Leaving Her Dream Job for Menopause Advocacy: Tamsen Fadal on HRT & Purpose After 50

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Dec 23, 2025

Tamsen Fadal, an Emmy Award-winning journalist and menopause advocate, shares her transformative journey after experiencing menopause symptoms on live TV. She reveals the struggles of misdiagnoses and her emotional response to finally receiving a menopause diagnosis. Tamsen discusses her groundbreaking PBS documentary, The M Factor, and how the viral trailer led to community support and screenings worldwide. She emphasizes the need for better education on menopause, encourages women to advocate for their health, and highlights the importance of finding purpose after 50.

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ANECDOTE

Live Broadcast Hot Flash That Changed Everything

Tamsen Fadal described a live newscast hot flash that forced her off set and onto a bathroom floor to cool down.
That moment launched a months-long medical search and eventual discovery of perimenopause symptoms.

ANECDOTE

Her Mother's Silent Suffering

Tamsen recalled her mother suffering severe symptoms after cancer treatment without ever naming menopause.
Discovering this later made Tamsen realize her mother's hot flashes and weight gain were likely medical menopause.

ADVICE

Talk With A Certified Menopause Practitioner

Find a certified menopause practitioner to walk you through risks and realistic benefits of hormone therapy.
Prioritize sleep and treat symptoms that directly impair function rather than fearing HRT headlines.

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What happens when a news anchor loses her words on live television and discovers it's not stress, but menopause? Emmy Award-winning journalist Tamsen Fadal joins Dr. Mary Claire Haver to share why she walked away from her dream job in pursuit of changing the conversation around women's health, the powerful story behind her New York Times bestselling book How to Menopause, and her groundbreaking PBS documentary The M Factor.

Tamsen spent 30 years in broadcast journalism without saying the word "menopause" on air—not once. Then perimenopause hit. Brain fog made her skip words on the teleprompter. A hot flash so severe during a live newscast left her sweating and pale, eventually forcing her off the set entirely. Despite erratic bleeding, insomnia, and mounting symptoms, doctor after doctor missed the diagnosis.

But once she understood what was happening, she couldn't stop talking about it. She co-produced The M Factor: Shredding the Silence on Menopause with three other women, self-funding the documentary after she was told there was no audience. The trailer went viral. PBS picked it up. Over 1,000 community screenings followed in 43 countries.

Dr. Haver and Tamsen reflect on meeting at their first menopause conference, the moment they both realized how little training doctors receive, and why this work feels like a calling.

Guest links:

Books

“How to Menopause,” by Tamsen Fadal
“The New Menopause,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver
“The Galveston Diet,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver
“The Wisdom of Menopause,” by Dr. Christiane Northrup
“The Menopause Manifesto,” by Dr. Jen Gunter

This episode covers:

Why many women are prescribed antidepressants for hot flashes instead of hormone therapy
Growing up with a mother who suffered through surgical menopause in silence
The fear of HRT and what finally changed Tamsen's mind
Writing a book publishers said had "no audience" and then hitting the New York Times bestseller list
Why the Women's Health Initiative headlines continue to harm women decades later
Walking away from a 30-year career as a primetime news anchor to focus on menopause advocacy
The "shelf life" for women in journalism and ageism in media
Her new documentary Before the Pause focusing on perimenopause
Why millennials are approaching menopause differently than Gen X
Finding community, purpose, and a second act in midlife

Articles

The North American Menopause Society recommendations for clinical care of midlife women (Menopause)
The Estrogen Dilemma (Time Magazine)

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