The Embryo Adoption Podcast: Recent Episodes
Mark Mellinger
A podcast exploring the blessing of embryo adoption and embryo donation from all angles. Embryo adoption is an answer for so many families who thought they could never become pregnant. Learn more about it on this podcast.
Wondering how to talk to your kids about embryo adoption? Trying to find peace amid infertility? Then this episode of The Embryo Adoption Podcast is a must-listen. Psychologist (and NEDC mom) Dr. Megan Herscher explores healthy approaches to each in our Season 3 finale.
We’re having some fun in this episode! Almost 8 months after their births, catch up with the NEDC babies frozen as embryos for a world-record of nearly 30 years, Timothy & Lydia Ridgeway, as well as their parents Philip & Rachel. This family’s looking back on the wild and sometimes hilarious adventure of making global news. Would they do it all again?
Rate, review, and subscribe to The Embryo Adoption Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.
“It’s not like God’s just going to drop a check in our lap,” Naomi thought. Then, actually, He did, through some generous friends who -as they handed them the check- told her and Michael, “This is for you to one day hold a baby in your arms.” We’re wrapping up Season Two of The Embryo Adoption Podcast with Michael and Naomi’s encouraging story of the special gift that enabled them to pursue embryo adoption (and now has them holding not just one, but TWO baby boys in their arms!). So much good, insightful stuff here. Some helpful time stamps are below.
Rate, review, and subscribe to The Embryo Adoption Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.
:40 How their story started when they were little kids, even continuing through Michael’s family's long time away doing missionary work in Turkey
4:14 When they encountered infertility and learned about embryo adoption
8:30 How a generous, unexpected gift from friends enabled them to pursue embryo adoption
10:20 Michael and Naomi’s response to the gift
15:00 How they saw embryo adoption as a ministry, and how plugging into the NEDC brought them into a story bigger than themselves
17:00 What most stood out about their experience with the NEDC
20:00 Their advice for future couples going through the NEDC embryo adoption program
23:20 How they gave birth to twin boys from two different donors originating from the same embryo transfer
24:25 What pregnancy was like and how their sons have changed their lives
28:00 How they chose the boys’ names and what they mean
31:00 How they’ll talk to their sons about embryo adoption
It’s incredibly important for families going through embryo adoption or embryo donation to have a “safe space” where they can connect, ask questions, swap stories, and share information. That’s why the NEDC Embryo Adoption/Donation Group on Facebook is such a blessing. If you’ve walked either route with the NEDC, or are currently in process, you should join! In this episode of The Embryo Adoption Podcast, administrators Bethany Piechowski and Julie Garber take a deep dive into what the group’s all about and how it can make a difference for you. Some helpful time stamps are below:
:53 History of the group and how it formed
2:25 Purpose of the group
5:41 How administrators work to make sure only people who meet the criteria are accepted into the group
7:21 Most common topics discussed among members in the group
9:33 How God has worked in beautiful ways through the group
12:46 What the group is not for
15:06 Why it’s important to have a “safe” discussion space outside the official NEDC purview
20:46 How & why administrators of the group maintain a connection to the NEDC
Like what you’re hearing? Rate, review, and subscribe to The Embryo Adoption Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.
Jason & Jen have a heart for the vulnerable. That's led them to explore both foster care/adoption and embryo adoption. In fact, they're doing both at the same time! Here's their journey, which gives real hope to those of you who may feel called to both, but wonder if you have the capacity to handle it all. Below are some helpful timestamps:
:36 Jason & Jen on the six children they’ve fostered (three of whom they’ve adopted)
2:10 How their faith informs their heart for orphan care & adoption
5:15 Learning to handle the difficult emotional aspects of fostering children
8:14 How embryo adoption came onto their radar and why they wanted to do it
11:11 How Jen’s pregnancy is going
13:57 Were they ever worried they couldn’t handle foster care & embryo adoption? What would they say to others with that concern?
16:22 Similarities in the ways foster care & embryo adoption spoke to their hearts
19:54 What does the future look like for them in terms of adoption?
Open embryo adoption can be a beautiful thing. This episode gives you a firsthand glimpse from embryo recipients David & Laura George and their embryo donors Gerard & Nicole Straka. Below are some helpful timestamps:
2:00-3:51 What factors were important to adopters David & Laura in the donor selection process
4:04-5:28 How donors Nicole & Gerard’s fertility journey played out
5:51-10:33 Nicole & Gerard on how they agonized over what to do with their frozen embryos, and how a canceled credit card saved their embryos’ chances at life outside the womb.
11:27-16:39 What the mediation process was like for the open adoption
17:20-18:00 What it was like for the donors to see their embryos results in babies born
18:42-22:33 How David & Laura felt when their children were born
23:20-29:15 What their open relationship looks like today
29:53-30:40 What Colt, the donors’ teenage son, thinks of the open adoption relationship
If you choose to do an open embryo adoption through the National Embryo Donation Center, how do you work out contact with the family on the other end of the match? The answer: Through something called an Open Donation Agreement, or ODA. Here's your chance to learn all about that. Plus: Why do adopting NEDC families need to have their home studies reviewed? Lauren Wilson and Amy Ferguson from our partners at Flourish Consulting LLC are giving detailed insight into these parts of the process in this episode of The Embryo Adoption Podcast.
Ben and Nazli wish they would have learned about embryo adoption a decade earlier than they did. It could've saved them a lot of heartache. But they've accepted that God had His reasons for letting the timing of their journey work out as it did. In this episode, meet them and their miracle baby Kavi, and benefit from their takeaways about finding hope, wholeness and strength amid the turmoil of infertility.
If you've experienced the trauma of infertility, pregnancy loss, or the loss of a child, Blessed Brokenness is a tremendous resource that could prove to be a great source of comfort and support. In this episode, meet the co-founder as well as an NEDC embryo adoption couple helping lead the ministry.
As they walk the road of embryo adoption, Todd and Glory are being very intentional about selecting embryos less likely to be picked. Learn more about the different types of special consideration embryos available through the National Embryo Donation Center, along with the factors that helped this family make its choice. Glory, who grew up in a missionary family, also explains how this desire to help the most vulnerable took root through the deep impressions formed by what she saw in an overseas orphanage.
NEDC Family, we're inviting your personalized prayers for embryo adoption couple Ken & Yuliya and their extended family in Ukraine. Ken & Yuliya join Mark to share how the war in Ukraine is affecting them and their relatives in this special edition of The Embryo Adoption Podcast.
In this episode, Casey unpacks how a Google search led her to embryo adoption, describes the process of transferring a "clump of cells" that are now her 8-year-old son, and shares how her infertility journey has moved her to help lead a mentoring program for women going through crisis pregnancies.
Jeremiah & Carrie felt their hearts being pulled toward embryo adoption. But before taking the leap, they wisely sought counsel from trusted voices who'd already walked the path. In this episode, Jeremiah & Carrie unpack their journey, including some of the unique challenges and blessings of adopting embryos as Asian Americans. Plus they have some exciting news to share!
Embryo adoption is not just an infertility treatment. It's a calling. In this episode, you'll meet Alex and Candice. They chose embryo adoption through the National Embryo Donation Center even though they already had several children and never encountered fertility problems. It's an excellent window into the missional mindset that motivates many of the large, fertile families who choose to do embryo adoption.
In this Season One finale of The Embryo Adoption Podcast, you'll meet Chloe, adopted as an embryo and now 15.5 years old. Find out how she feels about how she came into the world, her advice to other young people adopted as embryos, what she believes her parents did well, and how adoption bonds her with her siblings. Plus Chloe offers a little insight into everyday teenage life and talks about her possible future career plans. You'll love this inspiring and insightful conversation with one of the "older" NEDC kids!
How long does the embryo adoption process take? How soon can I get my first appointment? And how long after that until my frozen embryo transfer? We get these questions all the time. In this episode, National Embryo Donation Center team members Christa Carter & Kelley Seymour thoroughly unpack the answers. They also explain variables that can potentially lengthen or shorten the process, and outline some of the factors you can control.
Meet Patrick, who didn't let the potential roadblock of a Hepatitis B-positive blood test stop him and his wife from donating their embryos through the National Embryo Donation Center. This conversation could reshape your thinking about special consideration embryos, whether you're donating or adopting. You're going to love this guy and his heart for life!
Like many husbands, Bobby was slower to warm to the idea of embryo adoption than his wife, Michele. But he kept an open heart, and he's glad he did. Here's how they worked through it as a couple, along with how their family ended up taking shape.
Kelly & Jonathan describe the joy and anxiety of going through embryo adoption following a previous miscarriage. It's a conversation you'll find helpful & inspiring, especially if you married and started your family building pursuits later than expected. Plus, you'll meet their son Samuel!
We've seen just about everything, but we had never watched an embryo adoption unfold quite like this one! Be amazed -and challenge yourself not to cry- as Perry and Sydney walk you through a journey they describe as "surreal and sublime." You're going to have a new family to add to your prayer list after this episode.
Trish and Aaron Clardy's infertility journey was extremely long. At one point, an embryo adoption program even turned them away because they hadn't pursued options that violated their convictions. Yet through it all, they say God was doing the priceless work of shaping their hearts, whether parenthood ever became a reality or not.
Heather and Matthew Reynolds had a deep desire to add children to their home. Battling PCOS, though, they were resigned to the possibility it might never happen. Find out how it did, and meet all three of their kids!
Premature ovarian failure/ diminished ovarian reserve left Ray and Kat Gade's road to parenthood in limbo. Now, as they get ready to select their embryos, Ray and Kat walk through their long infertility journey, sharing why open embryo adoption was their perfect choice. They also describe what their process with the National Embryo Donation Center has been like so far.
In this episode, you'll meet 18-year-old AJ Hammaker. His parents will soon be delivering AJ's fifth sister, but his first through embryo adoption. Find out how AJ's parents told him about embryo adoption and why he developed such a passion for it, he had to put pen to paper.
Whitney Williams and her husband learned, upon the birth of their son, that they could pass along a painful genetic condition to any future children. Instead of losing hope of having any more children, they turned to embryo adoption.
Tate and Phillip struggled with infertility for years. In this episode, they explain how they came to learn about embryo adoption, an option that allowed Tate to carry their "adopted" child.