Venus Rising
79 episodes - English - Latest episode: 3 months ago - ★★★★★ - 40 ratingsVenus Rising builds on the work of the Center for Bioethics and Culture in the space of fertility, infertility, high-tech baby making and women's reproductive health.
We sit down and chat with experts, authors, medical professionals, egg and sperm donors, as well as surrogates, and of course, women themselves, with their personal and often heart wrenching stories. Our guests include a wide-range of voices, even those we often have major disagreements with in the spirit of public conversation, robust discussion, education, and always, trying to challenge us all to think beyond the masses.
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Episodes
Episode 78: Emily: a Story of an Almost Egg Donor, Writer, Nurse, and Mother (Podcast #78, S05)
January 24, 2024 00:00 - 47 minutes - 55 MBFor our last episode this season, Kallie sits down with postpartum nurse, lactation consultant, writer, and mother of three, Emily. Emily reached out to us at the CBCNetwork after writing about her near miss experience as an almost egg donor at just nineteen years old. Why didn’t Emily commit to becoming an egg-donor? What horrible information did she find out about the clinic who recruited her? These are all questions we will find out in today’s episode of Venus Rising. Emily's b...
Episode 77: Peter Boni: Best-Selling Author & Donor-Conceived Rights Advocate (Podcast #77, S05)
January 11, 2024 00:00 - 48 minutes - 55.8 MBToday I have the pleasure of sitting down with a very interesting man, Peter Boni. Peter credits his disruptive childhood, a college education from Univeristy of Massachusetts Amherst, decorated on-the-ground service as a US Army Special Operations Team Leader in Vietnam, the love of his family and friends, plus his luck-of-the-draw DNA with making him the person he has become today—a best-selling author, donor-conceived rights advocate, and fun-loving grandfather. Today we talk wi...
Episode 76: Breaz: A Sister's Story of Infertility, IVF, and Loss (Podcast #76, S05)
December 20, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 68.9 MBToday on the show we hear from a very broken-hearted guest sharing the story of her sister’s life and untimely death at just 39 years old. Breaz’s sister was determined to have her own biological children and went through seven rounds of IVF. After her last pregnancy, cancer took Breaz’s sisters life. Breaz shares her sister’s IVF story in hopes of cautioning other women considering IVF and ART technologies stating “we are not all meant to give birth, but we can still be moms in man...
Episode 75: Dr. Elizabeth Lozano: Attachment, Betrayal and Complications in Donor Conception (Podcast #75, S05)
December 07, 2023 00:00 - 45 minutes - 52.4 MBLiz, social scientist and donor-conceived person, joins me today to discuss the complications of donor-conception, even when a child is raised knowing the truth about their conception. Liz earned her Ph.D. in Social/Personality Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2021 and since then she’s been an Assistant Professor of Psychology & Sociology at California Northstate University. Inspired by her own personal experience, Liz now studies attachment in donor...
Episode 74: Wendi Babst: from Detective to DNA Surprise (Podcast #74, S05)
November 08, 2023 00:00 - 44 minutes - 51.1 MBToday I have the opportunity to interview my first Detective, Chief of Police and Captain, Wendi Babst. Wendi worked in law enforcement in Oregon for over 31 years, retiring with the rank of Captain. In 2018, Wendi discovered she was the product of fertility fraud perpetrated against her mother in Las Vegas, Nevada. Since that time she has discovered many half-siblings scattered around the United States. Wendi’s story was featured in the HBO original documentary Baby God. She now w...
Episode 73: Gabrielle Clark: Affirming Reality (Podcast #073, S05)
October 24, 2023 00:00 - 50 minutes - 57.4 MBGabrielle Clark is a mother and fierce advocate for children and parents, specifically advocating for free speech rights, sex-based rights and parental rights. When Gabrielle’s daughter was captured by the gender identity industry, being socially transitioned at school, she implemented a globally utilized program to affirm reality, eventually helping free her daughter from the clutches of the gender industry and social transition at her school. After seeing her daughter desist, Gabr...
Episode 72: Alesia: a Nurse on a Mission to Help Those with DNA Surprise (Podcast #072, S05)
October 10, 2023 00:00 - 46 minutes - 53.6 MBWelcome back to season 5! Today I have the privilege of welcoming Alesia a retired nurse, Army veteran, blog writer, and creator and CEO of NPE (Not Parent Expected) Nurses (NPEN), a brand new resource center for people with an NPE (non-paternity event). NPEN is staffed by a collective of registered nursing professionals volunteering to support the needs of those navigating DNA surprise. Together, her team of nurses, many with their own personal experience of an NPE event, work to ...
Episode 71: Eve Wiley Exposes Fertility Fraud (Podcast #071, S05)
September 26, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 70.4 MBWelcome back to Venus Rising. We are excited you’re joining us for the first episode of season 5 with Eve Wiley! Originally from a small rural town in Texas, Eve uncovered a life changing family secret about her genetic identity. In 2019, she shared her story to expose the dark side of the grossly unregulated fertility industry. Eve's story, documented by ABC's 20/20, thrust her into an advocacy role to raise awareness on fertility fraud and negligence. She has successfully lobbied ...
Episode 70: Podcast #070 (S04): Camille Kiefel Inspires Change
May 24, 2023 00:00 - 33 minutes - 38.3 MBAs we wrap up season 4 of Venus Rising, I thought it appropriate to welcome back Camille Kiefel to the show! If you missed the first conversation with Camille, I encourage you to go back and have a listen as she shares with us her personal story of how she embraced a non-binary identity and was convinced to have her breasts removed in 2020. Now, after addressing her physical and mental health issues, Camille embraces her life as a woman and is speaking out to help others. Today we f...
Episode 69: Podcast #069 (S04): Walt Heyer
May 10, 2023 00:00 - 50 minutes - 57.7 MBWalt Heyer was a husband, father and corporate executive who underwent “sex change” surgery as an adult at the age of 42 and lived his life pretending to be a woman for eight years. Restored now for over 30 years, Walt uses his unique experience to help others who regret their so-called “gender change” and to advocate for and protect children from irreversible medical interventions. Walt has shared his story and written for The Daily Wire, USAToday, the Washington Time, as well as o...
Episode 68: Podcast #068 (S04): Pamela, The Truthful Therapist
April 26, 2023 00:00 - 45 minutes - 52.4 MBI had the pleasure of meeting Pamela Garfield-Jaeger, a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) with over 20 years of experience, at the premiere of our new documentary, The Detransition Diaries: Saving Our Sisters. Professionally, Pamala has served teens and families working as a licensed clinical social worker in a variety of settings including community-based agencies, residential programs for foster youth, and in schools and mental health clinics in California. In 2017, Pamela ha...
Episode 67: Podcast #067 (S04): Stacy's IVF Story
April 12, 2023 00:00 - 44 minutes - 51.4 MBToday I have the privilege of sitting down with Stacy. Utilizing IVF, Stacy and her husband brought healthy twin girls into the world 14 years ago. After following the work of the Center for Bioethics and Culture for some time, Stacy reached out to me with hopes of sharing her story with other listeners. Despite their textbook IVF success story, Stacy and her husband are able to see in hindsight, just how much they were used, lied to, and profited off of during their struggle with i...
Episode 66: Podcast #066 (S04): Back with Stephanie Winn
March 28, 2023 00:00 - 49 minutes - 56.8 MBToday I have the pleasure of having Stephanie Winn back on the show! If you missed our first discussion, I would encourage you to go back and have a listen. The first time we spoke with Stephanie, we talked about how she became critical of the gender identity industry. Today we will be discussing the new film that Stephanie appeared in titled Affirmation Generation and our latest film, The Detransition Diaries. For those of you that haven’t heard, allow me to introduce Stephanie a...
Episode 65: Podcast #065 (S04): Camille
March 14, 2023 00:00 - 51 minutes - 59.3 MBIn honor of Detransition Awareness Day this week, today I sit down with Camille, a young woman that embraced a non-binary identity and went under the knife in 2020 to have top surgery, where doctors removed her breasts. Only after addressing her physical and mental health issues, Camille finally accepted that she was a woman and had been all along. Camille now works to bring awareness to detransitioners and about alternative treatments for those struggling like she once did. She is ...
Episode 64: Podcast #064 (S04): Michelle
February 28, 2023 00:00 - 51 minutes - 58.8 MBToday on Venus Rising we welcome, Michelle, an outspoken 34-year-old detransitioned woman. Michelle identified as transgender for a period of ten years, during which time she was prescribed testosterone and underwent two medically unnecessary surgeries; a mastectomy and hysterectomy. Seven years after being prescribed testosterone, at nearly 30 years old, she was diagnosed with ASD, ADHD, and post-traumatic stress disorder. She detransitioned a few years later. In the aftermath of...
Episode 63: Podcast #063 (S04): Shulamit Ferber
February 14, 2023 00:00 - 56 minutes - 65.2 MBToday on Venus Rising we have the pleasure to welcome Shulamit Ferber a programmer and feminist activist from Tel Aviv, Israel. Shulamit studied Interactive Studies at Sapir College in Sderot, Israel. After college, Shulamit started writing for the feminist media outlet "Politically Correct" about various issues, and in recent years decided to concentrate on the issue of surrogacy and the booming fertility industry in Israel - our focus for today’s conversation and discussion. Apart...
Episode 62: Podcast #062 (S04): Mary
January 31, 2023 00:00 - 36 minutes - 42.3 MBLately, Venus Rising has had the opportunity to sit down with those willing to share their personal stories of how they were harmed by the gender identity industry. Today we welcome yet another woman who bought the lie that she could become a man. Mary spent the last 4 years on testosterone, but now Mary is detransitioning and is sharing her story in hopes that others avoid harming themselves with transgender ideology. Mary hopes to be a beacon of hope for those with gender dysphori...
Episode 61: Podcast #061 (S04): Jennifer Bilek
January 17, 2023 00:00 - 45 minutes - 51.8 MBHappy New Year! Here at Venus Rising, we would like to ring in 2023 speaking with artist, activist, and investigative journalist, Jennifer Bilek. As well as receiving many awards for her portraiture, Jennifer's journalism has been featured in Tablet Magazine, First Things, The Post Millennial, and many other publications. She writes about the intersections of unfettered corporatism, technology, and the gender industry on her blog, The 11th Hour, found on Twitter @11thBlog or online ...
Episode 60: Podcast #60 (S04): Stephanie Winn, LMFT
December 14, 2022 00:00 - 1 hour - 69 MBYou definitely don’t want to miss today’s guest, Stephanie Winn. Stephanie is a licensed Marriage and Family therapist, writer, consultant, and host of the podcast You Must Be Some Kind of Therapist all with the goals of restoring integrity to the profession of psychotherapy, ending childhood sexual mutilation, and promoting justice & healing for those who have been harmed by “gender affirming care”. Today I get to chat with Stephanie about each of these goals, her work, and why she...
Episode 59: Podcast #59 (S04): Best-Selling Author Milli Hill
November 29, 2022 00:00 - 57 minutes - 66.1 MBToday I am thrilled to virtually sit down with writer, feminist and freelance journalist Milli Hill. Milli is the author of bestselling Positive Birth Book (2017), Give Birth like a Feminist (2019) and a book for pre-teen girls, titled My Period (2021). From 2012 to 2021 she founded and ran the Positive Birth Movement, a global network of antenatal discussion groups aimed at improving birth and giving women better access to support and information. As a journalist since 2013 Milli ...
Episode 57: Podcast #58 (S04): Abel Garcia
November 08, 2022 00:00 - 54 minutes - 62.6 MBAbel Garcia joins us on Venus Rising to share his story as a male detransitioner. Abel changed his name, took estrogen, and went under the knife for "top" surgery. Facing many roadblocks, Abel has worked hard to detransition and is now sharing his story with hopes to help minimize the number of people who will be harmed by the claim that it is possible to change sex. Abel is active on Instagram, twitter and YouTube under the handle @officialabelg.
Episode 57: Podcast #57 (S04): Jennie's Story of Embryos on Ice
October 25, 2022 00:00 - 47 minutes - 54.2 MBEarlier this year, a woman named Jennie reached out to us with the hopes of warning others before they, like her, are swept up in the assisted reproduction vortex. Jennie and her husband spent seven years facing the heartbreak of infertility before their son was born at the very beginning of the global pandemic in March of 2020. Jennie and her husband went through 3 grueling rounds of IUIs and 1 round of IVF in order to conceive their son and in hindsight, Jennie now realizes the m...
Episode 56: Podcast #056 (S04): Meghan Murphy
October 12, 2022 00:00 - 49 minutes - 56.4 MBToday I have the pleasure of having freelance writer and journalist, Meghan Murphy on the show. Meghan has a master's degree in the department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies at Simon Fraser University, and has been writing about feminism since 2010. Known for going against the grain, she was the first to publish a critique of Slutwalk, back in 2011, and was one of the only popular feminist bloggers to publicly articulate both a radical feminist and socialist position ag...
Episode 55: Podcast #055 (S04): Gerda
September 26, 2022 00:00 - 1 hour - 79.3 MBVenus Rising exists to challenge listeners to think beyond the masses, especially as it pertains to women’s health. It is with that goal in mind that today we welcome, Gerda, a 27-year-old woman from Poland, who started to identify as trans at the age of 14 and began the process of social transition at 19 and medical transition at 21. After 8 years of living as a transman, she came to the conclusion that the majority of her 'gender dysphoria' was a mixture of her psychological traum...
Episode 54: Podcast #054 (S04): Genevieve Gluck
September 13, 2022 00:00 - 38 minutes - 55.6 MBWelcome back to another wonderful season of Venus Rising. Can you believe we are in season 4? This season starts off with a bang as we interview Genevieve Gluck, feminist essayist and co-founder of the pro-woman news and opinion site Reduxx. Prior to starting Reduxx, Genevieve has contributed work to Feminist Current and was published in the anthology Spinning and Weaving: Radical Feminist for the 21st Century. Genevieve hosts her own podcast called Women's Voices, which features in...
Episode 53: Podcast #053: Special Edition with TullipR
June 16, 2022 00:00 - 49 minutes - 56.3 MBIf you’ve been following our show for some time, you know we like to have guests from around the globe. Today we welcome a very special guest all the way from the United Kingdom, going by his Twitter handle TullipR. Tullip R is here to share his story as a male detransitioner. Fom the ages of 26 to 34 TullipR lived as a trans woman, including hormone therapy and full genital surgery in 2018. TullipR is active on twitter and in running the detrans males group that started just this...
Episode 52: Podcast #052 (S03): Jaida
May 10, 2022 00:00 - 43 minutes - 49.2 MBA few weeks ago, I received an email from a young woman that was exposed to the dangers and tragedy of the surrogacy industry as a young child. She shared with me her childhood story about the untimely passing of her mother from complications after a surrogate pregnancy. Now, as a young adult, Jaida lives in Orange County with her husband and is an undergraduate student studying Theology at Grand Canyon University. Graciously, Jaida agreed to come on Venus Rising to share her story ...
Episode 51: Podcast #051 (S03): Rachel
April 19, 2022 00:00 - 37 minutes - 43.1 MBWe have had the opportunity to talk with so many wonderful people this season and today is no exception. Today we welcome Rachel, a 31-year-old detransitioned lesbian woman, brave enough to share with us her deeply personal story. Rachel lived for 5 years as a transman, taking injectable testosterone, but stopped medical transition and ceased identifying as transgender. She became popular on Twitter for being outspoken about the long-term health effects of cross-sex hormones and tra...
Episode 50: Podcast #050 (S03): Kathleen Stock
April 05, 2022 00:00 - 33 minutes - 46.5 MBWow! Today is our 50th episode on Venus Rising! To celebrate, Kallie sits down with best-selling author and award-winning academic, Dr. Kathleen Stock. Dr. Stock is well-known in the United Kingdom and the United States for bravely recognizing the importance of biological sex. She regularly discusses and writes on gender identity ideology and its effects on women and girls. Until October 2021, Kathleen Stock was a Professor of Philosophy at University of Sussex, and was awarded an ...
Episode 49: Podcast #049 (S03): Edward Saulig
March 15, 2022 00:00 - 35 minutes - 49 MBToday, we have a very special guest with us, all the way from Sydney Australia, Edward Saulig. Edward brings a voice to Venus Rising that we haven’t yet heard, the voice of a sperm donor. In his day to day life, Edward works as a town planner for the local government in Sydney, Australia. Part of his work is creating new neighbourhood parks in established areas. He has successfully created a new park dedicated to each of his offspring from sperm donation; he hopes to one day push ...
Episode 48: Podcast #048 (S03): Katy Francisco
March 01, 2022 00:00 - 47 minutes - 65.2 MBToday, we have a very special guest with us, Katy Francisco. Her name might sound a little familiar to some listeners as her brother, Matt Doran, was a special guest on our show in Season 1. Like her brother, Katy was born from donor conception and has been an advocate for the donor conceived community by sharing her story and supporting restorative reproductive medicine. Katy served 6 years as Operations Manager for CanaVox, the marriage and family project of the Witherspoon Instit...
Episode 47: Podcast #047 (S03): Libby Emmons
February 15, 2022 00:00 - 50 minutes - 69.8 MBToday we welcome Libby Emmons, Editor-in-chief for The Post Millennial to the show. Libby holds a Masters of Fine Arts from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts from Sarah Lawrence College. Before Libby became a journalist, she was in the world of theater. In this episode we talk with Libby about her shift from playwright to editor and why good debate and conversation around contriversial topics is rare, often resulting in cancel culture. You can find Libby’s work published in...
Episode 46: Podcast #046 (E03): Lexi
February 01, 2022 00:00 - 50 minutes - 69.3 MBVenus Rising welcomes Lexi with Stop Surrogacy Now UK. Stop Surrogacy Now is a global campaign that brings together a worldwide, ethnically, religiously, and culturally diverse group opposed to the exploitation of women and the human trafficking of children through surrogacy. You can find more and join this global campaign at stopsurrogacynow.com. Stop Surrogacy Now UK was formed by a group of women who were and still are concerned about the proposals the UK Law Commission put forwa...
Episode 45: Podcast #045 (S03): Kimberly
January 18, 2022 00:00 - 27 minutes - 31.5 MBIn this episode of Venus Rising we shift from our normal programming to bring you an interview between Jennifer Lahl, CBC Founder and President, and surrogate mother, Kimberly. Kimberly sits down with Jennifer to share her horrific surrogacy story where she was left fighting for custody of her own biological child. The baby Kimberly gave birth to as part of a gestational surrogacy arrangement was her own child, and not the baby for a Chinese couple who hired her. Surrogacy in China...
Episode 44: Podcast #044 (S03): Theresa Morris
January 04, 2022 00:00 - 1 hour - 104 MBWe are kicking off the New Year with another wonderful episode of Venus Rising featuring researcher, author and professor Dr. Theresa Morris! Theresa Morris, Ph.D. is Professor of Sociology and Women’s and Gender Studies as well as the Coordinator of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program at Texas A&M University. When she’s not busy teaching undergraduate and graduate students, Dr. Morris also conducts research on gender, reproduction, and birth. Her first book, Cut It Out: The C-Se...
Episode 43: Podcast #043 (S03): Kara Dansky
December 14, 2021 00:00 - 50 minutes - 69.3 MBToday we welcome attorney, public speaker, writer, and consultant, Kara Dansky. Kara has an extensive background in criminal justice law and policy and is unabashedly committed to protecting the rights, privacy, and safety of women and girls on the basis of sex in law and throughout society. Kara currently serves on the steering committee of the U.S. chapter of the Women's Human Rights Campaign (WHRC), which seeks to promote the Declaration on Women's Sex-Based Rights and also serve...
Episode 42: Podcast #042 (S03): Joyce Harper
November 16, 2021 00:00 - 3 hours - 59.4 MBToday on Venus Rising I sit down with reproductive science research expert, author, academic and educator Joyce Harper, BSc, PhD. Currently Dr. Harper is Professor of Reproductive Science at University College London in the Institute for Women’s Health where she is Head of the Reproductive Science and Society Group. She is a Director of the Embryology and PGD Academy and founder of Global Women Connected. Dr. Harper has over 33 years of experience in the fields of fertility, gene...
Episode 41: Podcast #041 (S03): Jennifer Block
November 02, 2021 00:00 - 53 minutes - 74 MBWelcome back! Today I am thrilled to host award winning independent journalist and author, Jennifer Block. I have the opportunity to talk with Jennifer about women's health, gender, the conflict of interest found in medicine, and her newest book Everything Below The Waist: Why Health Care Needs a Feminist Revolution (St. Martin's Press). You might have read her other publications in The BMJ, New York Times, Romper, Washington Post Magazine, The Baffler, and in many other outlets. He...
Episode 40: Podcast #040 (S03): Donovan Cleckley
October 19, 2021 00:00 - 1 hour - 99.3 MBWelcome back to another interesting episode of Venus Rising. This week I have the pleasure of chatting with a young freelance writer and literary scholar, Donovan Cleckley. Donovan holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Montevallo and a Master of Arts in English from Tulane University. His research focuses on the relationship between women’s rights and gay rights, literature and sexual politics, and the social and political...
Episode 39: Podcast #039 (S03): Jasmine Esmay
October 06, 2021 00:00 - 41 minutes - 56.9 MBToday’s guest is Jasmine Esmay, a Registered Nurse Certified in Inpatient Obstetrics with over 20 years of frontline healthcare experience. Jasmine is also a Certified Lactation Counselor and an Internationally Board Certified Lactation Consultant. Jasmine believes that lifelong health and strong family relationships start with pregnancy and birth. Families today face almost insurmountable struggles when it comes to navigating the healthcare system, juggling the demands of a new b...
Episode 38: Podcast #038 (S03): Toni Bare
September 21, 2021 00:00 - 55 minutes - 75.8 MBOn today's episode of Venus Rising, I sit down with the fearless advocate, Toni Bare. In 2016 Toni agreed to be a gestational surrogate for a couple with hopes that she would make enough money to pay for her own fertility treatment. Toni’s experience as a surrogate mother was so horrific and harmful she has committed to publicly speaking out against surrogacy. Toni’s story is complex and painful, full of abuse, injustice, and personal trauma and I admire her strength as she shares ...
Episode 37: Podcast #037 (S03): Update from Alyssia Wood
September 08, 2021 00:00 - 40 minutes - 55.2 MBHello and welcome back to Venus Rising Season THREE! I have so many wonderful guests lined up for this season, but before introducing someone new I decided to kick-off season three with someone you met last season, Alyssia Wood. I spoke with Alyssia about her experience as a surrogate mother in season 2, but only touched the tip of the iceberg. Today I talks more in-depth about Alyssia's experience as a surrogate mother and really focuses on her last pregnancy as a surrogate moth...
Episode 36: Podcast #036: Brynne
June 22, 2021 22:51 - 55 minutes - 75.9 MBWelcome back to this season’s final episode of Venus Rising. Today Kallie has a candid and informative talk with Brynne, one of the brave mothers featured in our newly released documentary “Trans Mission: What’s the Rush to Reassign Gender”. At age 13, Brynne's daughter began suffering from "Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria” (ROGD), a poorly understood phenomena currently affecting hundreds of thousands of girls worldwide. ROGD is characterized by a sudden and severe rejection of a pers...
Episode 35: Podcast #035: Alyssia Wood
June 01, 2021 00:00 - 47 minutes - 54.6 MBToday I have the pleasure of sitting down with four-time surrogate mother, Alyssia Wood. Having wonderful pregnancy experiences with each of her four children, Alyssia felt that surrogacy was an obvious way for her to help others start or build their own families. She is here today to talk about her different experiences as a surrogate mother, which included two miscarriages, two premature deliveries, hyperemesis gravidarum, sepsis, a near hysterectomy, and a host of unexpected cha...
Episode 34: Podcast #034: Kelly Wilson, RN
May 18, 2021 19:59 - 50 minutes - 69.7 MBIf you are an aspiring labor and delivery nurse or nurse midwife or have ever wanted to chat with a nurse that works at an IVF clinic then today’s show is just for you. I am especially excited about this episode because I get to sit down with nursing colleague, Kelly Wilson. I had the opportunity of meeting and working with Kelly when I was fresh out of nursing school, several years ago. Kelly has been a nurse since 2010 and joined the ranks of labor and delivery nurses in 2013. In 2...
Episode 33: Podcast #033: Dr. Susan Caldwell
May 04, 2021 01:13 - 41 minutes - 57 MBWelcome back to Venus Rising! With me today is Dr. Susan Caldwell, a primary care physician specializing in women’s health practicing in New Orleans, Louisiana. Today we tackle an emotionally sensitive topic, especially as we approach Mother's Day- infertility and IVF. Dr. Caldwell has three children of her own, all of whom were conceived through IVF. Today she explains why, in retrospect, she would not recommend IVF as a solution to infertility and why, in her expert opinion, napr...
Episode 32: Podcast #032: Kylee Kwiatkowski
April 14, 2021 00:00 - 1 hour - 84.3 MBWelcome back to Venus Rising! One of the main commodities in the ever-growing infertility industry is human eggs. Young women all over the world are targeted by ads to "donate" their eggs. Who are these women and what are the risks to their health? In this episode I have the opportunity to talk with Kylee Kwiatkowski about her harrowing story of egg "donation" and the aftermath that followed this life-altering decision. If you are considering "donating" your eggs or are dealing wit...
Episode 31: Podcast #031: Liz Scheier
March 30, 2021 00:00 - 43 minutes - 59.5 MBIn the early 2000s, Liz Scheier’s mom was facing eviction, so Liz, like many young women, turned to egg donation to raise funds to escape financial crisis. Over the next several years, Liz underwent a total of three rounds of egg retrieval. In the years since, Liz has spent a significant amount of time analyzing the situation and asking important ethical questions related to it. She sits on the leadership team of We Are Egg Donors (WAED), a volunteer-run global support network for ...
Episode 30: Podcast #030: Wendy Kramer
March 17, 2021 00:00 - 52 minutes - 71.6 MBWelcome back to an informative new episode of Venus Rising! This week Kallie sits down with Wendy Kramer, Co-Founder and Director of the Donor Sibling Registry (DSR), a network of over 72,000 members worldwide, united by their shared experience as individuals conceived as a result of egg, sperm, or embryo donation and their mutual desire to be connected with others who share their genetic ties. Wendy launched the DSR in an effort to help bridge some of the ancestral gaps for her own...
Episode 29: Podcast #029: Pamela Mahoney Tsigdinos
March 03, 2021 00:00 - 57 minutes - 78.8 MBYou will not want to miss this week’s episode of Venus Rising, as Kallie sits down with award winning author and writer Pamela Mahoney Tsigdinos for a frank discussion on a painful topic: infertility. Pamela’s book Silent Sorority, became the first account of reconciling infertility that was not written by a mother. With raw honesty Pamela drew from her experience to explore the stigma associated with fertility issues and the complex effects of living involuntarily childless. Thr...