27 episodes

IVFU invites you in for no-holds-barred, candid conversations about making families the new-fashioned way. Host Sam Shaber, a mother via egg donor and surrogate, introduces you to a diverse group of people, (straight, gay, lesbian, and single intended parents), who built their families through IVF, adoption, fostering, donor sperm and eggs and much more - even a couple who’ve chosen to live happily childfree after infertility. Whether you've ridden the fertility rollercoaster yourself, or watched someone you love go through it, join Sam and her guests as they talk openly about the quest to become parents, from the darkest moments of doubt to the warmest feels of joy, and all the identity-challenging, life-changing moments in between.
 
Get more info on IVFU and download our theme song "Freak in
Love" at www.ivfupodcast.com.
 
Keep up with the latest IVFU updates and special announcements!
Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
 
Donate to help IVFU keep going at Venmo.com/ivfupodcast and PayPal.me/ivfupodcast.
 
Get in touch! Email us your thoughts, questions and transcript
requests at ivfupodcast@gmail.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

IVFU Inside Voices Media

    • Kids & Family
    • 5.0 • 33 Ratings

IVFU invites you in for no-holds-barred, candid conversations about making families the new-fashioned way. Host Sam Shaber, a mother via egg donor and surrogate, introduces you to a diverse group of people, (straight, gay, lesbian, and single intended parents), who built their families through IVF, adoption, fostering, donor sperm and eggs and much more - even a couple who’ve chosen to live happily childfree after infertility. Whether you've ridden the fertility rollercoaster yourself, or watched someone you love go through it, join Sam and her guests as they talk openly about the quest to become parents, from the darkest moments of doubt to the warmest feels of joy, and all the identity-challenging, life-changing moments in between.
 
Get more info on IVFU and download our theme song "Freak in
Love" at www.ivfupodcast.com.
 
Keep up with the latest IVFU updates and special announcements!
Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
 
Donate to help IVFU keep going at Venmo.com/ivfupodcast and PayPal.me/ivfupodcast.
 
Get in touch! Email us your thoughts, questions and transcript
requests at ivfupodcast@gmail.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Season 2 Finale: Therapist Savannah Answers Your Questions

    Season 2 Finale: Therapist Savannah Answers Your Questions

    Therapist and fertility/adoption expert Savannah Sanfield answers your questions about emotions, self-care, marriage during infertility, adoption, surrogacy, childfree living, third party reproduction, jealousy, resentment, self-image, self-hatred, RESOLVE.org insecurity, identity crises, co-dependency, baby showers, parenting after infertility, love, partnership, empathy, babies, postpartum depression, early childhood parenting, and more. With personal experience of infertility and 3rd party reproduction, Savannah brings us very special insights into the ups and downs of the fertility IVF journey based on her professional and personal expertise. Grab a seat on the couch and get ready to be restored and enlightened!
    For more information on the RAIN approach to self-care mentioned by Savannah, (Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nurture), check out Tarabrach.com.
    For help with talking to your loved ones about how to support you in your journey, and for general, comprehensive support resources, visit RESOLVE.org.
    For direct inquiries, reach out to Savannah at info@savannahsanfield.com.
    Get more info on IVFU and download our theme song "Freak in Love" at www.ivfupodcast.com. 
    Keep up with the latest IVFU updates and special announcements! Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter at @ivfupodcast. 
    Donate to help IVFU keep going at Venmo.com/ivfupodcast and PayPal.me/ivfupodcast. 
    Get in touch! Email us your thoughts, questions and transcript requests at ivfupodcast@gmail.com.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 47 min
    From a Salsa Jar to My Son: Alix Olson's Alternative Road to Motherhood

    From a Salsa Jar to My Son: Alix Olson's Alternative Road to Motherhood

    Writer/activist/spoken word star Alix Olson has never been predictable, but no one is more surprised than she to realize how much it means to be a mother. Hear the origin story of her first son, born after her sperm donor made his contribution into a "well-rinsed Tostitos jar," and her shock at wanting a second child, but then experiencing painful secondary infertility, having to "play straight" to access her insurance coverage, and becoming a single mother after her then-wife transitioned into a man. Come along with us on the road of Alix's self-discovery as she candidly takes us through success, addiction, recovery, sobriety, love, heartache, turkey basters, IVF, an ovarian cyst, medical error, infertility insurance coverage, sociopolitical norms, PhD research, women's rights, queer kinship, socialism, teaching university, and motherhood to two incredible kids. We cap off this special episode with a real-time performance of one of Alix's heartfelt, spoken word poems.
    Author, writer, poet, professor, performer and public figure Alix Olson has been reviewed and raved about in Ms. Magazine, Utne Reader, Progressive Reader and more. Historian and activist Howard Zinn has called Alix "an ingenious poet, a brilliant performer, a funny person, a serious thinker. Quite simply, extraordinary."
    Learn more about Alix Olson at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alix_Olson. 
    Learn about her work as an Assistant Professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) at Emory University.
    Get more info on IVFU and download our theme song "Freak in Love" at www.ivfupodcast.com. 
    Keep up with the latest IVFU updates and special announcements! Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter at @ivfupodcast. 
    Donate to help IVFU keep going at Venmo.com/ivfupodcast and PayPal.me/ivfupodcast. 
    Get in touch! Email us your thoughts, questions and transcript requests at ivfupodcast@gmail.com.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 45 min
    Dynamic Do-Over: How Infertility Inspired a Mother and Daughter

    Dynamic Do-Over: How Infertility Inspired a Mother and Daughter

    Daughter Nicole founded a surrogacy agency after her struggle with infertility, while her mother Pam launched the Baby Quest Foundation to award grants for fertility treatments to those who can't afford it. After struggling for years with infertility, through IVF, miscarriages, fertility treatments, fertility meds, pregnancy fails, and more, Nicole Lawson was able to have her first child through a surrogate. She worked with surrogacy again for her second child, and was inspired to leave her entertainment career to open Abundant Beginnings Company, a surrogacy agency, with her business partner Julie Allgood. Meanwhile, Nicole's mother, Pamela Hirsch, after caring for her daughter through the struggle and realizing the fortune of having a fortune when you can pay for your child's IVF treatment and support, was inspired to found the Baby Quest Foundation, which awards grants to couples, single parents, military veterans with infertility and others who long to have a family, but don't have the funds. Join us for Bring Your Mother to Work Day at IVFU!
    If you have questions about surrogacy, becoming a surrogate for a family in need, or finding a surrogate for your own family journey, find Nicole at Abundant Beginnings Company, https://abcsurrogacy.com. 
    For more information about Baby Quest, to make a donation, offer to volunteer, or apply for one of their annual fertility grants, (next deadline March 15, 2022!) visit https://babyquestfoundation.org. 
    Get more info on IVFU and download our theme song "Freak in Love" at www.ivfupodcast.com. Keep up with the latest IVFU updates and special announcements! Follow us at www.instagram.com/ivfupodcast, www.facebook.com/ivfupodcast and www.twitter.com/ivfupodcast. Donate to help IVFU keep going at Venmo.com/ivfupodcast and PayPal.me/ivfupodcast. Get in touch! Email us your thoughts, questions and transcript requests at ivfupodcast@gmail.com.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 47 min
    Facebook Groups: the Ultimate Love/Hate Affair

    Facebook Groups: the Ultimate Love/Hate Affair

    Fertility coach Oana Gharbi shares her story and strategies for coping with IVF, secondary infertility, hormones, protocols, pompous doctors, and sometimes, when it's best to stop and live your life. Having experienced her own personal pain and loss with the death of her first husband, then acute secondary infertility with her second husband, Oana discovered her true calling as a coach and advocate for people still on the journey to family after deciding to stop IVF and restore peace and happiness to her life, her marriage, and her family. She and Sam discuss the good and bad of IVF Facebook groups, the difference in TTC for women over 40, low ovarian reserve, egg donation, pineapple core, myths and medical breakthroughs.
    Find Oana on her Facebook Group and her website www.getthegoldenegg.com.
    SEND IN YOUR QUESTIONS for our Season 2 finale with fertility therapist Savannah Sanfield. Ask anything, get free answers. Questions due by 11/11. Send to ivfupodcast@gmail.com or DM Sam at www.instagram.com/ivfupodcast.
    Get more info on IVFU and download our theme song "Freak in Love" at www.ivfupodcast.com. Keep up with the latest IVFU updates and special announcements! Follow us at www.instagram.com/ivfupodcast, www.facebook.com/ivfupodcast and www.twitter.com/ivfupodcast. Donate to help IVFU keep going at Venmo.com/ivfupodcast and PayPal.me/ivfupodcast. Get in touch! Email us your thoughts, questions and transcript requests at ivfupodcast@gmail.com.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 45 min
    A Priest and a Rabbi Walk Into a Podcast

    A Priest and a Rabbi Walk Into a Podcast

    Reverend Julia Offinger, Associate Rector of Grace Church in New York City and Rabbi Rachel Brown, educational director of Temple Beth Shalom in Hudson, Ohio talk candidly with Sam about the roles of faith, love and grace in the struggle to make a family. It’s a rare chance to ask the direct questions about the religious rules of IVF and alternative reproduction, from the Episcopal stance on infertility to the Catholic stance on IVF to the Jewish stance on egg donation and surrogacy, and more. A female priest and a female rabbi share their personal experiences with Ashkenazi Jewish genes, Christian lesbian marriage and same sex motherhood, third party reproduction, Jesus, the Pope, the Talmud, the Torah, Jewish scholarship and Christian fellowship, all with a passion for spreading the word that it’s okay to do IVF and alternative reproduction in the eyes of religion, and that normalizing these pathways to making families is the best thing we can do to support people going through it.
    Learn more about Reverend Julia’s work at Grace Church NYC.
    Learn more about Rabbi Rachel at Temple Beth Shalom, Shaarey Tikvah, and Camp Timbrel.
    SEND IN YOUR QUESTIONS for our Season 2 finale with fertility therapist Savannah Sanfield. Ask anything, get free answers. Questions due by 11/11. Send to ivfupodcast@gmail.com or DM Sam at www.instagram.com/ivfupodcast.
    Get more info on IVFU and download our theme song "Freak in Love" at www.ivfupodcast.com. Keep up with the latest IVFU updates and special announcements! Follow us at www.instagram.com/ivfupodcast, www.facebook.com/ivfupodcast and www.twitter.com/ivfupodcast. Donate to help IVFU keep going at Venmo.com/ivfupodcast and PayPal.me/ivfupodcast. Get in touch! Email us your thoughts, questions and transcript requests at ivfupodcast@gmail.com.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 44 min
    The Infertility Soda Machine – How IVF Changed Comedian Jay Palumbo

    The Infertility Soda Machine – How IVF Changed Comedian Jay Palumbo

    Comedian/writer/advocate Jennifer 'Jay' Palumbo talks openly about how infertility changed her career, her priorities and her marriage – and how she still comes out laughing. After grueling IVF treatments, embryo transfers, pregnancy fails and office baby showers, Jay finally had a successful pregnancy which produced her son Michael and moved her to become an advocate and a figurehead in the fertility/infertility fight. Then she got pregnant by accident which surprised the entire world - and forced her to do a lot of explaining!
    Jay is the Founder and CEO of Wonder Woman Writer, LLC, a freelance writer, stand-up comic, and proud mompreneur to two boys, one with special needs. Find her pieces in Time Magazine, Parents Magazine, Huffington Post (HuffPo), and ScaryMommy, and find Jay herself in Self, Fast Company, Medium, and more. As an infertility subject matter expert, she’s been interviewed on news outlets such as CNN, NPR, FOX, NBC, and BBC America, plus the documentary, “Vegas Baby”. Her blog, "The Two Week Wait", was awarded the Hope Award for Best Blog from Resolve: The National Infertility Association and was also named the “Best IVF Blog” by Egg Donation Friends. 
    Visit Jay at Twitter or Instagram @jennjaypal.
    SEND IN YOUR QUESTIONS for our Season 2 finale with fertility therapist Savannah Sanfield. Ask anything, get free answers. Questions due by 11/11. Send to ivfupodcast@gmail.com or DM Sam at www.instagram.com/ivfupodcast.
    Get more info on IVFU and download our theme song "Freak in Love" at www.ivfupodcast.com. Keep up with the latest IVFU updates and special announcements! Follow us at www.instagram.com/ivfupodcast, www.facebook.com/ivfupodcast and www.twitter.com/ivfupodcast. Donate to help IVFU keep going at Venmo.com/ivfupodcast and PayPal.me/ivfupodcast. Get in touch! Email us your thoughts, questions and transcript requests at ivfupodcast@gmail.com.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 47 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
33 Ratings

33 Ratings

drenicholas ,

Finally found my people!

So In love with this podcast. Each episode is so well done and and the stories are great.
Has helped me not feel alone while on this journey to hopefully become a parent.
A must listen!

LizV84 ,

Fantastic!

In the increasingly crowded IVF / infertility podcast space, this one is my new favorite. Educational, warm, compassionate, and hilarious - and so needed. Thank you!

Tribase ,

A much needed conversation

It moved me so much. It took me on a stroll down memory lane, not in a fond time in my life, but in a game changing time that I’ll never forget. I wish IVFU had existed when I was struggling with infertility to help me feel less alone. It’s so wonderful what you’re doing, Sam, thank you for shining light and humor on this much needed conversation!!

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