Infertility is on the rise and it's leading to an increased demand for assisted reproduction technology. Unfortunately, many causes of infertility are insidious and seen as relatively harmless, such as the birth control pill. In this episode, we talked about the shocking increase in infertility and what men and women need to know if they want to have a family.            

Host Bio

I’m Eloise Drane, Founder of Family Inceptions, the first surrogacy and egg donation agency in the state of Georgia and the first Black-owned surrogacy and egg donation agency in the United States.

While I started Family Inceptions back in 2008, my love for giving people the gift of life goes back even further. In 1998, I donated a kidney. The experience was life-changing for me, and I felt called to help more people in such a meaningful, profound way.

Two years later, I had my first experience with egg donation. Little did I know that the egg donation journey would completely change the trajectory of my life.

To date, I’ve been a gestational carrier (also known as a surrogate) three times and an egg donor six times. Along the way, I became an expert in the process.

I founded Family Inceptions to help more intended parents start their families, to support other surrogates and egg donors, and to make an impact in the world.

Although I love working with families through Family Inceptions, I also understand that many people are priced out of working with agencies. So, I took everything I learned from donating eggs six times, serving as a surrogate three times, earning an MBA, and running the first Black-owned surrogacy and egg donation agency of its kind in the US... and put it all into an easy-to-use, comprehensive course to help intended parents successfully navigate their independent surrogacy journey. I call that course Surrogacy Roadmap.

There are so many wonderful people out there who are longing to become parents, but they can’t physically create or carry a child for one reason or another. Likewise, there are many women out there who are either considering helping intended parents achieve their family goals or who are already involved in the fertility industry as egg donors or surrogates. 

I created the Fertility Cafe podcast as a free resource to answer the biggest questions intended parents, egg donors, and surrogates are facing as they consider third-party reproduction.

Resources

Rate, Review, and Subscribe!

We would be so grateful if you took the time to rate and review our podcast on iTunes! And of course, don’t forget to hit that Subscribe button to have new episodes delivered straight to your feed!

Podcast Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️:

“Beautiful and heartfelt conversations around family building. Can’t wait to hear more!”

What is it really like for surrogates? What are their motivations for being gestational carriers? What is their experience like? How do they feel about being close - or not - with their IPs? What is the most important thing that they really need from agencies and IPs? In this episode, we'll talk to Heathyr Suhr about her take on these questions. 

Guest Bio

Heathyr suhr

Heathyr is a single mom to her 7 year old best friend. She is a 2x surrogate who loves pregnancy, helping create families, and helping educate other women on the ups and downs of surrogacy.

Resources

Rate, Review, and Subscribe!

We would be so grateful if you took the time to rate and review our podcast on iTunes! And of course, don’t forget to hit that Subscribe button to have new episodes delivered straight to your feed!

Podcast Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️:

“Beautiful and heartfelt conversations around family building. Can’t wait to hear more!”

In the egg donor community, it's known that financial compensation is often a strong motivator. But there have been many developments in recent years that impact donor and surrogate compensation. In this episode, we're diving into the nitty-gritty, perhaps uncomfortable side of egg donation and surrogacy compensation. We'll cover changes to tax law, appeals, and how compensation affects the already delicate relationship.

Host Bio Eloise Drane

I’m Eloise Drane, Founder of Family Inceptions, the first surrogacy and egg donation agency in the state of Georgia and the first Black-owned surrogacy and egg donation agency in the United States.

While I started Family Inceptions back in 2008, my love for giving people the gift of life goes back even further. In 1998, I donated a kidney. The experience was life-changing for me and I felt called to help more people in such a meaningful, profound way.

Two years later, I had my first experience with egg donation. Little did I know that the egg donation journey would completely change the trajectory of my life.

To date, I’ve been a gestational carrier (also known as a surrogate) three times and an egg donor six times. Along the way, I became an expert in the process.

I founded Family Inceptions to help more intended parents start their families, to support other surrogates and egg donors, and to make an impact in the world.

Although I love working with families through Family Inceptions, I also understand that many people are priced out of working with agencies. So, I took everything I learned from donating eggs six times, serving as a surrogate three times, earning an MBA, and running the first Black-owned surrogacy and egg donation agency of its kind in the US... and put it all into an easy-to-use, comprehensive course to help intended parents successfully navigate their independent surrogacy journey. I call that course Surrogacy Roadmap.

There are so many wonderful people out there who are longing to become parents, but they can’t physically create or carry a child for one reason or another. Likewise, there are many women out there who are either considering helping intended parents achieve their family goals or who are already involved in the fertility industry as egg donors or surrogates.

I created the Fertility Cafe podcast as a free resource to answer the biggest questions intended parents, egg donors, and surrogates are facing as they consider third-party reproduction.

Resources

Rate, Review, and Subscribe!

We would be so grateful if you took the time to rate and review our podcast on iTunes! And of course, don’t forget to hit that Subscribe button to have new episodes delivered straight to your feed!

Podcast Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️:

“Beautiful and heartfelt conversations around family building. Can’t wait to hear more!”

When we teach IPs about their possible pathways to parenthood, we often mention embryo donation. There are over a million embryos sitting in cryobanks around the country. But what happens to them if they aren’t used in IVF by the patients themselves? What is the embryo disposition process like; and what is the donation experience like, as a donor and recipient? In this episode we answer these questions along with others like, what is the difference between embryo donation and embryo adoption, can anyone pick an embryo and use it to have a child, what is the matching process like, and what will the genetic, social, and psychological ramifications be for a child born from that process?

Guest Bio Maya Grobel and Gina Davis

Maya Grobel is a California Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and psychotherapist in private practice, where she specializes in supporting individuals and couples struggling to conceive or building their family in alternative ways. Maya and her TV producer husband Noah made a feature length film called One More Shot, documenting their tumultuous journey to parenthood, which ended with the birth of their daughter via embryo donation (available on Vimeo on Demand). Maya a co-founder of EM•POWER with Moxi, an educational company focused on empowering choice in embryo donation.

Gina Davis is the founder of Advocate Genetics, and a multi-state licensed, board-certified genetic counselor, who specializes in the field of reproductive medicine. Gina is also a co-founder of EM•POWER with Moxi, an education company dedicated to empowering choice and community in embryo donation. She is a mother of two via IVF and an embryo donor.

Resources

Rate, Review, and Subscribe!

We would be so grateful if you took the time to rate and review our podcast on iTunes! And of course, don’t forget to hit that Subscribe button to have new episodes delivered straight to your feed!

Podcast Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️:

“Beautiful and heartfelt conversations around family building. Can’t wait to hear more!”

Naturally, fertility issues are a sensitive subject. Most couples never imagined that they would need to go the route of third-party reproduction in order to bring their family dreams to fruition. While all IPs are grateful for the role egg donors and surrogates play in building their family, some IPs would prefer not to have a relationship with their donors or surrogates after the process is over and a child is born. Here's what donors and surrogates need to understand about this unique family dynamic and how they can best prepare themselves for the complex relationship ahead.

Host Bio

I’m Eloise Drane, Founder of Family Inceptions, the first surrogacy and egg donation agency in the state of Georgia and the first Black-owned surrogacy and egg donation agency in the United States.

While I started Family Inceptions back in 2008, my love for giving people the gift of life goes back even further. In 1998, I donated a kidney. The experience was life-changing for me, and I felt called to help more people in such a meaningful, profound way.

Two years later, I had my first experience with egg donation. Little did I know that the egg donation journey would completely change the trajectory of my life.

To date, I’ve been a gestational carrier (also known as a surrogate) three times and an egg donor six times. Along the way, I became an expert in the process.

I founded Family Inceptions to help more intended parents start their families, to support other surrogates and egg donors, and to make an impact in the world.

Although I love working with families through Family Inceptions, I also understand that many people are priced out of working with agencies. So, I took everything I learned from donating eggs six times, serving as a surrogate three times, earning an MBA, and running the first Black-owned surrogacy and egg donation agency of its kind in the US... and put it all into an easy-to-use, comprehensive course to help intended parents successfully navigate their independent surrogacy journey. I call that course Surrogacy Roadmap.

There are so many wonderful people out there who are longing to become parents, but they can’t physically create or carry a child for one reason or another. Likewise, there are many women out there who are either considering helping intended parents achieve their family goals or who are already involved in the fertility industry as egg donors or surrogates.

I created the Fertility Cafe podcast as a free resource to answer the biggest questions intended parents, egg donors, and surrogates are facing as they consider third-party reproduction.

Resources

Rate, Review, and Subscribe!

We would be so grateful if you took the time to rate and review our podcast on iTunes! And of course, don’t forget to hit that Subscribe button to have new episodes delivered straight to your feed!

Podcast Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️:

“Beautiful and heartfelt conversations around family building. Can’t wait to hear more!”

As an egg donor or a surrogate, your medical history is seen as an open book. IPs and their medical teams want and expect to know everything there is to know about your medical past – often for good reason, but where is the line? Is it reasonable for a donor or surrogate to expect some degree of privacy, particularly for health-related issues that may not seem relevant to the task at hand? Is it OK for donors or surrogates to redact their medical history? Or should IPs only accept full medical records issued from the donor's or surrogate's PCP? In this episode, we discuss medical history and privacy of donors and surrogates during the donation or surrogacy processes.

Guest Bio Nancy Block

Nancy Block RN and Mark Silverberg MD founded National Surrogate Record Review in order to provide a service for potential parents, fertility clinics, and agencies to find the most stable, suitable candidates for surrogacy. Nancy is an OB RN with over 26 years in assisted reproductive technology. Her nursing career spanned over 17 years in all aspects of Women's Health. Mark has been an MD in the Anesthesia sector for over 30 years and has worked with patients with varied needs and has reviewed 1000's of charts for procedures he has been involved in. Dr. Silverberg has worked with OB/Gyne Patients for many years in inpatient and outpatient settings.

Resources

Rate, Review, and Subscribe!

We would be so grateful if you took the time to rate and review our podcast on iTunes! And of course, don’t forget to hit that Subscribe button to have new episodes delivered straight to your feed!

Podcast Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️:

“Beautiful and heartfelt conversations around family building. Can’t wait to hear more!”

Pregnancy is an important transitional time for a mother. Not only are these 9 months when her baby is developing, but also when the mother is coming to terms with the fact that she will be a mother soon... except in the case of IPs and surrogates. In this episode, we looked at how surrogacy affects an IM's ability to bond with her baby as well as things the IM and surrogate can do – either together or separately – to help the IM feel more like a mother to the baby the surrogate is carrying.                     

Host Bio

I’m Eloise Drane, Founder of Family Inceptions, the first surrogacy and egg donation agency in the state of Georgia and the first Black-owned surrogacy and egg donation agency in the United States.

While I started Family Inceptions back in 2008, my love for giving people the gift of life goes back even further. In 1998, I donated a kidney. The experience was life-changing for me and I felt called to help more people in such a meaningful, profound way.

Two years later, I had my first experience with egg donation. Little did I know that the egg donation journey would completely change the trajectory of my life.

To date, I’ve been a gestational carrier (also known as a surrogate) three times and an egg donor six times. Along the way, I became an expert in the process.

I founded Family Inceptions to help more intended parents start their families, to support other surrogates and egg donors, and to make an impact in the world.

Although I love working with families through Family Incpesions, I also understand that many people are priced out of working with agencies. So I took everything I learned from donating eggs six times, serving as a surrogate three times, earning an MBA, and running the first Black-owned surrogacy and egg donation agency of its kind in the US... and put it all into an easy-to-use, comprehensive course to help intended parents successfully navigate their independent surrogacy journey. I call that course Surrogacy Roadmap.

There are so many wonderful people out there who are longing to become parents, but they can’t physically create or carry a child for one reason or another. Likewise, there are many women out there who are either considering helping intended parents achieve their family goals or who are already involved in the fertility industry as egg donors or surrogates. 

I created the Fertility Cafe podcast as a free resource to answer the biggest questions intended parents, egg donors, and surrogates are facing as they consider third-party reproduction.

Resources

Rate, Review, and Subscribe!

We would be so grateful if you took the time to rate and review our podcast on iTunes! And of course, don’t forget to hit that Subscribe button to have new episodes delivered straight to your feed!

Podcast Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️:

“Beautiful and heartfelt conversations around family building. Can’t wait to hear more!”

We are all very "pro family" around here, no matter what your family looks like. But we also feel it's important to advocate for the egg donors and surrogates who are helping families become whole. In this episode, we talked to Liz Scheier, a member of the leadership team at the We Are Egg Donors advocacy group on issues she has seen be most prevalent in the egg donor community and how she hopes the fertility industry will evolve.

Guest Bio Liz Scheier

Liz Scheier is a 3x egg donor and sits on the leadership team of We Are Egg Donors, a global support network for current and past donors. Her 2022 memoir NEVER SIMPLE, which was chosen as an editor's pick by the New York Times, People Magazine, Apple, and Amazon, deals in part with the experience of donating eggs.

Resources

Rate, Review, and Subscribe!

We would be so grateful if you took the time to rate and review our podcast on iTunes! And of course, don’t forget to hit that Subscribe button to have new episodes delivered straight to your feed!

Podcast Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️:

“Beautiful and heartfelt conversations around family building. Can’t wait to hear more!”

In Surrogacy Roadmap, we don't recommend going the international route. Here's why!

In this episode, we talked about all the reasons why international surrogacy can get IPs into trouble and the few benefits that don't make the hassle worth it.                 

Host Bio

I’m Eloise Drane, Founder of Family Inceptions, the first surrogacy and egg donation agency in the state of Georgia and the first Black-owned surrogacy and egg donation agency in the United States.

While I started Family Inceptions back in 2008, my love for giving people the gift of life goes back even further. In 1998, I donated a kidney. The experience was life-changing for me and I felt called to help more people in such a meaningful, profound way.

Two years later, I had my first experience with egg donation. Little did I know that the egg donation journey would completely change the trajectory of my life.

To date, I’ve been a gestational carrier (also known as a surrogate) three times and an egg donor six times. Along the way, I became an expert in the process.

I founded Family Inceptions to help more intended parents start their families, to support other surrogates and egg donors, and to make an impact in the world.

Although I love working with families through Family Incpesions, I also understand that many people are priced out of working with agencies. So I took everything I learned from donating eggs six times, serving as a surrogate three times, earning an MBA, and running the first Black-owned surrogacy and egg donation agency of its kind in the US... and put it all into an easy-to-use, comprehensive course to help intended parents successfully navigate their independent surrogacy journey. I call that course Surrogacy Roadmap.

There are so many wonderful people out there who are longing to become parents, but they can’t physically create or carry a child for one reason or another. Likewise, there are many women out there who are either considering helping intended parents achieve their family goals or who are already involved in the fertility industry as egg donors or surrogates. 

I created the Fertility Cafe podcast as a free resource to answer the biggest questions intended parents, egg donors, and surrogates are facing as they consider third-party reproduction.

Resources

Rate, Review, and Subscribe!

We would be so grateful if you took the time to rate and review our podcast on iTunes! And of course, don’t forget to hit that Subscribe button to have new episodes delivered straight to your feed!

Podcast Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️:

“Beautiful and heartfelt conversations around family building. Can’t wait to hear more!”

What is it really like for egg donors? What are their motivations for donating? What is their experience? How do they feel about known versus anonymous donations? We talked to one egg donor about her take on these questions.

Guest Bio Rai Hyde

Rai is a 6-time egg donor. Despite struggling with long-term health complications due to her donations, she is proud to be an egg donor and looks back on the process and the families she contributed to fondly. She is eager to help other donors or potential donors make the right decisions for themselves knowing the health risks.

Resources

Rate, Review, and Subscribe!

We would be so grateful if you took the time to rate and review our podcast on iTunes! And of course, don’t forget to hit that Subscribe button to have new episodes delivered straight to your feed!

Podcast Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️:

“Beautiful and heartfelt conversations around family building. Can’t wait to hear more!”