A Partner’s Guide to Navigating POI Together How to be a steady presence when the path changes... When the person you love is diagnosed with Primary Ovarian Insufficiency, the ground can shift beneath you, too. You may feel helpless watching them grieve something that doesn’t have a cast or a timeline—something invisible, but profoundly real. You want to make it better. You want to say the right thing. And sometimes, the fear of getting it wrong keeps you silent. Supporting a

How to Talk to Your Partner About Your POI Diagnosis When your life feels paused, but the conversation can’t wait... Receiving a POI diagnosis can feel like someone quietly pressed pause  on the life you thought you were living. One moment you’re moving forward—making plans, imagining timelines—and the next you’re suspended in uncertainty, staring at medical terms that don’t come with instructions for your heart. In the middle of the shock, there’s another weight: How do I te

It’s strange—I was standing at the station yesterday thinking about life. Recently, a lot of friends have been getting pregnant and having babies, and they seem to be moving into a new stage of life that I’m not currently part of. And then it made me think about how we spend a lot of our lives, even when we aren’t part of something, thinking that maybe one day we could be. You live with that sense of endless possibility. When you are younger, at school, you have the whole wor

There’s something about the start of a new year that makes us want to breathe deeper and stand a little taller—even when life hasn’t turned out the way we hoped. For a long time, so much of my life has felt out of my hands. My body. My timeline. My future. The waiting. The not knowing. The watching everyone else move forward while I stay in the same place. If you live with POI or infertility, you know that feeling well. It’s like your life is constantly on hold while the rest

Understanding Transient Empathy What’s really hard about fertility struggles is this: people can empathise deeply with you — but only for as long as they’re still living in that pain themselves. Then they get their happy ending, move to the “other side,” and suddenly you’re no longer in the club. You’re still carrying the weight, but the people who once stood beside you have stepped into a new chapter that you’re not part of. Of course, you’re happy for them. Of course, you w

Last week, I spent seven days in The Gambia — a week of burns training, theatre teaching, community conversations, and learning far more than I ever expected.But somewhere between the long hospital days, the laughter shared with colleagues, and the humbling privilege of working with patients who had endured so much… something shifted. I found a version of myself I’d almost forgotten existed. When your identity is forced to split Living with POI means your identity is constant

We all know that feeling — the quiet unease that creeps in as Sunday night unfolds. The weekend starts to fade, your body begins to slow, and somewhere between tidying the kitchen and planning Monday’s to-do list, a familiar dread sets in. That low-level anxiety. That restlessness. That weight in your chest that whispers: another week begins. For many of us living with POI, the Sunday dread can feel heavier. The energy we’ve managed to gather over the weekend feels like it’s

Tonight everyone’s talking about The Traitors — betrayal, deception, secrets. But watching it, I couldn’t help thinking about a very different kind of betrayal — one that happens quietly, inside your own body. When I was diagnosed with Premature Ovarian Insufficiency (POI), it felt like my body had turned against me. One moment I was living in the rhythm I’d always known — full of plans, energy, and expectation — and then suddenly, everything shifted. My hormones crashed, my

Every year, as the sky lights up with fireworks and bonfires crackle across the November air, we gather around the flames to celebrate renewal — a spark in the dark, a reminder that even after the coldest seasons, warmth returns. But this year, I’m thinking about a different kind of fire.Not the kind that fills the sky — the kind that starts within. Because for too long, women have been taught to hide their fire. To stay quiet about menopause, fertility struggles, or the hear

For #NationalFertilityAwarenessWeek — a few words on a word that holds so much... Fertility — such a loaded word. It carries joy and pain, hope and fear, the soft hum of longing, the sharp edge of loss. It comes wrapped in expectation — that you’ll have it, that you’ll want it, that you’ll understand it. But few speak of the quiet complexities it brings, of how distance can be mistaken for resentment, how indifference can simply mean survival. Fertility isn’t housed in your o

In a world where change often feels out of reach, grassroots campaigning shines as a source of hope. It empowers individuals to unite, voice their concerns, and advocate for change right from their communities. Recently, during Daisy Day, I listened to Dianne Danzebrink discuss the importance of grassroots movements. Her insights particularly resonated in the context of the #NotTooYoung campaign, which works to increase the awareness of Menopause in young women. This post wil

They say Halloween is the season for things that go bump in the night — but no one warned me that the real fright fest would arrive long before the trick-or-treaters: menopause at 31. When I was first told I had Premature Ovarian Insufficiency (POI), it felt otherworldly — like my body had turned into a haunted house overnight, and I hadn’t been given the keys. Here are a few of the spookiest moments that caught me off-guard on this journey… 🧛‍♀️ 1. The Night Sweats of the L

Feeling unseen is a struggle that resonates deeply with many, especially those experiencing Premature Ovarian Insufficiency (POI). This condition can create a sense of isolation that feels all-consuming, leaving individuals feeling invisible. The challenges extend beyond physical symptoms; they often encompass a profound emotional toll when others do not grasp the full scope of the experience. In this post, we will delve into the unique nuances of feeling invisible due to POI

I never thought I’d be writing about this. Ovarian health concerns? That sounded like something for much later in life, not for someone in their 30s. But here I am, trying to make sense of a diagnosis that flipped my world upside down. If you’ve stumbled upon this post, maybe you’re feeling the same confusion, the same swirl of questions. What’s going on with my body? Why now? And what does it all mean? Let’s talk openly about something that’s often whispered about or swept u

The Shift in My Social Life I used to be a social butterfly. My calendar was always full—coffee dates, dinners, spontaneous catch-ups that stretched into the early hours. I thrived on connection. People gave me energy, and I loved being the person who was always up for a chat or a night out. And then came POI. One of the hardest, and most unexpected, shifts has been the way it changed my relationship with the world around me. Suddenly, things that once felt effortless—replyin

I used to be the girl who never stopped. The one who thrived on motion, on squeezing every ounce of life out of every day. Holidays had...

So I was watching " The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" Season 2 and there is one episode where all the girls are away for the weekend on a...

Infertility is a tough road to walk, especially if you are dealing with Primary Ovarian Insufficiency (POI). The emotional challenges can...

Being sent for a DEXA scan at the age of 31 was a harsh wake up call. A DEXA scan is a bone density scan which looks to see how strong...

If any one symptom could be attributed to the menopause it would surely be the "hot flush". I can't tell you how many times I have seen...