In this episode, I am chatting with Kate and Karyne Levy creators and hosts of the Gayest Show on Birth podcast. Kate and Karyne met on OkCupid in 2014 married in 2016, and shortly thereafter began their adventure to build their family through reciprocal IVF. Kate is the Partnerships Marketing Manager at Babylist, a universal baby registry. Karyne is the Editorial News Manager for book subscription site Scribd. They live in the Bay Area with their two cats, two dogs, and a lemon tree that just won't grow. Oh, and a spoon collection.

Kate and Karyne share what exactly reciprocal IVF is, why they decided to choose an anonymous sperm donor, how they handled questions and comments from friends and family, addressing issues with diversity, privilege and language use in the fertility and reproductive community and their advice for anyone going through this process.  Kate and Karyne also tell us why they created their podcast and what going through IVF in real time on the show is like.

In this episode, I am talking with Katie Stickles-Wynen. Katie is a Pre-Placement Adoption Specialist, LGBTQ Advocate, and transracial/international adoptee (adopted from Colombia by white parents) who has worked with the adoption community (specifically with adoptees and pre-adoptive/adoptive parents). With adoptive parents, Katie creates space for them to share their joys and fears while also guiding them to understand the complexities of adoption and what the experience means for their children, now and in the future. One-on-one and in group settings, Katie has worked with adoptees ranging from age 5-65 and draws on her own experience as an adoptee to connect with them and create a safe space to share, connect, and explore feelings around adoption and race. Katie has experience working with both transracial (parents adopting across racial lines) and same-race (parents who share their adopted children's racial identity) families. Katie and I talk about her experience as a transracial adoptee both as a child and now as an adult, what we need to consider regarding race, adoption and trauma, and the way Katie and her wife define and are continuing to build their modern family.

Welcome to The Fertile Nest podcast! My name is Katie Lynch and I am a therapist, fertility advocate and modern family builder. Want to know why exactly I created this podcast? This episode shares my story and what led me to create The Fertile Nest. 

I would love to hear YOUR story. Head on over to www.fertilenest.com to share it with me. You can also connect with me on Twitter or Instagram