This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear the full conversation, visit keelysemler.substack.com.

Today’s guest is board-certified OB/GYN Dr. Ono Nseyo. We cover a wide range of women’s health topics, from birth control to the lack of women’s health research. We also talk about the gaps in prenatal nutrition education in medical training and the missed opportunities this creates for clinicians. We explore the importance of shared decision-making with patients, including how Dr. Nseyo navigates situations when a patient’s choice differs from her medical recommendation.

One of the reasons I love this conversation is that Dr. Ono never pretends to have all the answers. Her honesty and humility are refreshing, especially in a field where overconfidence can overshadow curiosity and connection.

In the extended interview, Dr. Nseyo speaks candidly about the pressures and limitations of modern medicine, the need to honor matrescence (the profound physical, psychological and emotional process of becoming a mother) and why postpartum care deserves more attention and support from clinicians.

Resources from this episode:

* For more on women’s health research, check out this episode with Katie Schubert from the Society for Women’s Health Research.

* Read this article on how insurance companies are medicalizing the role of doulas to profit from them.

* Join us for a roundtable discussion with Dr. Nseyo and midwife Nancy Beyda.

Dr. Ono Nseyo is a board-certified OB/GYN and Medical Director of Women’s Health for Sutter East Bay Medical Group, where she leads efforts to expand access and equity in healthcare. Rooted in advocacy and compassion, her practice bridges clinical expertise with a deep commitment to maternal health and systemic change. She is also the host of Golden Hour.FM, a podcast that amplifies the many different voices and experiences of childbirth.

If you love the Motherlands Podcast, please help us keep it alive by becoming a paid subscriber at keelysemler.substack.com.

4:15 Birth control

9:09 Keely’s experience of being pushed to take birth control for hormonal acne in adolescence & the need more women’s health research

14:17 The black hole of nutrition in Western medical school

20:13 Med school: from an algorithmic binary approach to patient-centered, shared decision-making care

24:16 What is medical informed consent?

27:09 Honoring patient autonomy

43:27 The difficulties and frustrations of being a medical professional

Behind Closed Doors Extended Interview Includes:

44:24 How medical insurance companies negatively impact the way doctors are able to care for their patients

48:50 Matrescence & the need to invest resources in postpartum care

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– Leave a review on Apple Podcasts– Subscribe to Motherlands on Substack– Follow us on YouTube– Share an episode with a friend

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear the full conversation, visit keelysemler.substack.com.

Nadine Artemis, founder of Living Libations, reflects on how modern culture places our senses in a hierarchy, often prioritizing the visual while neglecting the richness of the others. She invites us to consider beauty not just as appearance, but as a full body experience; a harmony of scent, sound, touch, and presence. We talk about living in deeper relationship with nature, and how that connection can support a more vibrant, embodied life. Our conversation covers topics like the rise of “millennial menopause” in women who are currently in their 30s, how to embrace winter while still supporting vitamin D synthesis, and the relationship between circadian rhythm, mitochondrial health, and hormone balance. In the extended episode, we discuss heartbreak, love, babies, and the intimacy that shapes us.

Nadine Artemis is the author of Renegade Beauty and Holistic Dental Care and the creator of Living Libations, a pure and luxurious line of organic oral care, botanical beauty care, and medicinal elixirs often called the “holy grail” of wholesome skincare. Artemis is an innovative aromacologist, and her healing formulations and her concept of renegade beauty encourage effortlessness and inspire people to rethink conventional notions of wellness and beauty.

This podcast is only made possible by the support of this community. Show you support by becoming paid subscriber at keelysemler.substack.com.

3:26 An ecosystem of nurturing

4:14 Beauty as a union

8:21 Being valued & valuing yourself internally

10:21 Investing in your “is-ness” to release control

13:57 Womanhood, mothering, body knowledge, and changes in societal family norms

20:35 Getting to the root of health issues

24:53 Self-discovery, hormones, and mitochondrial health

32:01 Circadian rhythm as the foundation of our biology

Behind Closed Doors Extended Interview includes:

38:53 Skin, melanin, and the need for Vitamin D sufficiency

41:50 Making time and space for rest

43:09 Building resilience

46:48 Carrying forward the faith in life and your relationship with yourself

47:23 Love, heartbreak, and intimacy

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– Leave a review on Apple Podcasts– Subscribe to Motherlands on Substack– Follow us on YouTube– Share an episode with a friend

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear the full conversation, visit keelysemler.substack.com.

I have spent a great deal of time thinking about and honestly, grappling with, the sex industry and today’s narratives around sexual liberation. It’s often marketed as glamorous and empowering for women, but I’ve found myself questioning who it actually serves, and at what cost.

In today’s episode, I’m joined by Dr. Rebecca Whisnant, a professor of philosophy at the University of Dayton. We talk about feminism, what it really means, and how the word has been misunderstood, misused, and in many ways stripped of its integrity. Instead of being a movement to end all forms of oppression, feminism is now often co-opted to sell capitalistic and patriarchal ideas.

We also explore the language we use around the sex industry, like the term sex work, and how it can obscure the realities of systems built on exploitation. Dr. Whisnant shares insight on how pornography and prostitution are connected to broader public health issues, especially for young people who are growing up in a culture shaped by these influences.

Rebecca Whisnant is a professor of philosophy at the University of Dayton, where her research and teaching focus on ethics and feminist social theory. She co-edited the anthology Not For Sale: Feminists Resisting Prostitution and Pornography, and her recent articles include “Pornography, humiliation, and consent” and “But what about feminist porn?: Examining the work of Tristan Taormino.” Dr. Whisnant is vice president of the board of directors for Culture Reframed, a national nonprofit organization addressing pornography as the public health crisis of the digital age.

This podcast is only made possible by the support of this community. Show you support by becoming paid subscriber at keelysemler.substack.com.

3:57 Defining feminism

5:38 Contradictions in the connotations of “feminism”

8:51 Are sexuality and pornography empowerment or exploitation?

13:17 How to critique the sex industry without shaming someone who is forced to work in it

16:07 The social costs of sexual commodification

20:44 Informed consent & choice: Is agency truly possible in the porn industry?

25:06 The impact of porn on intimacy & relationships

30:16 How porn dictates women’s experience and removes pleasure, safety, and enjoyment

33:43 Sex robots and porn: how they avoid the human elements of relationship and connection and don’t solve loneliness

Behind Closed Doors Extended Interview includes:

37:21 Hyper-capitalism, fascism, pornography, and the patriarchy are fodder for our loss of human decency

42:03 The competing demands of sexual visibility and “liberation”

45:14 How the sex industry exists because of men and their choices, not women and their choices

48:43 Culture Reframed and the plethora of feminist literature that remains relevant and urgent

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Your support keeps The Motherlands alive. Paid subscriptions help me to keep doing this work full-time, offering real support to women through life’s biggest moments.

Can’t subscribe right now? You can still help…

– Leave a review on Apple Podcasts– Subscribe to Motherlands on Substack– Follow us on YouTube– Share an episode with a friend

If your brand aligns with empowering women, let’s partner! Reach out at [email protected].

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear the full conversation, visit keelysemler.substack.com.

This week’s guest is Klara Hascakova, an Oxford educated systems designer whose work helps women reimagine the structures of their lives so they can live, lead, and create from a place of inner truth.

I first encountered Klara through her appearance on the podcast In My Non-Expert Opinion with Chelsea Riffe. What initially drew me in was the way she spoke with humor and openness about her approach to “gamifying” life. At first, I wasn’t sure what to make of it. The world feels so heavy, why would we turn it into a game? But something in her tone felt like a gentle invitation. Perhaps, I thought, we are somehow capable holding complexity while still making room in our lives for creativity and play. Given how emotionally heavy my work in reproductive health and doula care can be, her perspective felt like a refreshing palette cleanser, something that brought a sense of lightness and clarity.

I reached out to Klara, curious to learn more about who she is and what she offers and discovered that she was in the final months of her first pregnancy. It felt kismet that we were able to record this conversation while she stood at the threshold of motherhood.

We explore the ways in which our cultural systems, especially those related to health, productivity, and identity, often overlook the needs, rhythms, and realities of women. While this can be disheartening, Klara offers an imaginative path forward: one in which we use intuition and play to re-design the ways we care for ourselves and one another. Her work gently asks: What would it look like to build systems that nourish rather than deplete, ones that support wholeness rather than demand performance?

This conversation is for anyone seeking a more humane and liberated way of being, especially those who live and work within systems not built with them in mind.

This podcast is only made possible by the support of this community. Please show you support by becoming paid subscriber at keelysemler.substack.com.

3:28 Not fitting within systems

4:51 Inner work to counteract external harmful systems

6:38 Pregnancy as a transformation into the sensual feminine

8:26 The duality of the “mother” archetype

10:11 Unlearning myths and allowing for unpredictable experiences

12:18 Name patterns, numerology, sounds, and our energetic identities

22:53 Numbers, integration, and energetic maintenance work

29:41 How to be powerful and loving in systems that don’t love

30:30 Intuitive knowing and self-understanding through name patterns

32:11 We need connection, not self-fixing and technology

36:15 Shedding inherited roles & family systems

Paid Extended Interview (Behind Closed Doors, our subscriber community) includes:

40:27 Money name patterns & wealth beyond money

41:54 Pleasure and presence in pregnancy and motherhood

47:03 Perceiving ourselves as the magical beings we really are

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Your support keeps The Motherlands alive. Paid subscriptions help me to keep doing this work full-time, offering real support to women through life’s biggest moments.

Can’t subscribe right now? You can still help…

– Leave a review on Apple Podcasts– Subscribe to Motherlands on Substack– Follow us on YouTube– Share an episode with a friend

If your brand aligns with empowering women, let’s collaborate! Reach out at [email protected].

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear the full conversation, visit keelysemler.substack.com.

In this episode, I’m joined by Ladybird Morgan and Sonya Dolan of Mettle Health, where we explore what it means to accompany others through dying, grief, and the tender work of being human.

You might be wondering why I recorded an episode on death and grief, and how that fits into Motherlands, which began as a resource for the families I support through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.

What I’ve slowly come to realize is that Motherlands has grown into a deeper calling to hold honest, sometimes uncomfortable, conversations on caregiving as a personal, collective, and ecological practice.

As someone who has walked closely with death in my own life, I no longer want to meet it with fear. And the more I talk about it, the more I realize it’s something we need to discuss openly as a community.

I know this episode might not be the easiest one to press play on. But sometimes the conversations we avoid are the ones we need the most. Because the truth is, death touches all of us. It doesn’t wait for the right moment.It doesn’t ask permission. It arrives suddenly, messy, and it changes everything.

We talk about how to show up for someone in deep loss.How to comfort them, without trying to fix anything; by being a loving presence.How to support children in understanding what death means.How to be with people whose pain might look different than yours.

These are the life skills that aren’t really taught but all of us will need.

Sonya’s path into hospice and palliative care began with personal loss, shaped further by her own experience as a breast cancer survivor. With a background in hospice administration, she co-founded Mettle Health alongside BJ Miller, and brings a rare, heart-forward perspective on caregiving both professionally and personally.

Ladybird is a nurse, social worker, and end of life care practitioner with over two decades of experience supporting people through profound life transitions. She’s worked with organizations like Mettle Health, Doctors Without Borders, Zen Hospice Project, and co-founded The Humane Prison Hospice Project. Her work is rooted in contemplative practice, psychedelic care, and deep presence.

This podcast is only made possible by the support of this community. Please show you support by becoming paid subscriber at keelysemler.substack.com.

3:22 The gap areas in end-of-life care

10:25 Seeing people’s wholeness, both inside and outside of systems

14:34 How to offer support to someone dealing with health issues

21:16 Talking to children about death

31:39 Cultural and moral understanding of death and its impact on care

36:12 Embracing vs fearing or avoiding death

Behind Closed Doors Extended Interview includes:

43:57 Creating space for conversations around suffering and pain

50:05 How to allow for end-of-life conversations with clinicians and families

56:15 Finding ways to connect through terminal illness

1:01:18 Keeping a loved one alive after their death

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METTLE HEALTH

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Your support keeps The Motherlands alive. Paid subscriptions help me to keep doing this work full-time, offering real support to women through life’s biggest moments.

Can’t subscribe right now? You can still help…

– Leave a review on Apple Podcasts– Subscribe to Motherlands on Substack– Follow us on YouTube– Share an episode with a friend

If your brand aligns with empowering women, let’s collaborate! Reach out at [email protected].

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear the full conversation, visit keelysemler.substack.com.

This week, I’m honored to share a conversation I had with Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, an evolutionary anthropologist and primatologist whose work has powerfully shifted the way we understand what it means to be human.

Sarah invites us to look at the myths surrounding maternal instinct and what society deems "natural” and to imagine something more truthful and compassionate. We explore the lives of our hunter-gatherer ancestors, not as some primitive past, but as a mirror that reflects what we still need today, that is…connection, cooperation, and shared care.

In this episode, we talk about the vital role of alloparents, those who care for children that aren’t their own. These relationships, Sarah reminds us, are not exceptions but part of an ancient, resilient design that helped our species survive.

The insights she offers personally moved me deeply, like adoptive mothers produce the same love-anchored hormones as biological ones, and that today’s girls are reaching puberty far earlier than ever before, raising questions that touch both science and the heart of our culture.

This conversation is a gentle unraveling of assumptions and a return to what’s most human in all of us. Perhaps the most striking takeaway from this discussion was that Sarah explains there was a time when only 12,000 breeding humans walked the Earth. Life was unimaginably harsh yet from that period of immense hardship, came our greatest strength as a species: flexibility, cooperation, and care.

Her observations as a primatologist and anthropologist made me realize that the challenges we face today aren’t modern at all. And the solutions may not be found in using technology, but rather, in re-centering the social structures that have always sustained us as human beings.

Sarah’s warmth, intellect, and fierce curiosity shine through every word she shares. Her work is a reminder that if we want families to thrive, then we really need support to be front and center within our culture. This conversation left me feeling more hopeful than I’ve felt in a long time… and I’m deeply grateful to share it with you here.

*Correction: In the interview, Sarah Hrdy would like to clarify two points. First, the Pleistocene epoch is now widely recognized to have begun approximately 2.6 million years ago, not 1.8 million years ago as stated. Second, in reference to matrilineal societies, the correct figure is that approximately 15 percent of known societies worldwide have been matrilineal, not 15 individual societies. These matrilineal societies were also commonly matrilocal first, with women remaining in or near their natal communities.

Sarah Blaffer Hrdy is an anthropologist and primatologist whose work has significantly influenced evolutionary psychology and maternal behavior. Her research on primate behavior and human evolution has provided profound insights into the biological and social underpinnings of maternal instincts, gender roles, and reproductive strategies. Hrdy’s theories have challenged traditional views and opened new avenues for understanding human behavior from an evolutionary standpoint.

You can listen to Sarah’s TED Talk: Are we still human if robots help raise our babies?

This podcast is only made possible by the support of this community. Becoming a paid subscriber helps me continue producing meaningful conversations. Join at keelysemler.substack.com.

2:32 Maternal instinct and environmental factors

6:53 Alloparenting and networks

14:34 The costs and difficulty of birth, from apes to humans

23:18 Bonding for humans versus animals

26:38 Placentas: to eat or not to eat?

31:24 Impact of environment on the autonomic nervous system and fertility rates

35:19 The organizational structures that matrilineal and patrilineal societies create

41:22 The costly nature of human brain development

44:46 From a collective cmmunity of civic-mindedness to a community of domineering

50:05 Citrona farms

55:10 Leisure, play, and creativity in primates

57:22 Men are fully capable of caring for babies safely and independently, and often do.

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Your support keeps The Motherlands alive. Paid subscriptions cover editing, production, and help me keep doing this work full-time, offering real support to women through life’s biggest moments.

Can’t subscribe right now? You can still help…

– Leave a review on Apple Podcasts– Subscribe to Motherlands on Substack– Follow us on YouTube– Share an episode with a friend

If your brand aligns with empowering women, let’s collaborate! Reach out at [email protected].

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear the full conversation, visit keelysemler.substack.com.

So many of us grew up learning how to take care of everyone but ourselves. We were taught to be helpful, selfless, polite… “good girls”. But no one ever pulled us aside to ask, “What brings you joy? What makes you feel good in your body and in your spirit?”

This episode with Kiana Reeves is an invitation to pause and ask those questions.

Because here’s the truth: pleasure isn’t a luxury. It’s not just about sex (though yes we’re going there too). Pleasure is about knowing yourself, your needs, boundaries and desires and refusing to apologize for them.

If you’re new, thank you for being here. Motherlands is a space for women finding their way through life’s many thresholds. It’s about exploring what it means to take care of ourselves, to mother ourselves, even if it has nothing to do with becoming a mother, and everything to do with growing into who we’re meant to be.

In this episode, we unpack the stories we’ve inherited about womanhood and sex and why so many men seem lost right now. We take a look at patriarchy’s impact on all of us and what that means for intimacy in modern culture. We talk about reclaiming pleasure, power, and sense of self. Big questions, real talk, zero judgment… just an honest conversation between women.

In the bonus episode, I’ll share some old beliefs I’ve carried about who gets to feel good, to rest, and to simply enjoy life… and how I’m learning to release them. Maybe you’ll hear something that feels familiar. And maybe it’s time we both let a few things go together.

Kiana Reeves has supported women in coming home to themselves through love, touch, healing, and deep connection. Her work blends heart, body, and spirit, offering down to earth, holistic support around sex, relationships, intimacy, and self trust. Kiana creates spaces where women can reconnect with their bodies, reclaim pleasure, and feel safe in their own skin. She’s trained as a Somatic Sex Educator, Sexological Bodyworker, Intimacy and Embodiment Teacher, Pelvic Health Practitioner, Full Spectrum Doula and she’s also a mama to two boys.

This podcast is made possible by the support of this community. If the work speaks to you and you’re able, becoming a paid subscriber helps me keep going and gives you access to Behind Closed Doors, our private space for deeper, more honest conversations. You can join at keelysemler.substack.com.

4:19 Myths about pleasure

8:06 Pleasure, self-understanding, and safety

12:29 Sensation is the language of the body

15:53 Cultural conditioning, collective inheritance, and capitalized pleasure

18:37 Pleasure needs support, and motherhood is not resourced

23:05 Gendered differences in nervous systems and socialization

28:27 Tracing the roots of the patriarchy: who and what is mine?

34:29 Routine vs intentional intimacy

39:40 Sex vs pleasure education

42:07 Media and porn’s influence on how we perceive pleasure and relationships

50:18 Finding pleasure after sexual assault

54:26 Where to find Kiana’s work

55:08 Letting go of the idea that only “good girls” deserve pleasure

59:04 Communication and vulnerability

1:00:29 Creative environments and lifestyles conducive with rest and pleasure

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Your support keeps The Motherlands alive. Paid subscriptions cover editing, production, and help me keep doing this work full-time, offering real support to women through life’s biggest moments.

Can’t subscribe right now? No worries! You can still help by:

– Leave a review on Apple Podcasts– Subscribe to Motherlands on Substack– Follow us on YouTube– Share an episode with a friend

If your brand aligns with empowering women, let’s collaborate! Reach out at [email protected].

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear the full conversation, visit keelysemler.substack.com.

Today we are joined by Kerrilynn Pamer, Founder of CAP Beauty, a compassionate humanitarian and activist, and evocative writer behind the Substack Coyote Swan.

If you’re new, welcome and thank you for being here. Motherlands is a space for women navigating life’s many thresholds. It’s a place to explore the practice of mothering oneself, in ways that may have nothing to do with becoming a mother, yet everything to do with nurturing who we are becoming.

In this deeply moving conversation, Kerrilynn shares her personal journey through conception, loss, and the unexpected path that followed.

Kerrilynn speaks with striking vulnerability about conception, the heartbreak of two attempted adoptions, and what it means to be childless in a world that rarely makes space for or gives voice to that lived experience. With softness and grace, she draws us into a quiet, often unseen landscape of womanhood that isn’t defined by motherhood, yet is deeply shaped by the longing for it.

We explore the emotional terrain so many women walk in silence; the nuance between being childless and childfree, the impermanence woven into every stage of a woman’s life, and the aching truth that life waits for no one. And still, even in the unexpected places we never imagined ourselves landing, beauty abounds.

As women, I believe we are being called to hold other women’s experiences with deeper reverence and become more fluent in tender conversations… to sit with stories that don’t resolve easily, and to show up not with solutions, but with loving presence. When we listen, without needing to fix, we create room for connection and deeper understanding.

In the bonus episode, we explore cultural movements like trad wives and MAHA, as well as chat about current tv shows, movies and other musings that are lighting us up right now.

This conversation is unfiltered and deeply honest… the kind that reminds us we’re never truly alone. Kerrilynn’s story broadens the lens on reproductive health and identity, offering space for the complexities we don’t often name. She reminds us that there are many ways to carry love, loss, and meaning and that every path deserves to be seen, heard and held.

Kerrilynn Pamer is the founder and CEO of CAP Beauty, which she opened in the West Village in 2015. With a background in interior design and a career that began at Martha Stewart Living, she has spent over two decades exploring the intersection of beauty, critical thinking, and self-care. Kerrilynn is deeply passionate about the complexities of this relationship, which continues to shape her work at CAP Beauty.

This podcast is made possible by the support of listeners like you. I truly couldn’t continue this work without your help. If you believe in empowering and educating women and families through their reproductive journeys, I’d love for you to join our community as a paid subscriber. As a member, you'll get exclusive access to Behind Closed Doors, our private space where we go deeper into the unseen layers of what it means to be a woman. Join us keelysemler.substack.com.

5:12 The difference between childfree vs childless

8:44 Raising awareness & improving access to fertility options

13:27 Thoughts on adoption

1730 Navigating silent comparisons and isolation

22:52 The toxicity and privilege behind “spiritual solutions”

29:28 How fertility journey impacts relationship with partner

30:47 Redirection of energy & purpose

35:29 Family outside the traditional structure

36:39 How to respond and support someone else’s grief

37:24 Rituals for self nourishment & healing

40:45 Art & hobbies that feel like a breath of fresh air

45:01 Investigating trad wife movement & MAHA

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CAP BEAUTY

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Support The Motherlands Podcast & Reproductive Health Advocacy

Your support keeps The Motherlands Podcast alive. Paid subscriptions help cover the cost of editing and production, and sustain my full-time work as a reproductive health educator and mentor. With your help, I can continue offering meaningful resources to women navigating life’s most tender thresholds.

If a paid subscription isn’t possible right now, there are still beautiful ways to support this work:– Leave a review on Apple Podcasts– Subscribe to Motherlands on Substack– Follow us on YouTube– Share an episode with a friend

If your brand shares our mission to empower women and families, we’d love to collaborate. Get in touch [email protected]

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear the full conversation, visit keelysemler.substack.com.

If you're exploring fertility options or know someone who is, this episode is a must listen.

This week, we're joined by Kallie Fell, MS, BSN, RN, Executive Director of the Center for Bioethics and Culture Network to unpack Big Fertility. Kallie brings a wealth of experience as a perinatal nurse, shedding light on the overlooked aspects of assisted reproductive technologies (ART).

In our conversation, we delve into the lack of regulation and transparency in the fertility industry, the ethical concerns surrounding egg freezing, IVF and surrogacy, and the pressing need for a restorative, preventive approach to reproductive health. Kallie emphasizes that true healthcare means addressing the root causes of infertility, not just offering “high-tech solutions” that are not accessible to everyone.

This episode challenges us to rethink our approach to reproductive health and consider the human rights implications of ART. It's a conversation that calls for greater accountability in how we support individuals and families on their fertility journeys.

This episode compliments my latest piece on how our over reliance on technology short circuits embodied knowledge and what that means for our fertility and wellbeing. Spoiler: reconnecting with our bodies is a public health necessity.

If you're navigating fertility decisions or advocating for better healthcare practices, please share this episode. Let's continue to have these nuanced conversations and work towards a more informed and ethical approach to reproductive health.

To my clients who’ve undergone IVF this message is for you:

I deeply appreciate the trust you’ve placed in me as your doula and educator, and I honor the experiences you’ve lived through. This episode is shared with full respect and compassion for your journey. At the same time, many individuals and families deserve greater transparency and equity when accessing assisted reproductive technology. From a public health and human rights perspective, everyone pursuing IVF deserves dignity, autonomy, and clear information.

Kallie Fell started her career in reproductive science at Vanderbilt’s OBGYN department, after earning her Master’s in Science from Purdue with an emphasis in Reproductive Physiology and Molecular Biology. While researching endometriosis and preterm birth, she pursued her nursing degree, driven by a desire to support women directly as a perinatal nurse. Kallie began volunteering at the Center for Bioethics and Culture in 2018 and over the next few years, she progressed from volunteer writer to Research Associate and today leads the organization as its Executive Director.

Unlock an exclusive, deep-dive conversation with Kallie Fell available only to Behind Closed Doors subscribers. We explore ectogenesis (artificial wombs) and its emotional and physical implications when a mother’s body is separated from her baby. As a subscriber, you’ll also get access to bonus content, including my personal reflections as a women’s health educator, mentor, and doula; designed to enrich your understanding and connection to your body and your choices.

By subscribing, you're directly supporting independent storytelling and sustaining meaningful public‑health dialogue. You’ll help cover production costs and ensure these essential conversations continue. If you value honest storytelling and perspectives that often go unheard, join our community at keelysemler.substack.com.

4:43 Further education and conversations needed around fertility

11:03 Egg freezing: limitations, process, attrition, and selling hope

15:51 Ethical implications of employer egg-freezing benefits

17:19 The cost of freezing eggs

19:14 Egg count, reproductive years, and hormones

22:49 Long-term impacts of IVF medications

24:55 Preimplantation genetic testing and eugenics

28:06 What transparency do we owe children born via ART?

29:37 Surrogacy: contracts, consent, commercialization & costs

36:01 Surrogacy is inherent risk & commodification

37:51 How do we come to terms with the cost on surrogate mothers and babies?

40:21 The exacerbation of the class divide through eugenics

41:51 Unused embryos and parental rights

43:58 Should surrogacy have age limits?

44:49 Transparency and risk of embryo storage and use

45:45 Ectogenesis, artificial wombs, and the risk of “harvesting” life

49:18 What does artificial birth mean for embodiment, connection, and parenthood?

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Support The Motherlands Podcast & Reproductive Health Advocacy

Your paid subscription helps sustain The Motherlands Podcast by covering editing, production, and supports my full-time work as a doula, educator, and mentor. This enables me to continue offering valuable resources to families everywhere.

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If you're part of a brand or organization that shares our mission to empower women, families, caregiving, and maternal wellness, we'd love to collaborate. We’re open to partnerships, sponsorships, and creative projects with aligned values. Interested? Email [email protected]

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear the full conversation, visit keelysemler.substack.com.

This week I’m thrilled to be joined by Taylor Mckay Smith, a mother, model, and doula, for a powerful conversation about beauty, resilience, and reclaiming the narrative of womanhood.

In this extended conversation, Taylor reflects on how her experiences in modeling and motherhood have reshaped her understanding of beauty. She candidly discusses the pressures of the fashion industry's external gaze, sharing that her first modeling job was for a wrinkle campaign at just 15 years old.

We also explore how social media influences cultural expectations around beauty and self-worth, and the intentional ways Taylor protects her well-being online.

Taylor reflects on the lessons she’s carried forward from her own upbringing, and what she’s chosen to unlearn. She also opens up about her long journey to receiving an endometriosis diagnosis; the struggle to be heard, the relief of being believed, and the healing path she’s found since.

This is a tender conversation about redefining beauty, trusting your inner wisdom, and standing firmly in your truth.

Taylor McKay Smith is a Canadian model and photographer. She is also a trained birth doula, wellness counselor and passionate women’s health advocate. Based in Los Angeles, she cherishes time in nature with her husband and children.Taylor has spoken at events like the Path to Parenthood Summit on body image during pregnancy and postpartum, and co-hosted Elevate Women’s Health Pregnancy Roundtable. She recently co-created Haven for Moms, a pop-up sanctuary supporting mothers affected by the LA wildfires.Taylor is also the co-host of The Mother Circle podcast, launching soon. Across all her work, Taylor remains dedicated to redefining how we support, see, and celebrate women and mothers.

Join us for an extended, intimate conversation with Taylor McKay Smith available exclusively to Behind Closed Doors subscribers where Taylor shares candid insights into her journey, offering a deeper look at the experiences and lessons that have shaped her path. Subscribers also receive access to additional content, including personal reflections from me as a women’s health educator, mentor, and doula.

Your subscription supports the heart of this work, covering production costs and helping sustain meaningful, independent content for a growing community. If you value honest storytelling and perspectives that often go unheard, I invite you to join us at keelysemler.substack.com.

6:10 The transformation of Taylor’s understanding of beauty

11:03 Balancing the fashion industry’s external gaze with internal beauty

13:54 Commenting on someone else’s body

16:29 “Bouncing back”

18:07 Discernment

24:12 Protecting your well-being while engaging with social media

26:05 Mom burnout

28:09 Embracing and unlearning: Mothering is an inside job

40:25 Surrendering control and befriending fear

47:55 Identity and purpose after motherhood

49:24 Haven for Moms

55:05 Endometriosis: from diagnosis to treatment, mixing holistic and medical

1:01:07 Motherlands and mothering is for everyone

MOTHERLANDS: Independent Study in Reproductive Health 20% off code MOTHERLANDSPOD

Free Support Meetings for Caregivers and DoulasJoin our community to connect, reflect, and replenish. Sign up here

Free Group Meetings for New or Expecting ParentsPrepare for early parenthood and build strong support systems. Register here

Fall 2025 Women's Retreat in CaliforniaExperience a small, intimate gathering focused on deep rest, nourishment, and connection in the heart of nature. Spaces are limited—join the waitlist

Connect with Taylor McKay Smith

Connect with Taylor & The Mother Circle Podcast

Women’s Reproductive Health Training & Mentorship

Follow our Host, Keely Semler on IG

Follow Motherlands on IG

Your paid subscription sustains The Motherlands Podcast, covering essential costs like editing and production. It directly supports my work as a full-time doula, educator, and mentor, enabling me to continue offering valuable resources to families.

If a paid subscription isn't feasible right now, you can still make a meaningful impact by:

Leaving a review on Apple

Subscribing to the Motherlands Substack

Following us on YouTube

Sharing the podcast with others. Every bit of support matters. Thank you for being part of this community; your presence truly means the world.

Partnership & Collaboration Opportunities

Bring your brand to life on The Motherlands Podcast. We welcome partnerships, collaborations, and advertising opportunities that align with our mission to support, uplift, and empower women and families, as well as celebrate the art of mothering and caregiving. Let’s connect and explore how we can work together. Email [email protected]