becoming babyREADY with Sam Leeson - All About Queer Family Planning & Creation

He's a fantastic conversationalist so it was easy to slide into an informative and educational discussion about family creation with Christopher Katis. Christopher isn't new to the parenting process. He and his husband Kelly have two adult sons. That said, his lived experience in creating his family with his husband is remarkably familiar.  He is also an author and he has been writing the “Whose Y...

I promise I didn't spend the whole time fan-girling . . . but I wanted to.  I am extremely honoured to be able to speak with the brains behind the outstanding movie, “The Mattachine Family,” writer Danny and director  Andy. The Vallentines. If ever there was a movie that highlighted some of the honest and raw emotions that surround Queer family creation, this is it. It is a major motion picture an...

I can't believe that we are standing on the precipice of Season 3 after over 80 episodes have been released to date. On "becoming babyREADY" we talk about the best parts of life - even when there are struggles - as they relate to our Queer families and our Queer family planning and creation. This year I will introduce you to both new and seasoned parents as well as professionals who help make thes...

You hear people talk about taking a deep breath to calm themselves. What does that really mean? How do we use breath work to navigate some of the strong emotions that can be associated with Queer family creation? Today I have the opportunity to introduce you to Ashlee Livingstone. Ashlee has been on the Podcast before to speak about boundaries and setting boundaries as expectant and new parents. T...

I am so lucky to introduce you today to Christina and Rad. Between them they have three children; two that Christina birthed and one that Rad birthed. They spoke openly about using a known donor, inseminating at home, and some of the struggles of pregnancy that Rad experienced. Some were a result of being a trans man and some were truly obscure. These two are ALSO travelling, vegan wedding caterer...

Tom Dean minces no words when he describes the absolute joy he feels in parenting his son with his husband, Brett. Through my conversation with him today, he outlined their experience adopting through the public system in England.  You hear joy in every word he utters about parenthood. Follow Tom and Brett on their parenting journey by checking out @dose of deans #becomingbabyREADY #babyREADY  #2S...

What if the stereotype of growing up, getting married and having children wasn’t your dream?  What if it took meeting the love of your life to realize that having a family together would just make everything even better?  Today I get to introduce you to Jayelle, who with her wife Steph, have two beautiful children. They did things their own way. They went private instead of through the NHS. RIVF i...

It seemed like the perfect set up. An egg donor who was related. It should have been straightforward and easy. And it wasn’t. Today I have the opportunity to introduce you to Ravi and dips who our parents to a beautiful baby girl. We have a conversation about the many ups and downs they faced on their family creation pathway. Note: throughout the episode, Ravi refers to IVF. In his context, he is...

When you are a queer couple with two uterus and you’re talking about starting a family, but one of you works within the realm of adoption services then really, what pathway will you take to create this family?  I’m excited to introduce you to Cait. She and her wife “Wanda,” live in Virginia and today our conversation dives into politics, procreation, adoption, and more.  To learn more about Cait a...

Creating a family using reproductive technology and support in a state that is predominantly red can be isolating and emotionally challenging. Today I chat with Liz and Tabitha about their family creation journey. Liz carried their first child using IUI and Tabitha is getting geared up to carry baby number two. We chat about the ups and downs of conceiving a baby and growing our families, as well...

When a used to be lawyer and a paediatrician get together and decide they want to create a family and need sperm to do it then logically they would end up creating their own business to accommodate their specific needs in a known Donor. Today I get to introduce you to Danielle, reformed lawyer (her words) and Dr. Paige to hear their family creations story and how that led to starting their own bus...

What do lesbian relationships, PCOS, cross-country moves, fertility treatments, trans spouses and polyamory have in common? The answer is obvious, Dr. Jeni Wahlig.  Today Dr. Jeni shares her story about her struggle to family creation, as well as the evolution of discovering who she is, in her soul. Additionally we have the opportunity to learn more about what Dr. Jeni and her partner, Cal, do in...

Many people in the Queer community assume that they will not struggle with conceiving as long as they have the gametes needed to create a foetus. The reality of the situation is that Queer individuals are no more exempt from fertility challenges than their cisgender, heterosexual peers. Today I have the opportunity to speak with Katherine Kent about the entire journey she and her wife have been on...

When we decide to create a family with a partner many of us assume that we are with our forever love and that our relationship will last forever. Statistics and reality often remind us that that may not be the case. Today I have the gift of speaking with Ali Hendry of www.alihendry.co.uk about the 4 year journey she and her ex-wife embarked upon to create their family, the ending of that relations...

Unfortunately, the reality of life is that for some people creating a family isn’t easy.  Today the conversation I have with Ginny Gane is very different than other episodes I have recorded so far. For them, when they started to discuss family creation, there were two uteruses in the relationship however, only Ginny wanted to carry.  So what if that doesn't work? What if IUI, IVF, etc don’t work a...

We hear people talk about the ways that pregnancy, labour and birth can be different for everyone but one of the most fun ways to talk about that is when there are two people, each with a uterus, from the same family telling their stories. Today I am speaking with Mariah and Solicia about how each of them were able to carry and birth a child - with the help of a friend who was their known donor, g...

The reasons we decide to create our families the way that we do is as varied as the people making these families. Today I have the chance to introduce you to a new mom (names and locations are being withheld to maintain safety for my guests) who chats about how she and her husband, a tradesman, made the choices they did. They navigated PCOS, a private donor and a challenging pregnancy to become th...

With almost 2 years under the "becoming babyREADY," belt, it felt right to pause for a moment, and just highlight exactly how the show got started and some of the kinds of stories we've celebrated.  On the show today, I take a few minutes to talk not only about all of this but also about the in person event that will be happening next June 2025. I know I am lucky to be able to do the...

Throughout my conversation with Julia and Ali, there were moments of laughter and levity, as well as moments of true seriousness as they share their story of family creation.  We talked about rules and laws in various parts of the world. We talked about midwifery care and doula support. We talked about homebirth and hospital birth. And more than anything we discussed that every human has the right...

When you set out on your journey to create a family, you don't always immediately take into consideration where it is that you live. What are the rules and regulations in the part of the country where you live? What are the expectations? Today I have the chance to introduce you to JaneiJackson and we talk about the journey that she and her wife (Takiya) embarked upon; using IUI for the first p...

Sometimes when you come out later in life, you have already experienced things like having a family that potentially your new partner hasn’t had the opportunity to enjoy. So what do you do?  If you are David Miller, then you start the journey with your new love, and you plot out, of course, to create a new life through surrogacy. Today I have the opportunity to share and Dave’s story with you abou...

All of us know that when you’re creating a Queer family, there are many decisions that need to be made.  Dan Emerson is my guest today and we will talk about the choices he and his husband, Steve, made when navigating their path to start their family.  You will light up because you will hear the smile on Dan‘s face as we talk about their journey to becoming the dads of Andy. You can see more of Da...

My conversation today contains conversation about the role religion can play in the dynamics of a relationship, especially when it comes to creating a family.  I have the distinct honour of introducing you to Mario and Monte and they may not be new to you. You may have seen them on their Instagram @marioandmonte. You may have seen them on the Ellen show ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-yoa7e7Qf...

Today's episode is a little bit different. Let me introduce you to Emmalie. Emmalie and Hansof co-writers who are working collaboratively to create a short film that depicts a lesbian couple hoping to start a family.  At the moment, they are process of trying to get together resources to put this production together. Their hope is that this will become a feature film which highlights, in an en...

There are many people in the 2SLGBTQIA+ community who think that Queer trans individuals have it “easy” when it comes to creating a family. After all, both parties have the potential to have the necessary reproductive organs to create and carry a child. What gets completely disregarded and ignored is the dysphoria and hormone dysregulation that can come with needing to alter the hormone treatments...