Joyce is the Executive Director of the Alliance For Fertility Preservation, a non-profit organization focused on raising awareness and expanding access for cancer patients to fertility preservation information, resources and services.

Tune in as Joyce discusses:

-Her out-of-the-blue cancer diagnosis in her 20s after going to law school and starting her legal career at a firm in Seattle.

-How feeling light headed on a trip to DC, and an unexpected emergency room visit, led to a cancer diagnosis 24 hours later.

-When the talk of future fertility finally came up how she and her husband formulated a plan.

-Their choice of embryo freezing and making the time for it between surgery and chemo.

-The decision to turn to surrogacy.

-The process of selecting a surrogate in California and the news of their twins!

-How she handled juggling her own medical appointments, her surrogate’s medical appointment and, oh yeah, practicing law.

-The turn of events that led to her career change from working for a firm to helping others preserve their fertility after a cancer diagnosis.

-The misperceptions about fertility coverage and how insurance companies’ failure to cover infertility treatments can actually increase rates for everyone.

Want to share your story or ask a question? Call and leave us a message on our hotline: 303-997-1903.

Learn more about our podcast: iwanttoputababyinyou.com


Learn more about our surrogacy agencies: brightfuturesfamilies.com
Learn more about the Alliance For Fertility Preservation: allianceforfertilitypreservation.org

Kevin and his brothers were conceived via sperm donation. This past holiday Kevin took a home DNA test. The results were not what he expected – to say the least – and have led to many a sleepless night.

Listen in as Kevin opens up about:

-What he knew about his family and biological background before the test.

-How he and his brothers first found out that their dad was not their biological father.

-What it was like finding out his brothers were actually half-brothers — wait, what?

-What led him to do a DNA test in the first place.

-The surprising results of his DNA test and what reaching out to some unknown cousins led to.

-The shocking discovery of who his biological father was and what the biological father’s relationship to Kevin’s mother was — you will NOT believe this.

Want to share your story or ask a question? Call and leave us a message on our hotline: 303-997-1903.

Learn more about our podcast: iwanttoputababyinyou.com


Learn more about our surrogacy agencies: brightfuturesfamilies.com

Deb is the Founder and CEO of Embryo Connections. She personally manages matching families looking for a future for their remaining embryos, with those turning to embryo donation to conceive.

Tune in as Deb talks about:

-Why she left her high-powered position managing brands and launching new products for companies such as Quaker Oats and Coca Cola to pursue her passion of helping to create families.

-The moment she realized that life doesn’t have to go in order—meet person of dreams, get married, have baby—and decided to become a single-mom-by-choice.

-The heartbreaking story of how an egg retrieval with 60(!) eggs still didn’t result in a child.

-Her difficult experience with a miscarriage and a chemical twin pregnancy.

-Her diagnosis of Asherman’s Syndrome and how it affected her ability to carry a baby.

-How her amazing infertility journey led her into starting Embryo Connections and then helping so many other people have families!

-How she is addressing embryo donation with her son.

To hear another great podcast episode about embryo donation, tune into Episode 16: One More Shot - Noah and Maya (https://soundcloud.com/iwtpabiy/episode-16-one-more-shot-maya-and-noah).

Want to share your story or ask a question? Call and leave us a message on our hotline: 303-997-1903.

Learn more about our podcast: iwanttoputababyinyou.com


Learn more about our surrogacy agencies: brightfuturesfamilies.com
Learn more about Embryo Connections: embryoconnections.org/

Gestational surrogacy is a journey not just for the gestational carrier but for her family too! Jade and Jahmaya share their story, including the often over-looked perspective of the partner of a gestational carrier.

Listen to Jade and Jahmaya as they discuss:

-How Jade became interested in becoming a gestational surrogate.

-What Jahmaya’s fears and hesitations were when Jade told him she wanted to become a GC.

-What changed his mind a year later.

-The surrogacy screening process — from the GC side and the partner side.

-The shots, the hormones, the psych exam — what it was like for both of them.

-Dealing with the side effects to their sex life (or rather, lack thereof!).

-The reaction of their families.

-How the matching process went and what their relationship with the intended parents was like.

-The labor and the heartwarming birth experience.

Want to share your story or ask a question? Call and leave us a message on our hotline: 303-997-1903.

Learn more about our podcast: iwanttoputababyinyou.com


Learn more about our surrogacy agencies: brightfuturesfamilies.com
Learn more about Ellen’s law firm: trachmanlawcenter.com

Dawn Baker is the founder and Director of US Surrogacy LLC. She enjoys her family of three amazing young adult children and traveling with her husband. Dawn brings significant work experience from the legal field, having worked as a legal assistant for 20 years. Prior to her legal career, she served as a Personnel Specialist in the US Army and as Assistant to the Personnel Director on Yokota Air Base, Japan.

Listen to Dawn as she discusses with Ellen and Jennifer:

-How her 5 years of struggling with secondary infertility led her from being an investor of a surrogacy agency to eventually running a surrogacy agency.

-The shocking and tragic case of international Intended Parents being denied travel visas to get to their baby’s birth.

-The repeated visa denials leading to the parents not only missing the birth but to Dawn taking care of the surrogate baby for 10 weeks!

-The efforts and drama to reach reunification.

-Her second experience with Intended Parents separated from their babies and taking care of them (yes THEM…TWINS!).

-Her advice to International Parents when doing surrogacy to prevent this from happening — or at least help put safeguards in place to help.

Want to share your story or ask a question? Call and leave us a message on our hotline: 303-997-1903.

Learn more about our podcast: iwanttoputababyinyou.com


Learn more about our surrogacy agencies: brightfuturesfamilies.com
Learn more about Ellen’s law firm: trachmanlawcenter.com


Learn more about Dawn's agency: us-surrogacy.com

Amanda is the Business Manager for Colorado Surrogacy. She lives in Colorado with her husband of ten years and two amazing boys. She is a sign language interpreter and an experienced gestational surrogate and now uses her superpowers to help other people with their surrogacy experiences!

Listen as Amanda shares:

• How her sister’s early diagnosis of cancer at 18 months inspired her to become a surrogate.

• Her friend’s story of loss and how it led her to become her surrogate.

• Their experience doing an independent match without an agency.

• The legal issues they ran into without the help of an agency (i.e. trusting someone when they said the GC and IP could share an attorney).

• The double embryo transfer and the scary situation when she started bleeding early in the pregnancy.

• How she finally found her own legal representation after 20 weeks pregnant to put together the Pre-Birth Order.

• The dramatic birth story and what her relationship with the IPs is like now.

• Her motivation behind working with an agency now to help other surrogates.

Want to share your story or ask a question? Call and leave us a message on our hotline: 303-997-1903.

Learn more about our podcast: iwanttoputababyinyou.com


Learn more about our surrogacy agencies: brightfuturesfamilies.com
Learn more about Ellen’s law firm: trachmanlawcenter.com

Hannah has two loving moms and shares her unique story of conception, upbringing and what makes a family.

Listen as Hannah chats about:

• Her unique conception and unconventional family structure.

• Her moms meeting her dad the first time she did (take that in for a minute).

• What happened when the realities of being a sperm donor set in with her donor—there is a real human on the other end!

• How her sperm donor became a very involved part of her life.

• Growing up as donor conceived in an unconventional family and trying to explain it to kids she grew up with — and moving from hiding it to embracing it.

• Dealing with the perils of separated parents …oh and dealing with it while you are in middle school (good times).

• The awesomeness of the donor sibling registry.

• Reaching out to same sex couples on how to help them navigate the experience she went through with their kids.

Want to share your story or ask a question? Call and leave us a message on our hotline: 303-997-1903.

Learn more about our podcast: iwanttoputababyinyou.com


Learn more about our surrogacy agencies: brightfuturesfamilies.com
Learn more about Ellen’s law firm: trachmanlawcenter.com

Cathleen McKenzie was born and raised in a small town in New Brunswick, Canada where she went to school and college. She has carried 4 surrobabies to date and is currently preparing to carry another!

Listen as Cathleen discusses:

• Her experience as a teen mother and her inspiration to become a surrogate.

• How surrogacy works in Canada, including a very different legal landscape from the US.

• Being a traditional surrogate and doing an at home insemination.

• The snags with doing traditional surrogacy in Canada where compensation is illegal — including a lack of resources like agencies and clinics.

• The dramatic story when things took a turn for the worse with her intended parents.

• The intended parents deciding they didn’t want the twin babies anymore around 30 weeks and what she was left to do.

• Her advice to others wanting to be surrogates in Canada — how to protect yourself and the children.

• How her surrogacy experiences went after the first traumatic one and about her incredible future plans.

Want to share your story or ask a question? Call and leave us a message on our hotline: 303-997-1903.

Learn more about our podcast: iwanttoputababyinyou.com


Learn more about our surrogacy agencies: brightfuturesfamilies.com


Learn more about Ellen’s law firm: trachmanlawcenter.com

Ellen Trachman is the Director and Co-Owner of Bright Futures Families, which includes Colorado Surrogacy, New Mexico Surrogacy, Montana Surrogacy, Texas Surrogacy and New England Surrogacy. She is an attorney specialized in family formation law and Managing Director of Trachman Law Center, LLC and the co-host of the I Want To Put A Baby In You Podcast.

Listen as Ellen and her spouse, Will, chat about:

• The 9:00 pm call from the hospital telling them to come in right away.

• Their adventures in Bradley Method classes and preparation for their first child in San Francisco.

• Cramps on the way and in the middle of a court hearing—which, you guessed it, progressed into full-fledged labor (eek)!

• The doula’s TSA violations in an attempt to make the birth.

• AND…a special BONUS interview with the product of that birth, Ellen’s daughter and Jennifer.

Want to share your story or ask a question? Call and leave us a message on our hotline: 303-997-1903.

Learn more about our podcast: iwanttoputababyinyou.com


Learn more about our surrogacy agencies: brightfuturesfamilies.com
Learn more about Ellen’s law firm: trachmanlawcenter.com

Jennifer White is the Director and Co-Owner of Colorado Surrogacy, New Mexico Surrogacy, Montana Surrogacy, Texas Surrogacy and New England Surrogacy. She is also the co-host of the I Want To Put A Baby In You Podcast and a proud infertility survivor.

Listen as Jenn opens up about:

• How she met her husband and how their relationship blossomed.

• Her journey with infertility—the feelings and frustrations along the way and the tests and doctors that followed.

• Her surprise positive pregnancy test and their reaction.

• The phone call to tell them that the triple screen test was abnormal (while her husband was deployed).

• Her strange medical problem and the horrors of dealing with a completely inappropriate perinatologist.

• Her dramatic labor and birth story (including no option for an epidural, a power outage and an emergency c-section).

• The emotional homecoming with her husband and baby after returning from deployment.

• AND…a special BONUS interview with Ellen’s daughter (7) and Jennifer’s daughter (11).

Want to share your story or ask a question? Call and leave us a message on our hotline: 303-997-1903.

Learn more about our podcast: iwanttoputababyinyou.com


Learn more about our surrogacy agencies: brightfuturesfamilies.com
Learn more about Ellen’s law firm: trachmanlawcenter.com