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Veronica Englund, 38, a midwife based in NSW, has been on and off trying to conceive for the past 4 years. From exploring the Clinical Route, to then discovering Sperm Donation Australia, and then being sidetracked with participating in the hit TV series "Farmer Wants a Wife", then a relationship whilst navigating the outside noise of family, friends, and now, social media opinions. In this episode, we discuss single donors, types of questions to ask, what she is looking for in a donor. We talk about Artificial Intelligence and how some clinics are suggesting that their donors use it to assist with creating their donor profile, and how this technology is also being seen on the general dating scene. Plus a whole lot more.For more information about this episode, to follow Veronica's socials and also a link to the two hot takes clip visit. https://ivfdonationworld.com/episode-80/

Daniel Bayen 24 an entrepreneur, floats between Germany where his mother lives and California where his donor lives in his 2nd marriage with a couple of younger half-siblings. He grew up with his younger brother raised by a single mother who used the California Cyros Bank. His mother was always honest with his conception. Therefore Daniel is one of the positively Donor Conceived People who can process this as a wonderful experience in life as opposed to those who were lied to and have trouble making the most of their situation from the lies and deceit they had to face. Daniel is part of a growing trend of DCP, who are now following in their donor's footsteps and becoming donors themselves, unlike most people who come from a nuclear family and can't relate to the added bonuses of having such a bigger network (He currently knows of 30 half-siblings). For him the more the merrier and while he is happy with his 30 siblings he sees no harm if he was to have 100 to 500 siblings out there. This podcast shares his story and breaks down the stigmas. For more information about this episode: https://ivfdonationworld.com/episode-79/

"Lilly" (Alias) in her 30s, joined Sperm Donation Australia in late December 2017, In January 2018 she conceived a child, except her donor was already sourced from a dating app. Her child is now 5 years old and everything was fine up until recently when the donor started displaying mental health issues, and threats were made in regards to wanting to access the child. This was a difficult and deep podcast to be a part of, as I wanted to explore the story and look for potential warning signs, so future members could potentially identify if there are red flags to look out for, without "Lilly" feeling like it was an attack on her level of judgement. While this could happen to absolutely anyone men, who have no part in the donor community and who have no donor etiquette or other donor children to share a focus on, seem to have the higher risk. In this episode, we explore the scenarios, look into mental health and hope for a positive outcome for her from this situation. For more information about this episode visit https://ivfdonationworld.com/episode-78/

Anika Philipp 39, from Berlin, Germany just went on a wild adventure on 90 Day Fiance season 4 Love in Paradise. In which she was paired up with notorious sperm donor Kyle Gordy. Now a resident of Malta in this episode she shares with us her journey and how she came across the idea of using a sperm donor before pairing up for a potential relationship with him. During the season we had so much to dissect, left with so many questions unanswered and Ani took the time to tell us her thoughts scene by scene and how everything played out. So tune in and join us as we reminisce about the memorable scenes of Kyle playing with his penis and their first dinner date together. For information about this episode visit https://ivfdonationworld.com/episode-77/

Genevieve Uys (South Africa) first became an Egg Donor at the age of 21, she walked away from the experience conflicted, and with that experience, she created her agency Traveling Donors, which she turned all those negatives she had experienced around to being a more fulfilling accommodating experience. Vieve is pro-advocate for known donation and has egg donor profiles available that can be selected. Join us with a couple of wines and hear us discuss how egg donation is done in various countries, where Australia may be lacking and current clinics' attitudes. I discuss women donating their eggs from a young age and storing some for themselves while donating others. We talk about what it takes to become an egg donor, what it is like and the expectations such as lifestyle and diet. Plus so much more. To find out more information about this episode please visit. https://ivfdonationworld.com/episode-76/

Dr Leah Gilman of Sheffield University is a sociologist working at the intersection of the sociology of personal life, reproduction and digital sociology. She has spent over a decade researching donor conception and exploring how people negotiate family and reproductive relationships in the context of social, legal and technological change. She has contributed to several journals and articles and even written a book along the way, today she is here to share a bit of insight into her current project. Predominantly the majority of Leah's focus is the UK, however, in this episode, we explore and chat about the differences in the law between the UK and Australia, and why the UK's current laws might be more of a hindrance than actually achieving anything beneficial. We chat about the British media and the clinic's current attitudes towards online donation. We analyse the different types of donor clinics, online and those that do both. For more information about this episode and links to contact Leah head to: https://ivfdonationworld.com/episode-75/

Michael 29, from Victoria, was featured in a Herald Sun article representing the Sperm Donation Australia community, his contribution can be seen as a way of giving back to the community that has brought him so much joy in an altruistic sense. It was 3 years ago that Michael came across a story in the Age, he read that inspired him to go down the pathway of becoming a donor himself, he has currently successfully helped 7 families and wants to share some of the magic he has gotten from the experience thus far. Michael represents a growing trend in our society of men wanting to achieve career dreams of rising the corporate ladder. With that comes the sacrifice of having his own family, which makes logical sense of preferring to help others with more current dedication towards parenthood. He shares with us, his setup and some of the relationships and friendships he has established from being a donor. For more information about this episode visit: https://ivfdonationworld.com/episode-74/⁠

Sylvia, 35, from Brisbane, Queensland was married for 13 years, spent the early years laying the foundations building a house together and travelling before starting a family. Entering their 30s it was time to start this chapter and they had a baby boy however relationship-wise, it didn't go to plan the stresses of it all the lack of understanding and the inability to navigate through it successfully spelled doom for their relationship with her ex then moving out, even marriage counselling to salvage their relationship failed. Sylvia was an only child from a small family she always knew that her family would be incomplete with one child. She even asked her ex if he could be a donor for a sibling, which he declined. The only option was to use a donor due to the complications and duress with her ex, she didn't elect to pick a known donor because of the fear of further complications. She shares her brave journey and doing what it takes to add to her family unit and move on from a long-term relationship. For more information about this website visit https://ivfdonationworld.com/episode-73/

Jenele Riley 33, from the North Western Suburbs of Victoria embarked on the known donor route with her partner and she gave birth to her daughter in December 2020. It was a first-cycle success via Ai, right on the cusps of the COVID lockdowns which shut down the country and made her pregnancy journey support-wise a bit more challenging, with the restriction side of things. Later in September 2023, she gave birth to a baby boy, however, due to her donor having a negative experience with other recipients and combined with a busy stage of his life he was no longer available to provide a sibling, which led to them back to the drawing board. Having strong family values and after exploring how donor-conceived adults feel it was important for them to find another open and transparent donor. She shares their story on how all this works, as well as some tips on how they conceived first, time both times. To find more information about this episode please visit https://ivfdonationworld.com/episode-72/

The decision was made to board a plane and head out west to Perth to try for a baby, which resulted in a first-cycle success. With roughly 6 weeks to go before the due date Pia shares of her pregnancy journey that included brutal morning sickness not to mention a gender reveal that went horribly wrong and left her in the hospital for a couple of days. To find out more about this episode please visit https://ivfdonationworld.com/episode-71-from-melbourne-to-perth-to-have-a-baby/

Kenn Israel who lives between Uzbekistan and California has over 3 decades of experience in dietary supplements, functional food, and natural products. He is the founder and manager of Innovation Nutrition Consulting LLC, in other words, he is the full bottle when it comes to the importance of understanding this innovative field of expertise and I tracked him down to share his words of wisdom to our community. We speak about a large number of fertile vitamins and supplements on the market, we explore options for those experiencing Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome and what they can take to restore balance. What Vitamins do you have to stop taking once pregnant that could become harmful? How Do you identify and pick the best prenatal vitamin? What's the difference between folic acid vs folate? What are other key active forms ingredients that actually make a prenatal effective? All this and more a must listen to those who are serious about their fertility and the baby's health. For more information about this episode and to source all of the vitamins and supplements mentioned on this podcast please visit. https://ivfdonationworld.com/episode-70-fertility-vitamins-and-supplements/

Wendy Kramer is the Co-Founder of the Donor Sibling Registry which was formed in 2000 because there was a gap in the market that was starting to emerge and curious people were seeking answers or seeking connections. She was that parent back in a time when doctors told their patients to lie about their child's origin to go against the grain. Transparency was key in her mind and her son Ryan first asked about his origin at the age of 2 which set the ball rolling on how she was going to prepare for this road ahead. Over the past 2 decades, Wendy has dedicated her life to donor-conceived people, she shares her stories and the studies that have taken place within her 89,000 community, and she continues to produce educational resources in a working week that consists of 70 hours plus. In this episode, she shares her vast array of knowledge and shares her thoughts on where the sperm banks are failing us. For more information about Wendy Kramer and the Donor Sibling Registry visit this episode's link. https://ivfdonationworld.com/episode-69-the-donor-sibling-registry/

Stef Kozaczuak mother of 4, the former Californian, now living on the East Coast found out she was donor-conceived via a 23 and me test at the age of 32. It was a test her partner bought for her to take during a Black Friday sale which was to lead to many more Black Fridays ahead, as her DNA was holding secrets that only her parents knew about previously and that they still remain in denial about relinquishing. Peter the father who raised her was also a part of an Evangelical Church as a minister, where many forms of abuse were carried out during her childhood years, making her story come from a very dark place. She has triumphed like the true Queen she is and now has become an advocate for the donor-conceived. For more information on Stef and this episode please visit https://ivfdonationworld.com/episode-68-donor-conceived-queen/

Ties Van Der Meer 44, is the chairman of the Donorkind Foundation in the Netherlands. His story is unique in the fact that not only is he donor conceived himself, but he also followed in his donor's footsteps and became a sperm donor. He shares his upbringing dynamic that involved his mother separating from her partner at just 3 years old and being raised with an adopted brother from Columbia, it becomes a tale of searching for family. He shares that he is aware of 18 donor children from his contributions to the clinic and how he wishes not to have any more children, even though his wife may wish to have children one day, and what might be alternative options for her. In recent times the Netherlands has had its biggest civil court case involving Dutch sperm donor Jonathan Meijer who fathered hundreds of children and the Donorkind Foundation found itself at the forefront of all this. We look at the court outcomes and discuss this story in the lead-up to the Netflix release. For more information about this episode visit. https://ivfdonationworld.com/episode-67-donorkind/

Pete O'Irish from Ohio was your typical American donor-next-door kind of guy. A Grad school student looking for that extra income to score himself some pizza and beer. This very cliche story of coming across a sperm donor advert in a student flyer that lures men in with the promise of anonymity and a 10-family limit was and still is an attractive proposition as a fair trade-off to enhance the quality of life during these tough studying years.\ Everything was going to script until Pete read an article around 2005 predicting anonymity to be dead with new technologies of DNA testing coming through. Lo and behold his father signed up to Ancestry and was tracked down, with the threat of the cat being released out of the bag, Pete spilled his most well-kept secret to his wife that was none the wiser, and from there his thought process evolved, to where he has now become a part of some of these donor-conceived peoples lives to date he has 18 children accounted for and he explains navigating those relationships as everyone has different expectations from each other. For more information about this episode visit this episode's dedicated page. https://ivfdonationworld.com/episode-66-the-well-adapted-90s-clinic-donor/