Surrogacy, Baby!: Recent Episodes
Mike & Kate
Mike & Kate are just your typical couple wanting to have children and start a family together… with one small catch: due to Kate’s chronic Lyme disease, it’s not safe to do a traditional pregnancy, so they’ve turned to using a surrogate. It seemed like the only option was to use a surrogacy agency to help them on their journey, but once they started doing their own research and spoke with others who went through the process, they decided that doing an “independent journey,” or one without an agency, was very possible. But they found that it was tough to track down all of the info needed to feel confident, so they decided to make a podcast to try to help others in a similar situation get up to speed and arm them with enough info to feel confident making the journey themselves. If you’re embarking on your own journey or just curious about how the surrogacy process works, we hope this podcast will help you! Be sure to visit us at https://theslo.life for more!
This week: the third trimester and all that we’ve been up to during that time. Life has been pretty busy and we haven’t updated you all like we normally do, but in this episode we talk all about the 24-week scan, nursery preparations, planning our travel to Arizona, and some of our thoughts &...
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The post Episode 23: Third Trimester appeared first on The SLO Life.
In this episode we give a quick update to talk about our experience with the anatomy scan and take you through all that’s happened through the end of the second trimester.
The post Episode 22: Anatomy Scan appeared first on The SLO Life.
This week we talk all about the process of graduating from our fertility clinic! It’s a big step in an IVF pregnancy and is definitely something to be celebrated. We also talk about our first appointment with the OB during our 12 week appointment, and all about our gender reveal as well!
The post Episode 21: Graduation appeared first on The SLO Life.
This week we tell you all about our week 7 ultrasound and how we flew out to Arizona to see it happen in person! Despite encountering some flight issues, everything else went smoothly and we’re excited to give you an update on how little baby Maxwell is doing.
The post Episode 20: 7 Week Update appeared first on The SLO Life.
In this week’s episode, we reveal the results of the much anticipated first ultrasound! After seeing the hCG numbers rise over the last two weeks, we were simultaneously hopeful and terrified at the same time to get a first glance at our baby. We talk about our emotions around the ultrasound as well as...
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The post Episode 19: The First Ultrasound appeared first on The SLO Life.
Is it true what they say that the third time’s a charm? This week we take you through the whole embryo transfer process, plus what came after. We talk about how we got through the TWW (two week wait) and all of the beta comparison stress that one of us experienced.
The post Episode 18: Transfer #3 appeared first on The SLO Life.
On this week’s episode, we talk through everything that went into getting official clearance for our second gestational carrier this time around, and what our next steps are from here. We also have some updates on the situation with our doctor, and do some good old fashioned venting for a bit about communication challenges...
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The post Episode 17: Official Clearance Round 2 appeared first on The SLO Life.
We’re back! After a long break we return with another new episode to discuss everything that went into matching the second time around. We go through all the details on how we found our new gestational carrier, and all the thoughts and emotions that went into making our decision.
The post Episode 16: Matching Round 2 appeared first on The SLO Life.
In our last episode we shared that we would have to look for a new surrogate, and in this episode we take you through what that process has looked like and talk about what’s been different for us this time around. We also answer some listener questions and share some things that we’ve been...
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The post Episode 15: Progress Update appeared first on The SLO Life.
It’s officially 2022, and we’re back with an update on where we’re at now in our surrogacy journey. In our last update, we talked about all of the testing our surrogate was doing in hopes of getting a transfer done before the end of the year. In this episode, we talk about how the...
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The post Episode 14: New Year Update appeared first on The SLO Life.
In this week’s episode we welcome our first guest onto the podcast! We have a conversation with Mandy, who is a gestational carrier that is currently pregnant. We chatted with her about her experiences with surrogacy, working with an agency, and get her thoughts & tips on the process from a GC’s perspective. Mandy...
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The post Episode 13: Meet Mandy appeared first on The SLO Life.
We are finally back with an all new update! We talk about where we stand on the testing our surrogate needed after our last failed transfer and share the results. We also fill you in on the last four months and share our plans for the next transfer.
The post Episode 12: Testing Update appeared first on The SLO Life.
After last weeks transfer episode, we’re back to give you the results of the beta blood test, talk about the next steps of where we go from here, and (as always) share our feelings about it all.
The post Episode 11: Beta Update appeared first on The SLO Life.
In this episode we give you the latest update on our surrogacy journey! After our cancelled transfer in March, we were on track to try again in June. We talk about our thoughts leading up to the transfer, and fill you in on where we are now.
The post Episode 10: Transfer Update appeared first on The SLO Life.
After a short break, we return in this episode to answer your questions! We talk about support in the surrogacy world, our hopes for our relationship with our surrogate, how we trust in the process, and much more!
The post Episode 9: Q&A appeared first on The SLO Life.
In this episode, we go in depth into Kate’s Lyme Disease diagnosis and how it led us to our surrogacy journey. We talk about Kate’s fight with Lyme Disease, her various treatments over the years, and how we anticipate Kate’s health effecting how we will be parenting once we have children.
The post Episode 8: Lyme Disease appeared first on The SLO Life.
We’re back with another update on our surrogacy journey! We finally got a clear answer on why our first transfer was cancelled so abruptly and we’ll dive into all the details. When entering into the IVF and surrogacy world you will encounter many obstacles throughout the process, and some are harder to overcome than...
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The post Episode 7: Surrogacy Update appeared first on The SLO Life.
After being alluded to for numerous episodes, we finally recorded a finance episode where we dive into all the costs associated with the surrogacy process. While pricing can vary widely from state to state, we did our best to include all the possible expense categories that come with a surrogacy journey. We hope that...
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The post Episode 6: The Costs of Surrogacy appeared first on The SLO Life.
In this episode we give a quick update on our surrogacy journey. With the medical clearance done and the contracts signed, we were scheduled to perform the transfer at the end of March, but we were hit with a bit of a curveball. We discuss our in-the-moment reactions of how we got here and...
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The post Episode 5: Transfer Update appeared first on The SLO Life.