Fertility Cafe

How does egg donation actually work, and what do you need to know before you start? In this solo episode, Eloise Drane, founder of Family Inceptions and a six-time egg donor, breaks down everything you need to know about egg donation. She covers the biology behind the process, the different types of donor arrangements (anonymous, semi-anonymous, known, and informational), how to choose the right p...

Thinking about becoming an egg donor? Before you take the first step, here’s what the process actually looks like from your first application to the day you receive your compensation check. In this solo episode, Eloise Drane a six-time egg donor herself and founder of Family Inceptions takes you through the entire egg donation journey in detail. She covers how to choose the right program, what med...

Should you freeze your eggs? It’s one of the most searched fertility questions online and one of the most misunderstood. In this solo episode, Eloise Drane cuts through the noise and gives you an honest, grounded look at egg freezing: what the process actually involves, what it costs (financially and emotionally), who it’s right for, and what the conversation often leaves out. Egg freezing has mov...

Does your employer cover IVF, surrogacy, or egg donation? Most people have no idea what fertility benefits they’re entitled to, or how to ask for them. In this episode, Eloise Drane sits down with Brooke Bartholomay Quinn, COO of Carrot Fertility and fertility benefits expert, to explore how companies are building fertility and family-building benefits into their packages, what those benefits actu...

What do you wish someone had told you before you became a surrogate? In this episode of Fertility Café, Eloise Drane opens up the conversation surrogates rarely get to have out loud: the strange facts, surprising details, and small things nobody warns you about before a surrogacy journey begins. Drawing on years of stories from surrogates past and present, the Family Inceptions team, and friends a...

What happens when an industry built to help people build families starts failing the very people it's supposed to serve? In this season seven finale of Fertility Café, host Eloise Drane steps out from behind the interview chair to speak directly about what's been happening in the fertility and surrogacy space: the progress worth celebrating, the structural failures that keep producing real harm, a...

What if everything you thought you knew about fertility was only half the story? In this episode of Fertility Café, Eloise Drane sits down with board-certified reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist Dr. Natalie Crawford for a deeply honest, science-backed conversation about what's really going on inside your body and why so many women are left in the dark until it's too late. Dr....

What does it actually take to become an egg donor, and what happens after the retrieval that no one warns you about? In this episode of Fertility Café, Eloise Drane sits down with Christina Alicea, a fertility field professional and five-time egg donor, for one of the most honest and wide-ranging conversations about the egg donation experience you'll find anywhere. Christina brings a rare dual per...

You've decided you want to build your family through surrogacy. Now what? In this episode of Fertility Café, Eloise Drane sits down with surrogacy Family Support Advisor,  Jennifer Silva to walk intended parents through the entire surrogacy journey, from that very first phone call to bringing your baby home. Jennifer draws on both her professional expertise and her own deeply personal fertility jo...

What happens when a sperm donor and his donor-conceived child find each other decades later? In this episode of Fertility Café, Eloise Drane sits down with reproductive medicine physician Dr. Danny Shapiro and Georgia state legislator Josh McLaurin for a conversation that is equal parts fascinating, deeply personal, and profoundly important for the future of donor conception. Dr. Shapiro donated s...

What does it really take to become a surrogate physically, emotionally, and mentally? In this episode of Fertility Café, Eloise Drane sits down with Darnae Pitts, wife, mother of two, and two-time gestational surrogate, to talk about what surrogacy actually looks like behind the scenes. From being initially denied due to mental health and BMI requirements to navigating a divorce before starting he...

Why are we taught so little about something that happens every single month for decades of our lives? In this episode of Fertility Café, Eloise Drane sits down with fertility awareness educator and author Lisa Hendrickson-Jack to unpack one of the most overlooked truths in women’s health: the menstrual cycle is not just about getting pregnant. It is a vital sign. From heavy periods and birth contr...

What does it take to navigate a U.S. surrogacy journey from abroad—and how do you stay grounded when the internet offers either too little or way too much information? In this episode of Fertility Café, host Eloise Drane talks with Richard Westoby  and Julio Gaggia  of IVF Daddies about Richard’s 14-year journey to fatherhood, the realities international parents face (legal, financial, and logisti...

What does it mean to grow up “the first” of anything—especially the first IVF baby born in the United States? In this episode of Fertility Café, host Eloise Drane talks with Elizabeth Carr about her parents’ journey through early, experimental IVF, what has—and hasn’t—changed in 40+ years, and how media attention shaped her advocacy. With clarity and compassion, Elizabeth unpacks common misconcept...

What does it mean to consciously choose not to have children, especially in a culture that often defines womanhood by motherhood? In this episode of Fertility Café, host Eloise Drane welcomes back filmmaker Chiquita Lockley, creator of the documentary Eggs Over Easy: Black Women & Fertility . This time, Chiquita shares her personal journey and decision to live childfree by choice. It is a thou...

When we talk about fertility care, we often focus on the patient experience—what it’s like to navigate appointments, insurance, cycles, and emotional ups and downs. But what happens when we zoom out? In this episode of Fertility Café , host Eloise Drane sits down with Griffin Jones , founder of Inside Reproductive Health , to explore what’s really happening behind the scenes of the fertility indus...

When it comes to fertility care, we often hear about IVF protocols, medication regimens, and surgical procedures. But what about the tools that help prepare the body for conception and support healing along the way? In this episode of Fertility Café, Eloise Drane sits down with Dr. Beck Hoehn, licensed acupuncturist, reproductive health expert, and founder of Mighty River Wellness, to talk about h...

Surrogacy is often talked about as a beautiful and rewarding journey, but what happens when that journey takes an unexpected turn? In this episode, Eloise Drane sits down with Pamela Marshall, a gestational surrogate whose experience challenged everything she thought she knew about pregnancy, risk, and resilience. Pam shares her deeply personal story of entering surrogacy with excitement and confi...

Surrogates often begin their journey excited, hopeful, and ready to help a family grow, but few truly understand the depth of the medical steps involved. In this conversation, Eloise Drane sits down with reproductive endocrinologist Dr. Shannel R. Adams to demystify every stage of the surrogate medical and IVF process, breaking it down into simple, reassuring, and practical explanations. Eloise gu...

Too many people walk into an OB GYN appointment with uncertainty, unanswered questions, or years of silent symptoms. In this powerful conversation, Eloise Drane sits down with Board Certified OB GYN Dr. Renita White, MD to unpack the real state of women’s healthcare today and the steps every person can take to advocate for themselves. Dr. White shares why she entered the field of obstetrics and gy...

Genetics touches nearly every part of the family-building journey, yet for most people it feels confusing, intimidating, and filled with unknowns. In this conversation, Eloise Drane sits down with Gina Davis, a genetic counselor with more than 20 years of experience in reproductive genetics, IVF, donor conception, and embryo donation. Gina brings rare insight as both a clinician and someone who ha...

After more than 20 years of infertility, six miscarriages and several failed rounds of IVF, Arvis Carmichael-Smith returns with the update she once feared would never come. When she last spoke with Eloise Drane, she was preparing for one last attempt. Now she shares how that final try became the pregnancy she had prayed for at age 51. Eloise guides Arvis through the turning points that finally bro...

There's a part of the fertility process most people never really get to see. After all the appointments, medications, and procedures, things move into the lab, and from the outside, it can feel distant and hard to follow. In this episode, host Eloise Drane sits down with clinical embryologist Alease Daniel Barnes to pull back the curtain on what actually happens in the IVF lab. Alease breaks down...

Ever wondered what really happens if something goes wrong during a surrogacy or egg donation journey and who’s responsible for the bill? When it comes to third-party reproduction (surrogacy, egg donation, or embryo donation) insurance can be one of the most confusing and overlooked parts of the journey. But as Virginia Hart from ART Risk Solutions explains, it’s also one of the most critical. In t...

The conversation around fertility is changing and Season 7 of  Fertility Café  dives deep into how.   Hosted by Eloise Drane, founder of Family Inceptions and Fertility 360, this season explores the science, stories, and shifting definitions that shape modern fertility care. From what really happens inside the embryology lab to the emotional realities of IVF, surrogacy, and egg donation, you’ll he...