Building your family

Fertility treatment can make you feel like almost nothing is in your control. Sleep is one thing you may be able to work on. In this episode of the Building Your Family podcast, Lisa sits down with neurologist turned sleep expert Dr. Stasha Gominak to talk about why eight hours of sleep is not always restorative sleep, why "just relax" is not a strategy, and what she says about vitamin D, B vitami...

She was interviewing Gabrielle Union, Anne Hathaway and Lady Gaga on camera. Off camera, she was doing fertility shots in a broom closet. In this episode of the Building Your Family podcast, Lisa sits down with entertainment journalist Emily Orozco to talk about her long fertility journey. She shares how a breakup at 32 led her to freeze her eggs, why she advocated for a second retrieval, how she...

Shanti was widowed in her twenties. By the time she was ready to build a family she was 44 — and the path forward looked very different from what she had imagined. In this episode of the Building Your Family podcast, Lisa sits down with Shanti to talk through her journey from grief and uncertainty to becoming a first time mother at 52 through donor eggs and a surrogate. This is one of the most hon...

What does it actually take to build a family through surrogacy as a gay couple, from choosing an egg donor to navigating failed transfers, COVID era matching, and doing it all twice? In this episode of the Building Your Family podcast, Lisa sits down with Alexander Paykin to talk through every stage of the surrogacy journey he and his husband Ricky took to become fathers of two children. This is o...

Donor sperm can cost over a thousand dollars a vial. Sometimes over two thousand. And most people start spending that money before they have asked the most important questions. In this episode of the Building Your Family podcast, Lisa sits down with Dr. Elizabeth Ginsburg, past president of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive medi...

How many times would you try before you gave up? Kristin Duncan already knew what it took to become a single mother by choice. Her son Blake was conceived with donor sperm. But trying for her second child brought a whole new level of heartbreak, repeated IVF rounds with her own eggs, ovarian PRP, multiple clinic changes, a backup donor who fell through, and a journey that tested everything she had...

If you or someone you love has been told there is no sperm, this episode is for you. In this episode of the Building Your Family podcast, Lisa talks with Dr. Eric Forman of Columbia University Fertility Center about STAR, Sperm Tracking and Recovery, an AI powered system that can find ultra rare sperm that human embryologists may miss entirely. What you will learn in this episode: What STAR is and...

Your donor conceived child almost certainly has donor siblings. That is not a maybe — it is one of the realities of donor conception that every family needs to understand. In this episode Lisa Schuman, LCSW covers the three realities of donor siblings, what the research actually shows about donor conceived children and sibling relationships, why families connect with sibling pods and what they are...

When Dana and Ben received a diagnosis of zero sperm count they had no idea what came next. Donor sperm? Adoption? And how do you make that decision together as a couple when everything feels impossible? In this episode of the Building Your Family podcast, Lisa Schuman LCSW sits down with Dana and Ben to talk about their journey through male infertility. They cover the diagnosis, the emotions, the...

Could you have PMOS and not know it? For many women the answer is yes, and the wait for a proper diagnosis can take up to ten years. In this episode of the Building Your Family podcast, Lisa Schuman, LCSW talks with Dr. Elizabeth Gardner about PMOS, formerly known as PCOS, a complex hormonal disorder that affects millions of women and goes far beyond fertility. What you will learn in this episode:...

Talking to your child about donor conception can feel terrifying. What do you say? When do you say it? And how do you do it without creating shame or confusion? In this episode, reproductive therapist Lisa Schuman, LCSW, shares her Zoom Out Theory for talking to donor‑conceived children about their story. Instead of getting stuck in today’s anxiety, Lisa helps you think about your child’s long‑ter...

If you’re doing IVF or thinking about it, will more technology in the lab actually be better than a human embryologist handling your eggs and embryos – and what do two new breakthroughs mean for your chances? In this episode of Building Your Family, I’m joined by Dr Richard Paulson, former president of ASRM and early IVF pioneer, to unpack what’s really happening behind the lab door: automation, A...

If you’re considering donor conception and feel like you “can’t see the forest for the trees,” this is your zoom‑out episode. Before you choose a donor, sign with a clinic, or pay an agency, you need the big picture. In this video, we step back from the overwhelm and walk through the full donor conception landscape: • How your decisions affect your child long‑term (identity, mental health, relatio...

Are your tampons quietly exposing you to toxic metals and chemicals that could affect your hormones and fertility? In this episode of Building Your Family, Dr. Nancy Reame breaks down what the FDA has (and hasn’t) done on tampon safety since 2005 and how that compares to Europe. We cover the real story behind tampon safety, Toxic Shock Syndrome, and what the science actually says about toxins in p...

Your clinic and agency help you with the medical and legal parts of surrogacy. But who helps you zoom out and see the bigger picture for you, your surrogate, and your future child? In this Zoom Out Theory episode, reproductive therapist Lisa Schuman, LCSW, talks about how to step back from the day‑to‑day stress of surrogacy so you can make clearer decisions and set your journey up for long‑term su...

“No normal embryos” doesn’t always mean the end. Lisa talks with Dr. Norbert Gleicher and Dr. David Barad from the Center for Human Reproduction about IVF for tough cases, especially older patients. They discuss PGTA, aneuploid and mosaic embryos, immunology, inflammation, and why individualized, evidence‑based treatment can open options many patients don’t realize they have. Have you been told yo...

In this first episode of the Zoom Out series, reproductive therapist, researcher, and author Lisa Schuman, LCSW unpacks the most important question almost no one asks about egg freezing. Lisa explains why “How many eggs can I freeze?” is only part of the story, and why you also need to understand how many cycles and eggs you’re likely to need for the kind of family you actually want in the future....

In this episode of Building Your Family, Lisa Schuman, LCSW sits down with Dr. Jessica Gray, a physician who has lived through infertility, miscarriage, and the intense pressures of medical training on her way to motherhood. Jessica shares how a stressful childhood shaped her resilience, what it was like to face endometriosis and IVF as both a doctor and a patient, and how she coped when a long‑ho...

If you’re single or in a relationship that isn’t working and you’re quietly Googling “single motherhood by choice,” this episode is for you. In this conversation with SMBC fertility doctor Alexis Melnick, MD, we walk through 5 clear steps to help you decide before your back is against the wall. We cover both paths: staying on the relationship track and exploring single motherhood by choice on your...

In honor of Pride, this episode is a love letter to queer family building. I’ve pulled my favorite moments from conversations with LGBTQ+ parents, a fertility doctor, a midwife, a donor‑conceived person, and queer influencers who’ve built their families through donor conception and surrogacy. Together, they share how they answer intrusive questions, how they talk to their kids about donors and sur...

Re-released for Pride 2026 — In loving memory of Bret Hanna-Shuford (1979–2026) In this beloved episode, I sit down with Bret Shuford and Stephen Hanna — the Broadway Dads — to talk about one of the most heartfelt and hard-won family-building journeys I’ve ever witnessed. Together, these two Broadway performers navigated egg donation, surrogacy, financial challenges, a lost match, a miscarriage, a...

What does it really look like to build a queer family today – with donor conception, infertility, and non‑biological parenting in the mix? In this episode of Building Your Family, Lisa sits down with long‑time queer family advocate and podcast host of the Queer Family Podcast, Jaimie Kelton to talk honestly about infertility, the emotional weight of genetics, and the many paths LGBTQ+ families tak...

Re-released for Pride 2026 — Because this conversation never gets old What does it actually feel like to need a donor to build your family? How do you choose the right one? What does the medical process look like — and what does the emotional process look like? In this rare co-author conversation, I put these questions to Dr. Mark Leondires, Founder and Medical Director of Illume Fertility and Gay...

She was only 25 and already knew something was wrong. If you have one child and are secretly struggling to have another, this episode is for you. Margarita’s story of secondary infertility and PCOS shows what happens when “just keep trying” isn’t good enough. In this episode of Building Your Family, Lisa Schuman sits down with Margarita Lainez to talk about the often overlooked reality of secondar...

If you’ve been told “this is just your protocol,” “we’ll just try again,” or “everything looks fine” while IVF keeps failing, this episode is for you. Standard IVF works for many people, but not for everyone. So what happens when you don’t fit the usual box? In this conversation, I’m joined by Dr. Pietro Bortoletto, reproductive endocrinologist at Terra Fertility. He trained at Northwestern, Brigh...