In this episode of Fertility Nurses Unfiltered, Laura and Ashlee take on one of the most emotionally heavy parts of the fertility journey: the news no one wants to receive.

A canceled cycle. A failed transfer. A negative pregnancy test. A voicemail you are afraid to open.

These moments happen more often than clinics prepare their patients for and they can arrive at the worst possible times, in the most public places, with very little warning and even less support.

So how do you prepare for something like that? And what do you do when the call comes anyway?

In this conversation, Laura and Ashlee talk honestly about the devastating results that are a real part of fertility treatment, why the emotional weight of this journey is so often underestimated, and what both patients and clinicians can do to handle these moments with more care and intention.

They also talk through:

• how to take control of when and where you receive results
• why "no news is good news" can quietly spiral into anxiety if your clinic hasn't set expectations
• what to say and what not to say when someone you love gets hard news
• why jumping straight to "next steps" after bad news can feel dismissive and what to do instead
• how a failed transfer or canceled cycle is a real loss, even if the world doesn't always treat it that way
• the emotional toll on partners and support people, and why they are often forgotten in the fertility conversation
• why the number one reason people drop out of treatment is emotional and what that really tells us
• how to build a support system before the hard moments arrive, not after

Throughout the episode, Laura and Ashlee speak directly to patients, partners, nurses, and anyone supporting someone through this process. They are not here to sugarcoat it. They are here to make sure you feel less alone in it.

Their message is clear: whatever you are feeling is valid. Grief does not have to look a certain way to be real. And it is okay to ask for what you need from your clinic, from your support system, and from yourself.

If you have ever gotten a call that stopped you in your tracks, felt dismissed by your care team in a vulnerable moment, or wondered whether your emotional reaction to this process was "too much," this episode is for you.