Building Your Family with Donor Conception, Surrogacy & Adoption with Guest, Author Lisa Schuman!
On this episode, Sonia and Jessica are joined by donor conception, surrogacy and adoption expert guest Lisa Schuman. Lisa is a mom of three via adoption, licensed clinical social worker and therapist who is now a family-building expert, award-winning researcher, therapist, podcast host, and author of her new book called Building Your Family; The Complete Guide to Donor Conception. Lisa joins the Geriatric Mamas to share her expert advice on choosing a donor, how surrogacy has changed over the years, and much more on building your family.
Topics discussed in this episode:
Welcome Lisa! (2:49)
How Lisa Got Started Working In The Field Of Infertility (4:37)
Building Your Family Through Donor Conception (10:12)
How Surrogacy Has Changed Over The Years & What To Expect In 2024 (16:20)
Lisa’s Framework For How To Choose A Donor (22:30)
Where to Find Lisa’s Books (32:39)
Kerry Washington’s Donor Conception Story (33:17)
Camille Guaty Donor Egg Conception Story (43:39)
“Even though people look at donor banks and say, that’s the person I want, it doesn’t necessarily mean that’s what you’re going to get. We are all a combination of the five generations before us.”
Author of Building Your Family & Guest, Lisa Schuman.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Lisa’s Information:
Website: FamilyBuilding.Net
Instagram: @TheCenterForFamilyBuilding
Book: Building Your Family; The Complete Guide to Donor Conception can be found on Amazon and many other platforms.
Geriatric Mama Celebrities who had babies via donor conception:
Kerry Washington has detailed her parents telling her that she was conceived via a sperm donor and admitted she had 'no idea' beforehand.
Kerry Washington with her parents.
The American actress, 46, spoke to Louise Minchin on Friday's Lorraine about the revelation and how it inspired her new memoir, Thicker Than Water.
She explained that her parents only told her around five years ago that her 'beloved' father Earl was not her biological parent because they had used a sperm donor.
'I was conceived with the help of a sperm donor, which was - I mean, I had no idea before they told me.
'It's been a real journey for our family, a journey into truth and also a journey into me discovering more about who I am and how I've become this person and I think that's part of what the exercise was in writing the memoir.'
Kerry has previously told how she learnt of the family secret when she was invited to participate in an episode of Finding Your Roots, hosted on PBS by Dr. Henry Louis Gates.
The show uses genealogical records and DNA results to track family histories.
'When I said, "Spit in this tube," they started freaking out,' Kerry told The New York Times about her parents' reaction to the DNA test.
"My mom was like, 'I didn't know that this was going to happen".'
The Prophecy star said her father began having panic attacks and suffering from insomnia, and decided to pull out of the show.
After being advised by Dr Gates to reveal the information while the family were all still alive, Kerry's parents then told her they had used an anonymous sperm donor after they had trouble conceiving naturally. (DailyMail.Co.Uk; October 20, 2023)
US actress Camille Guaty, star of Prison Break and Good Doctor, has made no secret of her donor-egg baby.
She was told of her low ovarian reserve in her late 30s and, with her husband, underwent five unsuccessful IVF cycles using her own eggs.
Sadly, their first donor-egg cycle didn’t work out and they turned to a new donor. On her second attempt, despite having just one suitable embryo for transfer, she succeeded.
‘I share my story,’ she said on Instagram,’ not because it is unique - but because I think it’s something we don’t talk about.’
Camille co-founded the charity Foster A Dream in 2018, to improve the care of foster children.
YourIVFJourney.com states: “We praise her for that, and we hope her openness about her fertility journey will encourage more celebrities to share their donor-egg success stories.” (YourIVFJouney.com; April 9, 2023)
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Be a guest on the Geriatric Mamas podcast!
Calling all geriatric mamas! We're looking for women of advanced maternal age who are pregnant, trying to get pregnant, battling infertility, have gone through surrogacy, fostering, adoption or have plans to be a mama in the future to share their stories! Would you like to come on our podcast and share your story, or write in your story and have us read it on your behalf? We would love to hear from you!
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