Create A Happy Family

What happens when IVF doesn't work? After a failed IVF cycle, miscarriage, or difficult diagnosis, it's easy to feel like you've run out of options. But according to reproductive endocrinologist Dr. Leah Kaye, you're never just a diagnosis, and your story isn't over. In this episode of Create A Happy Family, Dr. Kaye shares how she helps patients navigate infertility with compassion, balance hope...

What happens after a surrogate delivers and everyone goes home? In this episode of Create A Happy Family, Whitney sits down with Barette Best, a licensed postpartum doula and Surrogacy Education & Engagement Specialist at Egg Donor & Surrogate Solutions, to talk about a part of the surrogacy journey that doesn't always get as much attention: the fourth trimester. So much of a surrogacy jou...

Why do our family-building stories matter, even before we know how they'll end? In this episode of Create A Happy Family, Whitney sits down with award-winning journalist, author, and host of the Infertile AF podcast Alison Prato to talk about the stories we tell about infertility, IVF, loss, and the many different ways families are built. Ali shares how her own experience with secondary infertilit...

Egg donation may begin with a decision someone makes today but what could that decision mean years from now? In this episode of Create A Happy Family, psychotherapists Kristin Maljean and Leslee Murphy join Whitney to talk about preparing egg donors for both the process in front of them and the future implications of their decision. What does it mean to know there may be a person in the world who...

How do you find an LGBTQ-friendly fertility clinic? Over three decades in reproductive medicine, fertility specialist Dr. Michael Guarnaccia has watched both fertility science and society's definition of family evolve. In this episode, he shares what LGBTQ individuals and couples should look for in a fertility clinic, and why personalized, relationship-centered care can make all the difference whe...

What does ethical surrogacy actually look like, especially when something goes wrong? Recent conversations surrounding the Baby Rumi case have raised difficult questions about surrogacy: Who protects the surrogate? Who protects the intended parents? And what happens when people disagree after a pregnancy has already begun? In this episode of Create A Happy Family, Whitney is joined by Katy Encalad...

Birth rarely goes exactly as planned. When Jessica's surrogacy journey unexpectedly ended in an emergency C-section, the moment she had been envisioning all along didn't happen the way she expected, but it became even more beautiful. In this episode of Create A Happy Family, Jessica shares how trust, communication, and a genuine relationship with her intended parents transformed an unexpected birt...

When should you tell your donor-conceived child their story? Not "if," but "when." In today's world, donor conception is no longer something families can, or should, keep secret. More importantly, experts and donor-conceived adults agree that children benefit from growing up knowing their story. In this episode of Create A Happy Family, reproductive endocrinologist Dr. Danny Shapiro and donor-conc...

What happens when a surrogacy journey doesn’t go the way you hoped? In this episode, our host Whitney Hall gets vulnerable and shares the part of her story she rarely talks about: her third surrogacy journey ending after two failed transfers and the emotions that followed. After two successful journeys, Whitney never expected how much her identity had become tied to being a “successful surrogate”...

Many people know they want to build a family, but they don’t fully understand the options available to them, or even where to start. In this episode of Create a Happy Family, Justine Witzke, PhD, MPH, Founder & CEO of Aligneage Fertility, shares how understanding your fertility can bring greater clarity to the family-building process. From semen analysis and male fertility preservation, to don...

In this episode of Create A Happy Family, psychotherapists Leslee Murphy and Kristin Malejan explain how surrogacy psych evaluations really work, why clinics require them, and what they're actually looking for. Rather than searching for perfection, they're looking at the whole person to help set surrogates and intended parents up for a healthy, successful journey. In this episode, we discuss: What...

Jordan dreamed of becoming a surrogate for more than a decade before finally taking the leap. In this episode, she shares what it's really like to be a surrogate, from matching with intended parents and navigating a surrogacy journey to delivery and life after birth. She opens up about the fears many women have before becoming a surrogate, the incredible relationship she built with her intended pa...

Hannah first considered egg donation as a way to help pay for college. What she didn't expect was how much the experience would change her life. In this episode, Hannah shares her journey as an egg donor, from seeing an ad on social media and navigating the screening process to helping create a family and learning that one of her donations resulted in a live birth. Now pregnant with her own daught...

Every few months, another headline or proposed law leaves intended parents and surrogates wondering: “How could this impact my journey?” In this episode, ART attorney Joni Franklin breaks down what’s actually changing in surrogacy and IVF law, what people are misunderstanding online, and what intended parents and surrogates should really be paying attention to right now. We discuss evolving regula...

Learning how to choose a surrogacy agency is one of the biggest decisions you'll make, whether you're hoping to become a surrogate or grow your family through surrogacy. But not all surrogacy agencies operate the same way. In this episode of Create A Happy Family, the Education and Matching Team at Egg Donor & Surrogate Solutions shares what every surrogate and intended parent should know befo...

What happens after infertility… when you finally become a mom, but still find yourself struggling emotionally? In this episode, Blair shares her journey through recurrent loss, IVF, egg donation, and the unexpected reality of postpartum anxiety after finally welcoming her son, Archie. As a labor and delivery nurse, Blair spent years helping other families welcome babies into the world while naviga...

If IVF is so expensive, why would a fertility clinic recommend transferring just one embryo instead of two? It's a question many intended parents ask. After all, if you're investing so much time, money, and emotion into building your family, wouldn't transferring two embryos increase your chances of success? In this episode, reproductive endocrinologist Dr. Julian Escobar explains why modern IVF t...

Nick and Bailey met because of surrogacy. They never expected to become family. In this special Father's Day conversation, intended father Nick and surrogate spouse Bailey share how trust, vulnerability, and open communication transformed a surrogacy journey into a lifelong friendship. What started as supporting their wives became a relationship built on respect, honesty, and a shared commitment t...

Richard and Julio of IVF Daddies share what intended parents need to know about IVF, surrogacy, egg donation, international family building, and why community can make all the difference on your family-building journey. Through their podcast and family-building community, they've helped thousands of intended parents better understand the complex world of assisted reproduction and family building....

AI, embryo technology, and personalized fertility treatment are changing the future of fertility care, but what does that actually mean for patients? In this episode, reproductive endocrinologist Dr. Meir Olcha breaks down how fertility care is evolving through AI-assisted technology, precision medicine, embryo imaging, and more individualized approaches to IVF treatment. We also discuss why human...

Choosing an egg donor can feel overwhelming — especially when you’re navigating cost, timelines, and decisions that feel deeply personal. In this episode, Egg Donor Matching Coordinator Katie G. breaks down what intended parents are really facing at the beginning of the process, from sticker shock and insurance confusion to the emotional weight of finding the right donor. We also discuss: fresh vs...

In this episode, we’re joined by reproductive psychologist Dr. Julie Bindeman to explore one of the most difficult, and important, conversations that can arise in a surrogacy journey. Dr. Bindeman works with intended parents, surrogates, and donors navigating the emotional complexities of third-party reproduction. Together we discuss why some conversations feel hard to approach, why they matter ea...

What happens when both the intended mom and the surrogate choose joy over fear? In this episode, you’ll meet Maddison and Jesse, an intended mother and surrogate whose relationship was rooted in authenticity, vulnerability, and celebration from the very beginning. Instead of bracing for what could go wrong, they made a conscious decision to celebrate every milestone, every appointment, and every s...

We Kept Going… But Not in the Same Way Jen’s path to becoming a mom didn’t follow a straight line. After years of trying, multiple rounds of IVF, and not a single embryo, she made the decision to move forward with egg donation, hoping that would finally be the turning point. But even then, things didn’t go as expected. After four failed transfers, Jen found herself in a place so many women reach i...

In this episode, we’re sharing a conversation featuring Katy Encalade, President & CEO of Egg Donor & Surrogate Solutions, from the IVF Daddies Podcast. If you’re exploring surrogacy or egg donation, it’s easy to focus on the steps but having a clearer understanding of the bigger picture makes all the difference. In this conversation, Katy breaks down: • What a realistic timeline looks lik...