I Want to Put a Baby in You!

Latest Episodes:

Episode 113: Best Shot - Abby Mercado Mar 31, 2021

Show notes

Abby Mercado is the Co-Founder & CEO of Best Shot, a patient’s companion in fertility treatments. A former venture capital investor, Abby conceptualized Best Shot after her frustrations with IVF medications and the mental health challenges she faced after her infertility diagnosis. Now, on the other side of her fertility experience, Abby is passionate about providing those who struggle to grow their families with the tools to help them succeed with confidence and grace. Listen to Abby as she discusses with Ellen and Jenn: • Her early career successes in investments and venture capital. • The start of her infertility journey. • Realizing she made a serious mistake administering her fertility drugs, and miscarrying. • Later having a successful double embryo transfer, but strongly recommending against that path to others. • The complications she faced during the pregnancy. • The inspiration from her journey to start Best Shot. • The mission and rapid growth of Best Shot. 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: https://iwanttoputababyinyou.com/ Learn more about our surrogacy agencies: https://www.brightfuturesfamilies.com/ Get your IWTPABIY merch here! https://iwanttoputababyinyou.com/merch Learn more about Ellen’s law firm: http://trachmanlawcenter.com/ Learn more about Best Shot: https://bestshotcare.com/

Episode 112: Resolved to Live Childfree - Brooke Kingston Mar 24, 2021

Show notes

Brooke Kingston has been a volunteer with RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association and an advocate for accessible and affordable family building options for 10 years. After struggling with infertility, Brooke and her husband resolved to be a family of two. They reside in Peoria, Arizona with their three dogs and enjoy golf, cooking, and Netflix binges. Listen to Brooke as she discusses with Ellen and Jenn: • Her background and the start of her infertility journey. • Their testing process and learning the results. • Starting to consider the idea of not having children. • Getting involved with RESOLVE and advocacy for infertility. • Her experience with her first advocacy day. • Feeling empowered with advocacy and finding her new calling. • How you can get involved. 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: https://iwanttoputababyinyou.com/ Learn more about our surrogacy agencies: https://www.brightfuturesfamilies.com/ Get your IWTPABIY merch here! https://iwanttoputababyinyou.com/merch Learn more about Ellen’s law firm: http://trachmanlawcenter.com/ Learn more about RESOLVE: https://resolve.org/

Episode 111: Connecting Rainbows - Gena Jaffe Mar 17, 2021

Show notes

Gena is an attorney and Founder of connecting rainbows - an organization that connects members of the LGBTQIA+ community with attorneys who specialize in family formation and estate planning, as well as provides fertility resources so you can start, grow and protect your family. She and her wife have two children via Reciprocal IVF. Listen to Gena as she discusses with Ellen and Jenn: • “Shopping” for a sperm donor to grow their family. • Deciding on reciprocal IVF to conceive and carry their children. • Facing some complications in trying for their second child. • Overcoming the hurdles. • Her experience giving birth during COVID. • Her professional life and background (spoiler – she’s a lawyer!) • The legal process they had to overcome in their journey. • Forming her new business, Connecting Rainbows. 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: https://iwanttoputababyinyou.com/ Learn more about our surrogacy agencies: https://www.brightfuturesfamilies.com/ Get your IWTPABIY merch here! https://iwanttoputababyinyou.com/merch Learn more about Ellen’s law firm: http://trachmanlawcenter.com/ Learn more about Connecting Rainbows: https://connectingrainbows.org/ Learn more about Gena: https://genajaffe.com/

Episode 110: 4+ Parents, One Family - Indra Lusero Mar 10, 2021

Show notes

Indra Lusero is founder of Elephant Circle and the Birth Rights Bar Association. Indra's family has been in the Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado area for generations. As a Queer, Genderqueer, Latinx parent rooted in this region, Indra is attuned to the importance of people on the margins and our role in leading the dismantling of oppressive systems to build a more equitable world. Indra helped pass legislation in Colorado to eliminate the shackling of incarcerated women during pregnancy and birth, to improve midwifery and birth center regulations, and to create more humane policies for families impacted by substance use. Indra also spearheaded the creation of "Birth Rights: A resource for everyday people to defend human rights during labor and birth." Listen to Indra as they discuss with Ellen and Jenn: • Their identity and expressing that in a comfortable, authentic way. • Their first relationship and already thinking of plans for children. • In college, actively envisioning their dream family – including a duplex with an inner door connecting the various parents and their living spaces. • Some of the legal questions and hurtles they faced. • Navigating conception with cross country travel and a yogurt cup. • The birth of their first child. • Moving forward with plans for a second child, but now with another dad in the mix. • The work of blending the different parts of their family. • How they decided on a last name for the kids. • Updates on their family and final thoughts. 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: https://iwanttoputababyinyou.com/ Learn more about our surrogacy agencies: https://www.brightfuturesfamilies.com/ Learn more about Ellen’s law firm: http://trachmanlawcenter.com/ Learn more about Indra Lusero: https://www.elephantcircle.net/ Learn more about Indra's Birth Rights resource: https://birthrightsbar.org/

Episode 109: - Swimming Aimlessly – Jon Waldman Mar 03, 2021

Show notes

Jon Waldman is a multi-time published author, journalist, marketing and communications professional and photographer. From an early age, Jon knew that he wanted to enter the world of the written word and has scribed articles for the likes of the Toronto Sun, Winnipeg Free Press, The Hockey News, Winnipeg Men Magazine, CBS Sports and several others over his near 20-year career. In 2009, Jon published his first book, SLAM! Wrestling: Shocking Stories from the Squared Circle with Greg Oliver. This was quickly followed in 2011 by Got'em, Got'em, Need'em. In early 2015 his third book, He Shoots He Saves, was released, his third with ECW Press. Jon's fourth book, "100 Things Jets Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die" released in 2015 with Triumph Books and has been his best seller thus far. In 2021, Jon's fifth book, "Swimming Aimlessly", will release with Simon and Schuster's imprint, Tiller Press. Inspired by his TEDx Talk, the book takes a deep look at men and infertility and, in part, tells the story his family has experienced. Listen to Jon as he discusses with Ellen and Jenn: • His sport-loving Canadian background and the beginning of trying to start a family. • Experiencing maca root and other natural remedies for fertility. • Candidly dealing with mental health challenges as part of the infertility journey. • Getting help and finding support. • A surprisingly effective aid…with a wagging tail! • The complicated intersection between religion and IVF. • His awkwardly hilarious experience providing a sperm sample. • Information on his new book, Swimming Aimlessly: One Man's Journey through Infertility and What We Can All Learn from It - coming out March 30, 2021! 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: https://iwanttoputababyinyou.com/ Learn more about our surrogacy agencies: https://www.brightfuturesfamilies.com/ Learn more about Ellen’s law firm: http://trachmanlawcenter.com/ Buy Jon’s book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084GB8KBM/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i1

Episode 108: How I Became Your Mother: My Global Surrogacy Journey - Ginanne Brownell Feb 24, 2021

Show notes

Since beginning her journalistic career in 1993 as an intern at CNN’s Larry King Live, Ginanne Brownell has covered stories in over 45 countries and on six continents. She worked on staff for CNN (Washington, DC) and Newsweek (London) and is currently a London-based freelance writer covering arts, culture, development and education stories. Her writing has been appeared in publications including the New York Times, Financial Times, CNN, Conde Nast Traveller, Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, Scientific American, Salon, Foreign Policy and Washington Post. She has also done media consulting for UNICEF and J.K. Rowling’s Lumos Charity. Ginanne is the co-founder of she-files.com, a webzine highlighting stories about women written by women. Ginanne is in the process of completing two narrative non-fiction books. "How I Became Your Mother: My Global Surrogacy Journey", is both a personal memoir about becoming a parent through surrogacy and also a journalistic deep dive examining a number of debates, discussions and conversations taking place internationally about surrogacy. Meanwhile her book "Ghetto Classics: How a Youth Orchestra Changed a Nairobi Slum" examines the role that music can play in community development. Most importantly, she is the very proud mom of cheeky but exceedingly sweet three-year-old twins who were born via surrogacy in Illinois. Listen to Ginanne as she discusses with Ellen and Jenn: • Her globe-trotting background. • Her infertility journey, including multiple memorable and heartbreaking failed transfers. • Her surrogacy and egg donor journey, with brutal honesty on the emotionally rocky road. • Writing a book about her journey and taking a deep dive into surrogacy worldwide. • The fascinating and unexpected aspects of surrogacy her research uncovered. • An update on her book. 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: https://iwanttoputababyinyou.com/ Learn more about our surrogacy agencies: https://www.brightfuturesfamilies.com/ Learn more about Ellen’s law firm: http://trachmanlawcenter.com/ Learn more about Ginanne: www.ginannebrownell.com Learn about Ginanne’s magazine: https://she-files.com/

Episode 107: The Professor Is In - Jody Madeira Feb 17, 2021

Show notes

Jody Madeira is a professor of law and co-director of the Center for Law, Society & Culture at the Maurer School of Law at Indiana University. Her scholarly interests involve empirical research; the role of emotion in law; the sociology of law; law, medicine, and bioethics; and the Second Amendment. Her most recent book, Taking Baby Steps: How Patients and Fertility Clinics Collaborate in Conception (University of California Press, 2018), takes readers inside the infertility experience, from dealing with infertility-related emotions to forming treatment relationships with medical professionals, confronting difficult decisions, and negotiating informed consent. Based on a wealth of qualitative and quantitative data (130 patient interviews, 83 interviews with reproductive medical professionals, and 267 patient surveys), Madeira investigates how women, men, and their care providers can utilize trust to collaboratively negotiate infertility’s personal, physical, spiritual, ethical, medical, and legal minefields. Listen to Professor Madeira as she discusses with Ellen and Jenn: • Her background and how she got involved in the field. • How own experience with IVF. • The start of her research on infertility stereotypes. • Things that surprised her in her research. • Her interest and role in the case of Dr. Donald Cline and similar “doctor donors”. • Researching the closure in infertility fraud cases. • Her research and thoughts on “sperm tourism” 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: https://iwanttoputababyinyou.com/ Learn more about our surrogacy agencies: https://www.brightfuturesfamilies.com/ Learn more about Ellen’s law firm: http://trachmanlawcenter.com/ Learn more about Jody: https://law.indiana.edu/about/people/bio.php?name=madeira-jody-l Learn more about Jody’s latest book: https://www.amazon.com/Taking-Baby-Steps-Collaborate-Conception/dp/0520293053

Episode 106: My Surrogacy Journey - Anna Buxton Feb 10, 2021

Show notes

Like many women, Anna Buxton’s journey to motherhood was far more complicated and painful than she had ever realized was possible. Two missed miscarriages and subsequent surgeries to remove the pregnancies left Anna with severe scarring of the womb -- a condition known as Asherman’s Syndrome. Five operations over 16 months failed to correct the scarring and Anna was told that she would never be able to carry a pregnancy. Anna is now Mum to three children born through surrogacy. She is also part of the team behind a new non-profit UK surrogacy organization that is doing things differently – My Surrogacy Journey. About My Surrogacy Journey: My Surrogacy Journey is a UK surrogacy organization unlike anything that exists. We offer the most extensive emotional, practical, and logistical support that has ever been available to intended parents, surrogates, and egg donors for both domestic and international surrogacy. Listen to Anna as she discusses with Ellen and Jenn: • Her complicated and medically harrowing attempts to conceive. • After multiple miscarriages and surgeries, the decision to move to surrogacy. • The restrictions, and exceedingly long wait times, with surrogacy in the UK. • Looking at surrogacy in other countries. • Moving forward with surrogacy in India. • Going through a second journey in the US. • A double embryo transfer and twins. • Being inspired to give back and get involved with My Surrogacy Journey. 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: https://iwanttoputababyinyou.com/ Learn more about our surrogacy agencies: https://www.brightfuturesfamilies.com/ Learn more about Ellen’s law firm: http://trachmanlawcenter.com/ Learn more about My Surrogacy Journey: https://www.mysurrogacyjourney.com

Episode 105: The Science of Sociology and Surrogacy - Zsuzsa Berend Dec 23, 2020

Show notes

Professor Zsuzsa Berend teaches sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles and is the academic administrator of the sociology departmental Honors program. For over a decade, she has been doing ethnographic research on an online surrogacy support forum and published on surrogacy-related topics in Medical Anthropology, Sociological Forum, and American Anthropologist. Zsuzsa’s book, “The Online World of Surrogacy” presents a methodologically innovative ethnography of SurroMomsOnline.com, the largest surrogacy support website in the United States. Surrogates’ views emerge from the stories, debates, and discussions that unfold online. The Online World of Surrogacy documents these collective meaning-making practices and explores their practical, emotional, and moral implications. In doing so, the book works through themes of interest across the social sciences, including definitions of parenthood, the symbolic role of money, reproductive loss, altruism, and the moral valuation of relationships. Listen to Zsuzsa as she discusses with Ellen and Jenn: • Her academic path from 19th-century spinsters to 21st century surrogates. • Her decade-long research following an online surrogacy forum. • Her experience with online “trolls”. • The controversial and sensitive discussion topics she observed. • How views and procedures evolved as her research progressed. • An update on her research and what happened with SurroMomsOnline.com. • Her closing thoughts and insights. 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: https://iwanttoputababyinyou.com/ Learn more about our surrogacy agencies: https://www.brightfuturesfamilies.com/ Learn more about Ellen’s law firm: http://trachmanlawcenter.com/ Pick up your copy of The Online World of Surrogacy: The Online World of Surrogacy (Fertility, Reproduction and Sexuality: Social and Cultural Perspectives, 35): 9781785332746: Medicine & Health Science Books @ Amazon.com

Episode 104: Fifteen Months In Thailand - Bud Lake Dec 16, 2020

Show notes

Bud Lake is originally from New Jersey and moved to Madrid, Spain in 2001 to learn Spanish. Almost 20 years later he is still in Spain and now married with children. Bud met Manuel in Madrid in 2010 and moved to Valencia to live with him in 2011. In 2012 they were married and in 2013 their first son Álvaro was born via surrogacy in India. In 2015 their daughter Carmen was born in Thailand. Every surrogacy journey is its own special and unique journey. Listen to Bud as he discusses with Ellen and Jenn: • His background and moving to Spain. • Meeting the love of his life. • Trying to grow their family through international surrogacy. • Their first journey through India. • Some of the bumps along the way. • Starting a second journey with Thailand. • Thailand surrogacy scandals and political unrest affecting their journey. • The birth of their second child and meeting the surrogate for the first time. • The start of a parental rights nightmare. • Heading to court when the surrogate wanted to keep the baby. • A happy conclusion. 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: https://iwanttoputababyinyou.com/ Learn more about our surrogacy agencies: https://www.brightfuturesfamilies.com/ Learn more about Ellen’s law firm: http://trachmanlawcenter.com/ Check out Bud and Manuel’s website: http://www.twogaypapas.com/ Follow Bud and Manuel on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/twogaypapas/

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