Infertile AF: Infertility and Modern Family Building through ART

This episode is a powerful conversation pulled from Fertility Rally Live in November 2025,, where we gathered an incredible panel to talk candidly about surrogacy — from every angle. Moderated by Jessie Jaskulsky of Surrogacy Simplified, the panel includes surrogacy mama Sarrah Strimmel Bentley, experienced surrogate Emily Westerfield, and surrogacy mama Alexandra French of The Surrogacy Foundatio...

It's an encore presentation of one of our favorite episodes! Ali's very special guest today is Elizabeth Carr, the first person born in the U.S. — in 1981 — via in vitro fertilization. "My birth was so widely publicized that my first press conference was at three days old," Elizabeth says. "I didn't get here like everybody else." Elizabeth shares what it's been like...

Today, Ali is talking to Rene Byrd, a British-born singer, songwriter, and media personality known for her powerful voice, soulful pop and R&B style, and her bold, heartfelt storytelling. On this episode, she tells her deeply personal egg freezing, infertility and family building journey, including giving birth to her son via IVF at age 48. Rene talks about the retreat that changed her life fo...

On today's episode, Ali is joined by Tara Carlyle—influencer, girl mom, and outspoken advocate for women navigating infertility, including the reality of secondary infertility. Tara shares her personal journey and the emotional whiplash of struggling to conceive again after already having a child—grappling with guilt, grief, and what it’s like to feel dismissed by the medical system. Tara also...

Missed Rally Live #10? No worries! In this special episode, we’re bringing you the powerful Rally Live #10 keynote from Sarah Herron—reality TV alum, writer, advocate, and founder of SheLift. While many of you first met Sarah on The Bachelor , her true impact has come from the way she’s chosen to tell her own infertility story: with honesty, vulnerability, humor, and a fierce commitment to helping...

On this week's episode, Ali sits down with an icon and pioneer in the infertility community: double-board certified REI and infertility warrior Dr. Natalie Crawford. Natalie opens up about her four pregnancy losses before having her two kiddos, being both sides of the stirrups as doctor and patient, and what it's really like to navigate infertility as someone who “knows too much.” She talk...

In this powerful and deeply personal episode, Ali sits down with Connie, a proud Single Mom by Choice whose path to motherhood was anything but traditional—and exactly right for her. Growing up with a Black military dad and a Taiwanese “Tiger Mom,” Connie always felt the weight of expectations about what family should look like. But as she approached her late 30s, knowing she always wanted to have...

In this special episode, Ali is bringing you the unforgettable keynote from style expert, author, and powerhouse storyteller Lilliana Vasquez at Fertility Rally Live. Lilliana opens up about her deeply personal journey to motherhood, including the emotional twists, cultural layers, and unexpected turns her family-building path took. With her signature candor, humor, and heart, she shares what it w...

This week, we are celebrating a major milestone: Fertility Rally Live #10 . Ten Rallies. Ten waves of community, connection, truth-telling, sisterhood, messy feelings, breakthroughs, belly laughs, and being so deeply seen. To honor this moment, we’re revisiting one of the most unforgettable keynotes in Rally Live history: singer Christina Perri ’s beautifully raw, breathtaking, and generous conver...

Today, Ali talks to Ashtin, who opens up about her long road through infertility, including doing IVF treatment in both Greece and Australia. Ashtin talks about trying to get pregnant for two years, navigating four failed cycles, and then, how she ultimately conceived using the PherDal at-home insemination kit — a non-invasive, science-backed option that helped her finally become pregnant with a h...

On today's episode, Ali is talking to Kyla Burke—who you might know from her huge following on social media as a fitness expert and creator of the Coached by Kyla app. At just 34 years old, Kyla was told, “You don’t have any eggs. I can barely see your ovaries—there’s nothing. You have no function.” Her AMH was less than 0.01, and her estrogen, LH, and every other hormone were in the post-meno...

It's the 350th episode — and we couldn’t think of a more powerful, honest, and inspiring guest to help us celebrate this milestone. Today, Ali is talking with actress, writer, and fierce infertility advocate Camille Guaty , who you may know from Prison Break , The Vampire Diaries, Duster, and so many other shows and movies (Fertility Rally members especially love her in the Disney move, Gotta...

This week, Ali sits down with Dr. Mark Ratner , Chief Science Officer at Theralogix and one of the country’s leading experts in reproductive health and nutritional science. After 30 years in private practice focused on male fertility, Dr. Ratner has seen firsthand how confusing — and sometimes misleading — the supplement world can be. In this eye-opening conversation, he and Ali unpack what’s actu...

In this powerful episode, Ali sits down with Liz Krueger to share her deeply personal journey through infertility and loss. After having her daughter at 35, Liz experienced a series of heartbreaking miscarriages—including one at 16 weeks, when she and her husband lost their baby girl. Liz opens up about the devastation of finding out her highest-graded embryo didn’t survive the thaw, the hemorrhag...

On this episode, Ali talks to Broadway star and motivational speaker Sarrah Strimel Bentley, whose story is as powerful as it is vulnerable. After dazzling audiences in seven Broadway shows, Sarrah’s life took a shocking turn when she was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. The treatment plan didn’t just mean chemotherapy and a double mastectomy—it also came with the devastating news that her fe...

On this powerful episode, Ali sits down with Lacy Nicole—who you may have seen in the headlines for dating Jesse Lally from the hit reality show The Valley —but her story goes far deeper than Bravo antics. Lacy talks about years of debilitating reproductive health struggles—stage four endometriosis, adenomyosis, fibroids, ovarian cysts, polyps, 28 ER visits, and multiple surgeries. She opens up ab...

This week, Ali sits down with Savannah Bisby, who shares her infertility story on IG @infertilityfriends, to talk about Savannah's journey so far. She's still in the thick of it, battling endometriosis, doing five IUIs (including double inseminations), a laparoscopy, and taking a deep dive into reproductive immunology. Savannah talks about the emotional whiplash of infertility, including e...

Today, Ali sits down with Jessica Bell van der Wal, founder of Frame, to talk about her deeply personal fertility journey and what ultimately led her to create a resource to better support others. Jessica talks about learning about her mother’s miscarriages, growing up Catholic, and facing her own unexpected challenges when trying to conceive. She opens up about having PCOS, a mild thyroid conditi...

Today, Ali is joined by Dr. Amanda Adeleye, the founding partner and Medical Director of CCRM Fertility of Chicago -- and an REI who isn’t afraid to tackle some of the biggest myths and misconceptions around fertility. Ali and Dr. Adeleye dig into some of her patients FAQs, from the stereotype that Black-identifying people are “hyper fertile,” to what you should tell your doctor if you have a hist...

It's a very special minisode with three of Ali's favorite people in the fertility world: Dr. Carrie Bedient, Dr. Susan Hudson and Dr. Abby Eblen, aka  Fertility Docs Uncensored.  Today, we're diving into their brand-new book,  The IVF Blueprint,  which comes out September 23. The docs and I break down what they’ve learned from years of guiding patients through IVF—the science, the stra...

On today's episode, Ali is  joined by  Kati Cattaneo —Los Angeles real estate agent, influencer, storyteller, and IVF warrior—for a convo that blends heart, humor, and resilience. Kati opens up about the real and sometimes awkward parts of trying to conceive (“I kinda got crazy with my husband about timing things… and he was like, ‘What the heck—sex is supposed to be fun!’”), navigating her di...

Today, Ali joined by the multifaceted Erica Cobb—TV host, podcaster, and self-proclaimed “eternal optimist”—as she shares her raw and powerful journey through infertility, IVF, and surrogacy. Erica opens up about the challenges she’s faced so far, including a tumor on her pituitary gland, blocked fallopian tubes, and the emotional toll of hearing, “You’re pregnant, but not pregnant enough.” Throug...

Today, Ali sits down with a true powerhouse in the infertility community:  Rebecca Flick , Chief External Affairs Officer at RESOLVE, who has spent the past 20 years advocating for fertility patients nationwide. Rebecca opens up about her own deeply personal infertility journey, including her diagnosis of premature ovarian failure (and how that language has evolved), discovering she carries the MT...

It's World IVF Day! Today, Ali is talking to her friend and former Infertile AF guest, Emily Patel, about The Hopeful Families Collection, Emily's new initiative to bring  books into public and school libraries to celebrate the many ways families are created, including assisted reproductive technology (ART), adoption, surrogacy, and donor conception, while helping all children learn that e...

On this expert minisode, Dylan Morgan of Cascade Cryobank, a sperm bank based in Washington, talks about innovations and recent happenings in the world of sperm donation.  Cascade Cryobank was founded in response to the need for safe, high-quality donor sperm that has emerged in recent years. Their mission is to recruit outstanding donors and to produce frozen sperm of exceptional quality for use...