Insemination

FULL DISCLOSURE I filmed the intro a few weeks ago, I'm not about to go perform in Cleveland. I already did, it was wonderful. I apologize for the blooper, it's been a wild few weeks and I'm catching up. This episode is with a good friend and another DCP advocate Eric. Eric is a late discovery DCP who has been diving into the foundation of donor conception which is eugenics. Racism still heavily influences our current donor conception market, and until we acknowledge that to the fullest extent, we can't fix it. Eric runs a support group for BIPOC DCP to help others navigate those emotions and lived experiences.

Meet Casey, a recipient parent who used North West Cryobank who is a victim of fertility negligence. Fertility negligence is when a bank, clinic, or physician accidentally gives you the sperm/egg that you initially picked out.

Angela aka Sunny.in.season has gone viral for being a former egg donor and searching for the recipient parents who used her eggs to give them an updated medical history. Angela recently found out she has HHT which can be a very serious genetic illness, but the agency she initially went through has dissolved. Click here to sign up for DCP Data: https://www.dcpdata.org/signup?referrer=Laura-High

Today we have Danielle who is the co-founder of Seed Scout. Seed Scout is a known donor matching agency. In this episode Danielle shares her own experiences about using a known donor, the issues she faces while advocating for her clients, and why she feels more recipient parents should embrace known donors. https://www.theseedscout.com

Victoria and her Merrily are bravely joining us today. You may have seen their story recently published by CNN. Victoria is the first donor conceived person to come forward as a victim of accidental incest, and both her and her mom are victims of fertility fraud. Please know we recorded this episode in October 2023, but needed to wait till publish it once CNN came in the picture. Here is the article CNN did: https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/14/us/fertility-fraud-accidental-incest-invs/index.html

Today we talk to Karlos Dillard aka Ward of the State. Karlos is a trans-racial adoptee and former foster care youth. Karlos is an advocate, educator, and author. We discuss adoption, foster care, and how the donor conceived community can be better allies to the adoptee and former foster care community. Pre-order Karlos’s next book here: https://karlosdillard.com/books/abort-the-adoption-pre-sale

Dr. Alissa it’s not just a donor conceived person conceived through anonymous sperm donation, she is also a licensed therapist. Join us as we learn about her story, and talk about common emotional journeys and traumas that donor conceived people go through.

We welcome on Kenzi a family building coach a licensed clinical social worker. Kenzi talks about her work by helping intended recipient parents get to a more child centered place when deciding how to build their family. Kenzi talks about dealing with the fertility industry, fertility trauma, and asking yourself tough questions. Please know that at 34:00-43:23 Kenzi shares some stories about parents who have gone through miscarriages and how they’ve been treated by the fertility industry. It’s an incredibly important conversation, but if it isn’t emotionally safe for you to listen to that part, just skip over that section.

Today we have four representatives of a 100+ person sibling pod. They are here to talk about what they have gone through individually as donor conceived people, but what it’s also like being in a pod of 100+ siblings.

Welcome back to part 2 with Alex and Rachel!!! Alex tells us the story of how she was able to identify her and Rachel’s genetic parent. If you can’t find your donor on a DNA site, you need to hear how Alex did this.

Today Rachel is back and has brought along their sister Alex! Rachel is double donor conceived and Alex is their sister through their egg donation side. This episode we dive into feelings, weird thoughts, and Alex tells us the incredible story on how she found out she was donor conceived.

We are at the finale of my genetic testing! Join us as we listen to genetic counselor Dena tell me what has popped up on my panels. I’ve never had any genetic testing done, so I am excited to hear the results, but also really nervous!

We welcome on McKenzie Caldwell, registered dietitian who specializes in fertility and pregnancy. McKenzie shares a different perspective on the fertility industry and ways in which she would like to see them improve. In this episode, she talks about the rampant fat phobia that exists within the medical community, and specifically the fertility industry. She also shares lots of wonderful advice on how to nourish your body to get ready for pregnancy. Here are some of the links and resources she mentions: Website: www.feedyourzest.com Fueling Male Fertility by Lauren Manaker: https://www.nutritionnowcounseling.com/ebooks/fueling-male-fertility Fat positive fertility clinic list: https://nicolasalmon.co.uk/fat-positive-fertility-clinics-high-bmi/ Paper on BMI healthcare: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4184/2/2/11

I'm so excited for you all to meet @OutspokenAdoptee. Outspoken and I started communicating over a year ago about donor conception and adoption. We quickly found that there are so many similarities on how the Fertility Industry and Adoption Industry is run. Since than we believe that in order to make the changes that adoptees and donor conceived people are calling for we are our best allies. It is important that our two communities understand each others struggles, and work hand in hand in supporting each other on what we all want, making these industries child centered.

Erin Maya is not just a Donor Conceived person, but also very musically accomplished. She has written the very first musical about donor conception. In this episode she talks about her donor conception story, struggling with how she should identify, and how she created this amazing new up-and-coming musical. The first concert preview of this musical will be January 8th. Tickets are available for in person and live stream here: www.thecompletepicturemusical.com @thecompletepicturemusical @theerinmaya

Everyone meet Nurse Jess! Jess is a registered nurse and former egg donor who had a terrifying and near fatal experience when she donated her eggs to a friend. Her story is very disturbing but important to hear to understand what some many egg donors are put through and how they are misled. Jess’s handle is jes_ss2019

Today we are interviewing Rachel (they/them) who was conceived using both donor sperm and a donor egg. Their perspective, and lived experience is incredibly unique, even in the Donor Conceived community. Rachel and I both discovered our coping mechanism is humor, so please join us as we laugh our way through this episode.

We are back with Dena Dna! And we are going to start the process of getting genetic testing done to myself. In this episode, you were going to listen to how a genetic counselor interprets your family, medical history, what they need and what questions you need to be prepared for. In this episode, you’ll hear Dena referring to different videos that she has already put out. Here are the clips. Genetic Discrimination: https://youtu.be/JmO6asTLZLc?si=vXHp0lHYj-Jf1yBw Genetic Mutation: https://youtu.be/uLgLws_flZk?si=wgvOajtru0ThhLbv

We welcome genetic counselor Dena Dna. This three part series will show all of us how genetic testing works. In this part we are going to learn about what genetic testing is, what we can test for, and terminology. This is a incredibly important episode to listen to, since there is so much miss information flying around about genetic testing.

Today we welcome Mel Bornico of the United States Donor Conceived Council. The USCDD is a non-profit group formed and led by donor conceived people to advance change that promote their health, welfare, and human rights. If you've been wondering how you can be more active to support dcp rights and legislation, this is the episode to listen to. Donate to the USDCC here: https://givebutter.com/USDCC23?utm_medium=social&utm_source=linktree&utm_campaign=donate%3A+send+usdcc+to+asrm+2023 T-shirt Link: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1532164183/it-sucks-when-the-evidence-can-talk-tee?click_key=441bb25ab9205721fcf98b47b570163b098b1265%3A1532164183&click_sum=e5f70a65&ref=shop_home_active_1 Donate to Laura's DCP event: https://www.gofundme.com/f/donor-conceived-event?utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet-first-launch&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer