Podcast Review: The Retrievals – The patients

Under normal circumstances, IVF consists of many mentally and physically exhausting steps:

hormone shots, blood tests, ultrasounds, egg collection, fertilisation, and hopefully pregnancy. Not to mention the high cost of treatment, which is not covered in many jurisdictions or by all insurance companies in the USA.

In 2021, it emerged that seven women were suing the prestigious Yale Fertility Centre in Connecticut after experiencing excruciatingly painful egg retrieval procedures as part of their IVF treatments (see BioNews 1122). The procedure requires the use of a large needle placed through the wall of the vagina to collect eggs from the ovaries to use in IVF. Some had complained about severe pain at the time, but had been ignored.

These women had learned in 2020 that a nurse working at Yale Fertility had replaced the pain medication, fentanyl, in hundreds of women's IVs with saline. This meant they had undergone excruciating egg retrieval procedures without pain relief. One of the first things we learn, and one of the most important updates to the case, is that there are now over 200 women planning to sue Yale Fertility for having to undergo egg retrievals without adequate pain relief, and it is expected there may be more.

The criminal case prosecuting the nurse responsible, has already gone through court, and now, while the class action lawsuit against Yale Fertility is still growing, the New York Times has begun a five part podcast series dissecting the inner workings of what happened to the patients, the staff and that one nurse at the clinic.

In the first episode of the series, the host, Susan Burton, introduces listeners to 12 of these women. Refreshingly, Burton makes a point to let the women speak for themselves about their experiences. She narrates the facts, the bones of the case, carrying listeners along the story but allowing the victims to share their stories in their own words. At times, especially towards the beginning of the episode, it is difficult to distinguish who is speaking. That might be the whole point of this stylistic tactic used in production.

In succession, the women explain what happened with quivering voices. 'I was struck by the echos in these women's stories,' Burton revealed as listeners start to recognise this pattern along with her. Whether or not it's partially a result of savvy editing, it legitimises their experiences, an unfortunate necessity.

During many treatments, these women told their doctors, nurses, and loved ones about the pain but many were dismissed. 'Nobody believed me,' countless victims uttered. Hearing this repeated over and over again by a number of different women caused a visceral reaction within me.

'You are treated like a hysterical woman from the second you walk in there,' said Leah, one of the women who experienced severe pain during an egg retrieval at the clinic and a lecturer at Yale who, among other subjects, studies gender. Many of the victims, including Leah, work in fields with some direct relation to fertility treatment. Katie researches addiction. Another woman works as an anaesthetist. One woman even handled the storage of medications at the facility she worked in. One woman, who is also a cancer patient, verbalised that she has experienced a broad range of different medical procedures, many of them invasive and painful, and still was treated as a 'hysterical woman' when she questioned the level of pain she was in at the fertility clinic.

The choice to use women who have a greater understanding of the processes made the episode much more impactful. It pointed out clearly how susceptible women are to ignoring their pain after not being taken seriously – regardless of their expertise.

The series is hosted, produced, edited, and scored by a team of women who made this podcast what it is: compassionate, true, and articulate. It showcases the care the host takes when asking personal or traumatic questions. It shows in the editing of each woman's voice, the producers making sure to give the women in this case a real voice. It shows in the scripting of the narration.

At one point, Burton utters a sentence that could fit right into the new Barbie movie monologue: 'There's a balance you have to strike as a woman patient. You have to complain just the right amount to be taken seriously but not so much that you seem shrill.' She recognises this pattern in the case and in life. Not only did the host highlight the victim's vulnerability, but she revealed a more authentic side of herself by sharing her own experience as a patient and as a woman.

Revealing deep vulnerability and not shying away from placing a strong feminist lens over the story in the slightest, the New York Times took a number of risks, something unexpected for such a prestigious name. But the episode has all the right elements to make an impactful podcast. It gives non-experts an accessible and engaging way to interact with information about IVF and the culture around treatment. Listeners are left thinking about sexism in healthcare, the pain women face in normal IVF treatments as well as the ones that go south, and the emotional weight of IVF treatments.

The remaining four episodes in the series, which have already been released, seem set to make an impact.

View published version here.