Pregnancy Loss Awareness Month is in October, but we all know that this devastating experience affects countless people throughout the year. Some estimate that 1 in 4 experience miscarriage and no matter how common it may be, it is still misunderstood, taboo in some circles and incredibly painful.  

In 2014, after a 16 week pregnancy loss, Psychologist Dr. Jessica Zucker was compelled to change the conversation around miscarriage and created a campaign called "I had a miscarriage." She never expected the idea to take off so widely, and she now spends her time counseling and supporting people through loss through her private practice, her writing and her popular Instagram page.  

On this episode, Andrea sits down with Dr. Jessica to explore the topic of miscarriage and the grief that accompanies it for all involved -- not just the woman who was carrying the baby. 

They also explore how we can better support others, including ourselves, through this tough experience so that we are able to honor those who we've lost while being able to move forward.

We conclude the program with singer-songwriter Andrea England's song, 'I Won't Forget About You'.

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Infertility advocate Aprill Lane always knew that she wanted to have four children; but when she and her husband were diagnosed with Unexplained Infertility in their 20s, she turned to endless IVF cycles and adoption to build her family. A decade of treatments and trying later, Aprill and her partner welcomed their fifth child spontaneously. 

Today, Aprill's made history as one of the first women in the country (and the world) to donate her uterus to another woman, who she doesn't know, who has also faced infertility. 

On this episode, we hear about Aprill's wild path to parenthood, how she responded to unsolicited advice while trying to get and stay pregnant, and why she was compelled to undergo many months of preparation and a nine hour surgery to give another woman the opportunity to carry a child. 

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On this episode of the Pregnantish Podcast, Andrea explores a chapter of her own family building story: gestational surrogacy. Contrary to popular belief, this process is still somewhat rare, with approximately 750 gestational surrogacy births a year in the United States.

Unlike traditional surrogacy, which is less common today, gestational surrogacy occurs when the surrogate is not genetically related to the embryo she is carrying. The "Intended Parents" have undergone IVF, with their own genetic material (or potentially a donor egg or sperm), to produce an embryo that will be transferred into the gestational carrier's uterus.

On "When Your Mother Births Your Baby" Andrea sits down with Julie Loving and Breanna Lockwood, a mother and daughter who are expecting a baby in November. If that sounds unusual...it is! There are few cases where a mother is in the right shape to deliver a baby for her child.

Tune in to hear why Breanna, who was only 26 when she started trying to conceive, got to the point where she needed to find a surrogate, how her mother got involved, all the misconceptions they've faced as they've gone public (and viral!) with their family story, and how they're dealing with all of the unknowns around a pregnancy and delivery during a worldwide pandemic. 

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Third-party reproduction, egg and sperm donation, is becoming more popular as the number of singles, infertile couples and members of the LGBT community build their families with the help of fertility treatments.

The first known baby born via egg donor was in the early 1980s. Just a few decades old, there’s still a lot we don’t know about egg donation. However, what we do know is that more agencies and donors pop up every year as the demand increases and there’s a lot of interest in this category, from intended parents, potential donors and from people born via egg donation.

In this episode, Andrea sits down with Michelle, who donated her eggs at 22 and now at 33 faces infertility and wonders if she will need to find an egg donor. (Spoiler: Her eggs are no longer at the clinics she donated to. She called to find out!) 

Andrea also interviews former New York Times columnist and author of "The Trying Game", Amy Klein, who discusses the trend of egg donation, both as someone who benefited from it and as a journalist who has covered this growing trend. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.