Three Makes Baby Podcast

Freya shares her experience being raised in a two mom family, connecting with her biological father and parenting her donor conceived daughter, Birdie, with her wife.   

 

 

Jana's Reaction to Donor 9623

MUST Listen

Dov Fox (Author, Narrator), Audible Originals (Publisher)

When scores of aspiring parents turned to the fertility industry to start families, they chose a remarkable young man to be the biological father of their children. He was a music prodigy and gifted athlete who had a genius IQ, movie star looks, and perfect health.

Except it was all a lie.

In this tour de force of investigative reporting, host Dov Fox unravels the case of Donor 9623, examining the complex forces and competing agendas behind the biggest reproductive hoax of our time. The story is dark, propulsive - and in an unexpected turn - hopeful. This Audible Original exposes the billion-dollar industry that creates hundreds of thousands of babies every year, through unprecedented access to its key players - and to Donor 9623 himself.

The 8-episode series raises hard questions about what we want when we set out to have kids - and what happens when we don’t get it. It places us in the grip of life lived with crushing uncertainty. And unsettles our deepest understanding of what it means to be human.

Romi and Britt, two moms through sperm donation, share their journey to better understanding their child's potential perspective. Britt shares how she has worked through her vulnerabilities as the non-genetic parent and has a totally different view from when they first embarked on this journey. Romi's lived personal experience with non-genetic family life, gives her an inside understanding of the irreplaceable role of parenting. 

 

Update since the recording: They connected with their child's donor. 

Olivia Montuschi, co-founder of the Donor Conception Network in England, has over 35 years of experience as a parent to donor-conceived children and is the author of several resources for parents. 

Olivia shares her personal story as well as the story of how the @d_c_network was  born. 

In this episode, she shares valuable perspectives from her interviews with donor conceived teenagers. Their perspectives were included in her latest book, Continuing the Conversation which is available for purchase through @d_c_network. 

Below are my comments on her latest publication:

Continuing the Conversation, Talking with Young People and Adults 12 yrs and Up, is an invaluable resource for families with donor conceived teenagers and young adults. Applying over 35 years of experience as a parents of DC children plus interviews with 21 donor conceived teenagers, Olivia Montuschi and Jane Ellis provide readers “a look ahead” at this crucial stage of child development. Montuschi and Ellis describe common challenges and mistakes that parents of teens make, while navigating the shifting and sometimes disorienting dynamics in the parent child relationship. In addition to learning how to engage in conversation with their teens during time when teens are naturally pulling away, readers will learn more about unique issues donor conceived adolescents face as they search for genetic kin, take a DNA test for the first time or begin dating. 

 

Continuing the Conversation is an answer to the most common question parents ask me, “What will my child feel?” DC teens and adults offer direct advice to parents, on topics such as privacy, supporting their search and having uncomfortable conversations with them. As pioneers and leaders in the DC community, the DC network continues to address real issues, normalizing the challenges teens with disconnected genetic ties may face, so they don’t have to face them alone, but with their parents by their side. 

 

Jana M. Rupnow, LPC

Author, Three Makes Baby- 

How to Parent Your Donor Conceived Child

 

Guest, Rachel Ginnochio, a sexuality and family building educator, writer and consultant shares her work to develop education curriculum to be inclusive of the many ways that families are made. Rachel is writing a book for middle grade readers about human reproduction and family formation and is writing comprehensive lessons for high school students that go beyond basic sex education.

Rachel's work can be found under the name Roads to Family at www.roadstofamily.com.

 

Music by Kevin McCleod, Half-Mystery, Podcast Host: Jana Rupnow

Bee of @inconceivedable tells the rest of her story. In 2020, Bee opened her 23and me account again to discovery 12 half-siblings. In this episode, Bee shares her raw emotions as she unravels a secret that re-defined her and her relationships. Follow @inconceivedable.

Follow @janarupnowlpc

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Buy Three Makes Baby Audio Book on sale until May 6.

Hosted by Jana Rupnow, LPC, Music by Kevin McCloud

"Science is how I get pregnant." "Bee" of @Inconceivedable, recounts how her experiences with infertility lead  her to  an unexpected discovery about her family. A curious call makes her wonder if her dad was a sperm donor.

 

Three Makes Baby is  hosted by Jana Rupnow,  music by Kevin McCloud

Buy Three Makes Baby Audio Book

Follow Jana on social media @janarupnowlpc

 

 

April 27, 2021 is the first International Donor Conception Awareness Day. Twenty-five partners around the world collaborated to bring you this day and the intentions behind it. Go to donorconceptionawarenessday.com for more and participate on the day by posting on your social media accounts on April 27, 2021.  Listen to an interview with Jana Rupnow and Michelle of Donor Concierge to learn more about this new awareness day.

See the partners below

 

Jana Rupnow &

Three Makes Baby Podcast

Cassandra Adams

Fertility Circle

Camille Guaty

Happy Together Children's Book

Donor Conception Canada

Egg Donation Australia

Life_DI_Dad

The LGBT Mummies Tribe

Tulip Fertility 

Donor Conception and Beyond

Donor Conception Network

Half of Me Podcast

Fertility Help Hub

Healing Infertility

Donor Concierge

Fertility Coach- Meta Getman

Inconceivedable 

Sacred and Free

Conceive Fertility Center

Defining Mum

Your IVF Abroad 

Roads to Family

You Look Like Me

 

Intentions of #IDCAD

• The day is intended to shed a light on families made in different ways due  to medical infertility, chromosomal impairments, childhood or young  adult cancer, and various other reasons and lifting shame and secrecy  around the topic.
• The day is about raising  awareness about donor conceived individual’s experiences across the  lifespan, including the topic of access to genetic information and lifting shame and secrecy around the topic.
• The day is intended to raise awareness about LGBTQ family building
• The day is about raising awareness about donor’s rights to receive accurate  medical information and education on the impact of donor conceived  triad across the lifespan. 

 

 

Nikita was my very first guest on the podcast. She came on to spread the word about her search to find her sperm donor in 30 days. Nikita was raised by a single mom who chose sperm donation to have her. The donation was out of the ordinary: a 50-year-old anonymous man donated sperm in the UK before 1997. 

Nikita shares what she has discovered in the last 16 months. Her search led to an unexpected surprise!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Listen to see if you can help her find the man that helped conceive her. If you have any information to share, email nikitatrue1997@gmail.com.

 

Music: Half Mystery by Kevin Macleod

Dr. Tober is an assistant professor at the University of California San Francisco Institute for Health and Aging. She's also faculty at Bixby Center for Reproductive Health in the Department of Anthropology, History and Social Medicine.

Dr. Tober is conducting the largest mixed method study on egg donors, with over 500 egg donors from all over the world. It began eight years ago with a call from an egg donor with a group called, We Are Egg Donors. Many of the members of her group had complications and they felt it was important wanted to collaborate to follow up with donors.