News & Updates from I Want To Put A Baby In You!

Shea Bart Andreone is a writer, speaker, and author. She is also a mother who knows the agony that can come with trying to have a baby. Shea’s journey to becoming a mother to two healthy children was punctuated by pain, hospitalizations, and death. Carry On offers a candid, intrepid look into the real stories of the many people for whom this universal drive to start a family doesn’t come easily. These stories are an exploration of these people’s love, hope, and desperation to keep trying.

Shea’s writing, from her own blog (Twig-Hugger) to numerous articles in mom and parent-oriented platforms (The Next Family, Motherfigure, LA Parent, Your Teen Magazine, and Chicken Soup For The Soul) has given her views and opinions platform to reach interested and like-minded eyes and ears. 

Shea has been a featured speaker at Expressing Motherhood, a live storytelling event held in major cities across the United States. She has shared her story about living with Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG). Shea dealt with HG for all three of my pregnancies, and participated in research studies through HER, the world’s largest network of HG survivors and experts.

She’s been featured on podcasts, including “Single Vs. Married”, where she spoke about natural childbirth, medical interventions traditionally utilized during childbirth, and why she opted to have as few interventions as possible during her own labors and deliveries. Shea discussed the months of trying to conceive, illness, and suffering that finally resulted in giving birth to a healthy baby girl.

Before having children, Shea was a competitive and then professional figure skater. Hailing from New York, Shea acted off-Broadway for nearly a decade. She then moved to the West Coast and continued to act, in TV, films, and theater. While Shea loves NY and travels back often, LA is where her husband, children, dog and her call home.

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Dr. Julie Bindeman graduated from George Washington University and is the co-owner of Integrative Therapy of Greater Washington in Rockville, Maryland. Her specialty is in the field of Reproductive Psychology, where she actively writes, lectures, and presents. She is an approved consultant in EMDR through EMDRIA as well as a facilitator for basic training with The Touchstone Institute. She has served on several committees within the Mental Health Professional Group of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and was elected in 2021 to its Executive Committee. She previously served as a Board Member of the Maryland Psychological Association for over 10 years. Dr. Bindeman is a member of multiple organizations focused on Maternal and Reproductive Mental Health and was appointed by the Governor of Maryland to serve on its Maternal Mental Health Task Force. She was awarded the Karl Heiser Award through the American Psychological Association for her legislative efforts on behalf of psychology. Dr. Bindeman has published several chapters and articles pertaining to Reproductive Psychology and is the editor of the book “The Mental Health Clinician’s Handbook for Abortion Care” that was released September, 2024.

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Zach French is an attorney with experience in technology startups and business development, and most recently served as an executive at SeedTrust. Zach’s connection to the ART world began when he and his wife, Alexandra, embarked on their own surrogacy journey after Alexandra’s battle with breast cancer. The tremendous mental and financial toll from their journey led them to establish The Surrogacy Foundation (formerly Gift of Surrogacy). Zach left SeedTrust in February to become full-time Executive Director of the nonprofit. Zach and TSF are on a mission to expand access to surrogacy by propelling it into the mainstream using a collaborative approach to build a sustainable grant program and technology-enabled education and support.

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Elizabeth Carr is the first baby born via in vitro fertilization in the United States.

In the media since 3 cells old, Elizabeth is a passionate advocate for those fighting for fertility rights. From battles over insurance coverage, to educating doctors on how to interact with patients going through infertility treatments, to advice for parents on how to talk to children about assisted reproductive technologies, Elizabeth is proud to share her voice and story in order to fight for those who may not be able to fight for themselves. Elizabeth is a fearless Patient Advocate, striving to educate and empower people based on her life experiences and expertise within the fertility world. She has presented to audiences around

the globe including at the United Nations, ASRM, ESHRE, and the national infertility association, RESOLVE.

A dynamic speaker, Elizabeth’s passion lies in education from helping companies craft fertility benefit packages & parental leave policies, to keynote speeches, to sitting one-on-one wit people facing fertility questions head on. Elizabeth has worked as a journalist, marketing and events, and fundraising making her an expert at distilling complex issues into easy-to-digest stories. Elizabeth is also a marathoner, triathlete, coffee connoisseur, wife, mother, and writer.

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This is the story of a beautiful family assembled out of order: dog, daughter, dad. It's the story of planning years ahead to become a mom, and wishing she’d started years earlier. It's the story of the unexpected that arrives in every form from love (like a husband) to terror (like medical issues), and the life-changing decisions that accompany any rocky road through fertility.

It was after their second date that Shira told her now husband she was probably pregnant. She conceived her daughter as a single mom by choice using donor sperm, most of her savings, and so much time, energy and effort. Just as she finally succeeded in getting pregnant, she met him. It turns out families don't have to be assembled in order.

Shira is a product, commercial and operations leader with deep experience launching and scaling tech-enabled healthcare. She has worked across various clinical specialties, partnering closely with health plans, employers, health systems and government.

Shira is currently at Lin Health, which specializes in treating chronic pain. Shira loves leading people, helping patients, and designing technology to solve problems. Shira was previously the General Manager of Behavioral Health and Musculoskeletal care at Eden Health. Before that at Omada Health, she led creation of product lines for diabetes, hypertension and behavioral health, as well as spearheading Omada’s work with national insurance carriers, the American Medical Association, and the federal government’s healthcare innovation team.

Shira is passionate about writing and speaking on the future of integrating technology into healthcare, as well as insights about culture and life choices from her time working and living around the world. Her greatest passion at work is supporting her team members in growth and development, and fostering the culture and organizational structures that lead to high productivity and work-life balance. Shira’s greatest joy is this family she built out of order: her young daughter, her loving husband, and her ever-hopeful dog. She is a community builder, outdoor enthusiast and world traveler. Shira has lived across the US, Europe and Africa and now loves hiking, biking and paddling near her home near Boulder, Colorado.

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Yifat Shaltiel, Esq. is Author of “Save Money on Surrogacy” and has 16+ years of experience practicing surrogacy and assisted reproductive technology law and providing surrogacy coaching. She is CEO and Founder of Surrogate Steps, a surrogacy agency, helping families grow for over ten years. As one of the chairs of the Reproductive Health Law Committee for the Women’s Bar Association of the state of New York, Yifat testified on surrogacy matters in the New York State Legislature and participated as speaker at various venues, including the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. She has been featured as a surrogacy law specialist at numerous venues including Cornell Law School and news media outlets such as MSNBC. In addition to her book, she published many articles on reproductive law and surrogacy, and taught CLE classes regarding surrogacy to other attorneys and judges.

Yifat Shaltiel, Esq. was introduced to the world of surrogacy and infertility through her own infertility journey. She has made it her mission to help others grow their families through surrogacy and assisted reproductive technology and hopes that the information in this book, about how to save money in a surrogacy journey, will help more individuals afford surrogacy and successfully become parents.

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Ariel is a Registered Social Worker (RSW) and Psychotherapist who has been involved in the surrogacy and fertility community since 2015 and has guided countless couples and individuals on their journey to parenthood. 

After her own complicated miscarriage as a surrogate in 2016, Ariel discovered that there was very little specialized counselling for her painful situation and realized a much larger need for mental health professionals that deeply understand the fertility world. 

 Ariel returned to school in 2018 and graduated from Western University in 2021. She opened Carried with Love (CWL) to provide 100% virtual support for those struggling with infertility, loss, pregnancy challenges or postpartum mood disorders. Since opening, CWL has continued to grow and now provides a wide range of therapeutic services and most recently has launched Canada’s first Independent Surrogacy Program. 

Ariel has carried 5 babies as a gestational surrogate which resulted in 4 live births – the most recent in the summer of 2023. Although Ariel is now retired as a surrogate, she continues to be an active presence in the fertility community and leverages her strong social media following to normalize all roads to parenthood for women and couples around the world. 

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Ellen Weir Casey is the mother of one of the world's first IVF babies. Her daughter is known as "Colorado’s First Test Tube Baby." Her award-winning memoir, Unstoppable: Forging The Path To Motherhood in The Early Days Of IVF, is the first person account of a patient in the earliest days of Assisted Reproductive Technology. Ellen is a passionate advocate for unrestricted access to women’s health care. She speaks nationally and internationally bringing attention to the importance of establishing permanent access to IVF.

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Angela worked in the fertility domain for over 30 years. She has extensive experience working with fertility centers all over the world. She also has clinical experience, having worked directly with more than a dozen Reproductive Endocrinologists at five different fertility centers. Her mix of personal and professional experience has given Angela the skills to be a special advocate for those in the fertility realm. She is known for maintaining exceptional standards when assisting those in need. More importantly, Angela is equipped by experience with the tools to help others complete their families via third party fertility treatments. She smoothly coordinates with a variety of stakeholders, including patients, families, caregivers, and global partner networks. If you are in any of these roles, you’ll find Angela to be a professional, intelligent, and extremely capable partner and advocate.

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Tierney Chrusciel is a 9th grader who lives in Western Massachusetts. They are on the swim team and love to write in their free time.

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Listen as Jason, Tim, and Kim share with Ellen and Jenn:

 ·      Jason’s personal surrogacy journey, including the highs of matching with an amazing surrogate and finding out they were having twins!

·      Jason’s less exciting surrogacy journey parts, including purchasing a health insurance policy for the surrogate, paying premiums and all uncovered expenses, and then still being subject to a five figure “lien”.

·      The discriminatory nature of liens. Being double punished for not being able to carry a pregnancy on their own.

·      Tim explains the contractual and statutory legal bases insurance companies use to support liens, and why they are problematic.

·      Kim’s experience in Nevada fighting for better laws, including surrogacy inclusion for all Nevada-governed health insurance policies, and no liens!

·      Starting the Insurance Access and Equity Alliance to fight insurance discrimination in California and beyond.

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Surrogacy Colombia has been a pioneer in international surrogacy in Colombia since 2018. They have clients from over 60 countries, and growing, and a team of highly qualified professionals to provide the best possible experience.

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AllPaths Family Building has a mission to create a caring community for all people struggling with fertility and family building. AllPaths provides the psychosocial support, resources, and advocacy that are critical to those trying to grow their families.

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With over 30 years of dedication to pilates and dance, Leslie Lopez teaches privately to clients as well as to toddlers with creative holiday themed movement classes. She is an advocate for the arts and has served as a Board member for The Wallis Performing Arts Center and the California State Summer School for the Arts.

In addition she worked for 20 years in hospitality and customer relations, working front of house for 3 star Michelin Chefs such as Daniel Boulud and Thomas Keller.

She is launching her podcast Mother's in Arms this Summer 2024 which focuses on her. experience as an intended parent who went through a surrogacy journey independently.

Her podcast description: An independent parent by choice, Leslie went through an isolated surrogate journey in 2020. This episode is a conversation between surrogate mother Melissa and. Leslie as to the ups and downs the journey of bringing Elyse to the world.

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Rachele’ Davis, a former crime analyst for her local police department, founded New Hope Investigations in 2016. After seven years in civil service and seven years prior to that as an educator, Rachele’ found herself drawn to the private sector of investigations and the challenge of building her own business. Her master’s degree in criminal justice, resourcefulness, productivity level, and innovation have already served her well in this capacity.

Rachele’ obtained her private investigator license through Missouri in 2016. Rachele’s specialty areas include connection biological families and adoptive children, diligent adoption searches, and people searches. Rachele' also provides some general investigative services on a case-by-case basis. She works in various capacities for individuals, attorneys, and businesses. Rachele' regularly stays up-to-date with current trends and changes in the industry.

To enhance her unknown parentage investigations, Rachele’ continues to learn more and more about the complex and fascinating field of genealogy. She is a member of Association of Professional Genealogists, International Society of Genetic Genealogy, and National Genealogical Society.

Listen as Rachele’ discusses with Ellen and Jenn:

 

·      Adopting her son and wanting to continue in criminal justice, but with more flexibility to parent.

·      The adoption was not an easy path and included the need to hire a private investigator.

·      Starting out wanting to help adoptees who wanted to identify biological family members, and expending to other genetic searches. 

·      Making those first contact calls.

·      The law in the birth state making a significant difference as to original birth certificate access.

·      Sometimes timing is everything

·      Advice to those considering a search.

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Sarah Paige has been a professional in the ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology) insurance field since 2010.  As Chief Operating Officer of ART Risk Financial and Insurance Solutions, Inc., and a licensed insurance agent, she remains current on all insurance issues pertinent to the ART field and works to find the best solutions for the ART Risk Solutions clients embarking on surrogacy journeys.  With her extensive breadth of knowledge and expertise in the ART community, Sarah is a frequently sought after speaker.  One of Ms. Paige’s professional accomplishments was serving as an expert witness for Nevada State Assembly Bill AB472 alongside its Author, Kimberly Surratt, in the 2019 legislature with Nevada accepting and placing into law inclusive insurance language for surrogacy coverage.

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Tirza Jova, the founder of Milk by Mom in Phoenix, AZ, empowers breastfeeding mothers through her innovative breast milk freeze drying service available nationwide. With an MBA and 17 years in international business, she’s modernizing breastfeeding practices. Tirza’s mission extends beyond local borders, educating nationwide on the advantages of freeze dried breast milk and the freedom and flexibility freeze-drying provides while maintaining the benefits and security of breast milk.

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Rachel is the owner of Adi Shakti Yoga; Therapy located in Longmont, Colorado. She has been practicing psychotherapy since 2014 and has 10 years of experience offering compassionate supportive counseling. She is a registered yoga & meditation teacher and has led women's groups and retreats.

Having been a single parent, as well as raised children in a blended family, she is now the mother of a young son born in the country of Georgia thanks to a surrogate mother and an egg donor. Through her psychotherapy practice called Nurture Yourself, Nurture Your Child, she is available to work with mothers, intended mothers, aspiring mothers, grandmothers, and any woman wishing to heal their inner child. She uses somatic practices, parenting approaches, attachment theory, and many other tools to help you find perspective on the broad spectrum of parenting possibilities as you learn to heal your own childhood and nurture yourself, your children, your relationships, and your work in the world. She is especially interested in helping other intended parents on the challenging and exciting journey of surrogacy.

Listen as Rachel discusses with Ellen and Jenn:

• Entering a second marriage in her mid-40s and very much wanting a child together.

• Struggling with monthly disappointments.

• Receiving an inheritance that allowed for the discussion of surrogacy.

• Having reconnected with a half-sister, exploring the possibility of her donating her eggs.

• Her husband having a long-time interest in Georgia, they were intrigued to learn that

• surrogacy was legal and supported in the country.

• Facing fears related to war in the region; but increasing her resolve after connecting and

• raising money for a non-profit.

• Enduring the ups and downs of an international surrogacy journey.

Check out Rachel’s Substack: https://rachelrwilson.substack.com/

Learn more about Kundalini Yoga for Recovery: https://www.ky12step.com/nurture

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During the height of Covid, Melissa had the opportunity to take care of a baby born through surrogacy to a Chinese Intended Father. What was supposed to be a five week role turned into a nearly six month adventure of a lifetime and led to a deeply meaningful relationship between two families across the globe. It's a beautiful story of how the gift of surrogacy makes THE most amazing families and changes (so many) lives for the better.

With over 20 years of experience in marketing & business development, across the US and internationally, Melissa began her professional journey in Assisted Reproductive Technology as Events & Operations Director for Men Having Babies, the international nonprofit organization dedicated to providing its members and prospective parents with education and financial support throughout their surrogacy journeys. While at MHB, she had the extraordinary honor to produce conferences all over the world, inviting thousands of intended parents and leading service providers in the field to gather for educational forums and community building, concentrated on surrogacy and ART opportunities.

Melissa has also served as Director of Marketing and Business Development for several international surrogacy programs, focusing on growing the outreach program for qualified surrogates and donors by developing broad-scale events and marketing programs, as well as building strong relationships with partnering fertility clinics and ART professionals around the world.

Four years ago Melissa founded a full service creative agency helping businesses develop and deliver their brand promises.

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