Health, Hope & Happiness - The Black Woman Experience

FOX 5 NY explores the black women's health crisis and the fight to seek equitable health treatment for black women.

Black women nationwide are facing a maternal health crisis, facing everything from a lack of treatment to struggling to find sperm donors and even, in tragic cases, losing their lives.

In Health, Hope & Happiness - The Black Women Experience, FOX 5 NY looks at a few of those stories, from black women who have gone through so much to become mothers, to black women who have decided to eschew motherhood altogether.

The Fertility Factor

The road to motherhood is not always easy. For Gessie Thompson and her husband, Marc, the journey was painful. The couple struggled with infertility for more than a decade. FOX 5 NY's Tashanea Whitlow has the story.

The Fertility Factor: A journey to motherhood after struggling with infertility for more than a decade

For Gessie Thompson and her husband, Marc, the journey to parenthood was painful, as uterine fibroids, a condition that disproportionately affects black women, caused Gessie to struggle with infertility.

FOX 5 NY spoke with doctors about the treatment of fibroids and other inequalities in health outcomes for black women.

The Donor Dilemma: Addressing the shortage of black sperm donors

Cryobanks nationwide are stepping up efforts to attract donors of color as black men make up a vanishingly small number of sperm donors nationwide. FOX 5 NY looks at the problem, and how some are trying to fix it.

The Donor Dilemma: Black donor shortage hurts women looking for sperm

Black men account for less than 2% of sperm donors at Cryobanks across the nation. FOX 5 NY takes a look at the reasons for the shortage, and the steps being taken across the world to attract donors of color.

Maternal mortality rates spiked for black women in 2021: CDC

FOX 5 NY's Dan Bowens looks at how high rates of maternal mortality disproportionately affect black women in America.

Maternal mortality: Using technology and art to save Black mothers' lives

According to data from the federal government, the maternal mortality rate for black women was more than 2.5 times the rate for white women in 2021.

FOX 5 NY spoke with Omari Maynard, an artist who has begun creating paintings in tribute to his former partner, Shamony Gibson, who died two weeks after giving birth by C-section in 2019. In the aftermath of Gibson's death, Maynard created The ARIAH Foundation, which works to educate, support, and advocate for Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC), who have been impacted by racism in the reproductive healthcare system.

The 'Rich Auntie Lifestyle' - How some black women are choosing career over children

As more and more women forgo having children, the concept of the 'Rich Auntie' has emerged, women who are finding joy in ways that don't center on family life. FOX 5 NY's Christal Young has their stories as part of our series on The Black Woman Experience.

The Rich Auntie Lifestyle - How some black women are choosing career over children

As more and more women forgo having children, the concept of the 'Rich Auntie' has emerged, as women choose to eschew having traditional families to find sources of joy that don't involve building a family.

FOX 5 NY speaks with the women who are helping normalize the "childfree" lifestyle.