every time. Asking questions and discussing the issues openly is healthy, and we need to do more of it in safe community spaces. This is how we built trust.

I can guarantee that MyAdvo will continue to work to be a place of open discourse and the curation and sharing of information to help you find answers to support your health on your own terms.

Access to information, discussion, and critical thinking is vital.

I hope you’ll be along for the ride. We are stronger together. And we need you in this fight.

Join the conversation on WhatsApp as a member — and please share this newsletter with any and everyone you think may be interested.

Thank you for being here. As always, I’m grateful for you.