This is Part 1 in a 3-part episode with Rachel, a surrogate who has delivered 5 babies for their intended parents. In this episode, Rachel tells her story of starting as an egg donor, and then as a traditional surrogate. There were many bumps in the road, but Rachel's tenacity and strength are inspiring.

Steve is a father through surrogacy, and he and his wife Jen welcomed baby Holly in 2016. I interviewed Steve and Jen's surrogate, Bec, earlier in the podcast. Steve reflects on his journey as an intended father, and managing the challenges of infertility, and surrogacy, particularly with an interstate surrogate.

Marnie B is a gestational surrogate for interstate intended parents. Marnie and her team did a mammoth amount of research and preparation prior to proceeding with the arrangement, and the preparation is paying off. If you are thinking about becoming a surrogate, I recommend listening to Marnie's interview and taking note of all her amazing wisdom.

Sarah and Anna presented this session to the Australian Surrogacy Conference in June. You'll hear from Sarah with a broad overview of the surrogacy process in Australia, and then you'll hear Anna talking about how to make connections and build strong foundations for a positive surrogacy journey within Australia.

Charmaine was a gestational surrogate and birthed James for his parents in 2017. Not everything was sunshine and rainbows, and Charmaine has a lot of wisdom for other intended parents and surrogates.

Amanda was a traditional surrogate for her friends Dhusk and Tim, and gave birth to Sailor earlier this year. Traditional surrogacy, where a surrogate uses her own egg, is less common than gestational surrogacy, and can be a different dynamic and journey.

Sara is a Canadian gestational surrogate for Australian intended parents. She gave birth to baby Logan in January, and recently traveled to Australia and spent time with Logan and his parents. She also attend the Australian Surrogacy Conference and supported the Australian Surrogacy Sisterhood Day in Sydney.

Brett and Stuart conceived baby Findlay with the help of a surrogacy in Canada. But things did not go to plan, and Findlay had to arrive at 25 weeks, due to his surrogate suffering with pre-eclampsia. As a result, Brett and Stuart up-ended their lives in Sydney, and lived in Canada for more than 5 months, until Findlay was big and strong enough to travel home to Australia.

Sarah sat down and chatted with Sheridon Byrne, a Melbourne-based Doula, to talk about Sarah's surrogacy journey. Sheridon provides Doula services to the queer community, and we talked about how surrogacy can be an option to grow a family.

Henry & Lisa are well-known in the surrogacy community, both for their support of other intended parents and surrogates, but also for their senses of humour. In this episode, we chat about the upcoming birth of their baby, conceived through egg donation and surrogacy, and how they've traversed the infertility terrain.