In this heartfelt episode, I speak with Angela, an egg donor who shares her medical scare that could impact the lives of the children born from her donations. As an egg donor beginning in 2010, with children herself, she share her challenges with anonymity and the feelings she has had since donating, including the responsibility she feels to inform…

Host Jana Rupnow engages in a compelling conversation with Dr. Jill Maron, Chief of Pediatrics at Women's and Infant Hospital and Professor of Pediatrics at Brown University. Dr. Maron shares her unique perspective as both a neonatologist and a donor-conceived individual, offering a deeply personal account of discovering her genetic origins at the …

Lindsay, a donor-conceived individual. continues to share her perspective on International Donor Conception Awareness Day, 2024. Learn one person's perspective on controversial issues like donor anonymity, DNA testing, health information, and emotional ramifications. She shares how genetics significantly influence our sense of self and how comprehe…

It's the 4th annual International Donor Conception Awareness Day and in line with the theme, "Valuing the Voices of Donor Conceived People" I welcome Lindsay again, a donor-conceived individual, to share her profound story of self-discovery and conception. Lindsay talks about her journey and the transformation in her perspective over time. Lindsay’…

The future of donor conception is here! This episode features my special guest Danielle of The Seed Scout. She shares her and her wife's path to parenthood, including the challenges they faced with sperm banks. Danielle and her wife's path to parenthood took them through the maze of sperm banks, encountering impersonal processes that left them feel…

After taking some time off for several positive life transitions in 2023, Jana returns to her podcast with a bang! To kick off season 4, she's chatting with the multi-talented Erin Maya – actress, producer, composer, and the brains behind The Complete Picture Musical, a groundbreaking show about donor conception. Together, they unpack the birth of …

April 27, 2023 is International Donor Conception Awareness Day. Link to IDCAD2023: https://donorconceptionawarenessday.com/ Link to educational courses for parents and CEUs for professionals CEUS: https://three-makes-baby-preparation-and-parenting.teachable.com/p/home Fertility challenges can cause intense feelings that make you want to withdraw an…

"Alot of times, donors are just viewed as genetic material." Melissa, an egg donor for two years, shares her experience with anonymous donation. Now that she has children she wonders what happened with her donations. She wonders if the kids are alright. She expresses her willingness to be open and connect with the recipient parents and children, wh…

Ever wondered what it would be like to meet the donor you used to conceive? A recipient parent, Romi, and her previously unknown sperm donor, meet and share their experience with Jana Rupnow on this episode of Three Makes Baby.By Jana M Rupnow, LPC

Dave Berry, featured on Good Morning America and the New York Times, bravely shares a difficult discovery about his biological origins. His biological father was his mom's fertility doctor, who used his sperm without her consent to conceive him.There are some even darker details in this episode, as well as moments of once in a lifetime happiness. I…

In this episode of @threemakesbaby, she shares how her relationship with a growing number of half-siblings has evolved over time, including some of the joys and challenges. Ally shares what it's like to learn of new siblings and how she copes with not knowing how many more are out there. We also confront the idea that bumping into an unknown half-s…

Jana Rupnow talks to the woman behind @satricaldonorconception, a lesbian and donor conceived adult. We discussed one of her posts that caused a stir in the LGBTQ community and talk about some of the complex issues about family building using purchased donor gametes. She confronts the idea of a two parent household as being "revolutionary" and chal…

I spoke with the founder of RISE Collaborative, @stacytaubman, about her late discovery of being donor conceived. She is in contact with her biological father, a prominent plastic surgeon, and writing a book about her experience. If you haven't told your child, adult or younger, if they are donor conceived, Stacy encourages it. (You could plan to d…

Kiara shares her experienced being raised by a single mom and what it was like being told about her story from the beginning. She found her donor as an adult and has a relationship with siblings conceived using the same donor. She is open and willing to share her story with others. Connect with her on social media: @kiararaeschuh *I use the termino…

Emma, New Zealand native, embodies her bio father's motto "Curiosity, Perseverance and Happiness" as she shares her story of being donor conceived and the reason for her advocacy work.By Jana M Rupnow, LPC

By Jana M Rupnow, LPC

Uprooted offers a personal view of the consequences of secrecy in the practice of donor conception. A prominent CEO, Peter Boni, uncovers a family secret that both validates and disrupts his life. Combing his extensive research of the early practice of donor insemination with his own genetic discoveries, Boni reveals the questions, uncertainties an…

Tiffany shares her story of paternal loss, how it has shaped her life and how it fuels her advocacy work for donor conceived people.By Jana M Rupnow, LPC

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.By Jana M Rupnow, LPC

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 …

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 fami…

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 interv…

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 student…

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 Receive updates for parent education workshops. Buy Three M…

"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 @j…

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…

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…

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 …

Hannah's resiliency after learning she was donor conceived in a hurtful way Her parents waited too long to tell her the truth. Hannah’s parents intended to tell her about her donor conception but never found the right moment. Then it was too late. Someone else who knew the secret, revealed the secret to Hannah in a hurtful way. By this time, Hannah…

Eric is a father to two teenagers who were donor conceived and started a blog 15 years ago called "Life as Dad to Donor Insemination (DI) Kids." His experience is invaluable to younger parents just starting their journey. Eric has a child-centered focus and shares his experience with dc feelings, including anger and ambivalence. He addresses the ch…

Enhance your bonding and attachment to your baby by using this visualization before or during pregnancy. Three Makes Baby Audiobook, Exercise #12, is narrated by the author, Jana Rupnow, and will help you to overcome any obstacles making it more challenging for you to bond with your baby.By Jana M Rupnow, LPC

Raised by a single mom, Kyle shares his experiences about knowing that he was sperm donor conceived at an early age. We do a deep dive into several important topics, like, telling your child about their conception and avoiding the learned shame that a stigma can cause in family life. Parents commonly tell me they want to wait to tell their child un…

Renee and Tom manage grief as a couple on their long road of fertility treatments.By Jana M Rupnow, LPC

Jana Rupnow collaborated with FIVE parents of donor conceived children from FOUR countries (🏴 🇦🇺 🇨🇦 🇺🇸) to bring you a thoughtful dialogue about difficult topics surrounding donor conception. PART 2 Five parents of dc children ranging in age from several months old to fifteen years old, discuss topics that donor conceived adults struggle with and e…

Male factor infertility contributes to approx 30-40% of all fertility related problems. Unfortunately, azoospermia (zero sperm) is a condition that is becoming more common. . So guys, I advise you to test your fertility early. Yes, before you’re even thinking of a family. This kit by @yospermtest is a simple screening test that can help you identif…

Jana Rupnow collaborated with FIVE parents of donor conceived children from FOUR countries (🏴 🇦🇺 🇨🇦 🇺🇸) to bring you a thoughtful dialogue about difficult topics surrounding donor conception. These “fantastic five” parents, @sarahbethhumphreys, @definingmum, @pursuingfatherhood, @donorconceptionandbeyond and @vincelondini discuss topics that donor …

Fifteen years ago, Vince received news from a doctor that he had “complete azoospermia” and he describes how confusing and shocking that moment was. He openly speaks about infertility to help other men with issues that impacts men with male factor infertility like masculinity, passing on the family name, and how society impacts a man with infertili…

Brittany used an egg donor to conceive and bravely shared her feelings about letting go of the biological child she couldn’t have. She’s back to share an update and some frustrating information about the egg donation process that she learned during her pregnancy. Donors are supposed to be limited to a certain number of donations both for health ris…

Emma, a Donor Conceived Adult & Triplet of a Single, Gay Mom Shares Thoughts about Her "Biological Father" Emma is donor conceived and knew about her conception "before she understood." Her "superhero" mom used a donor to conceive and had triplets. She shares how she wondered about her biological father and tried to put together the pieces of him b…

Gail, a mom through sperm donation, advocates for regulation and legislation in donor conception. Gail lives in Australia and was appalled to find out her daughter has over 100 half-siblings. She shares her daughter's feelings about donor conception as well as some unpleasant truths about the practices that occur in the field.…

I speak with Sheri, the author of @youweremeantformebook. She shares her story of embryo adoption and what inspired her to write a children’s book for her son. The children’s book about embryo adoption is also available through Amazon. (Please excuse the sound quality. Sheri’s microphone was garbled at times.) In this podcast episode, Sheri discuss…

Kerri and Chris independently pursue embryo adoption after failed fertility treatments with their biological embryos. Kerry explains the process of independent or self-directed adoption, which is adopting without the help of agency facilitation. Kerrie is open with their child and has an open relationship with her donors, allowing her son to know h…

I am honored to share another episode with a thoughtful person, Alex. She shares how she discovered her parent's secret of using a sperm donor and how it has impacted her for the last two years.By Jana M Rupnow, LPC

Jen wonders if adoption is right for her after a high risk, traumatic pregnancy with triplets. 🚨 Trigger alert: 🚨This episode explores miscarriage, trauma and grief and some extremely difficult decisions about pregnancy. Adoption trauma is also explored. 🚨Spoiler alert🚨:I followed up with Jen on Friday and they have decided not to pursue adoption. …

Infertility affects people of all races but women of color have extra challenges in the US. Nikki shares the added challenges she has experienced with infertility as a person of color. From the social silence to the limited selection of donors, third party reproduction is even more difficult as a woman of color in the US.…

Esther was raised by two moms and always knew they used an anonymous sperm donor to conceive. She grew up with other families like hers and always felt that being donor-conceived was normal. From a young age, she also wondered about her biological father and had a strong desire to search for him. Esther talks about all of the emotions that come up …

Ryan chose to be a known egg donor through a freeze and share program in SF. She shares why it's important for her to be known to the recipient parents as well as her desire that at least one of the recipient parents also be black. Ryan's approach to egg donation will hopefully be the wave of the future. This episode is a discussion with Ryan both …

Tia shares that, "After five incredibly taxing years, searching for the right combination of medication, lifestyle and luck, we are walking away from the path to become parents. It was always in our hearts to have a biological child, together, or not at all. We were never open to the idea of adoption or donor intervention, and while those alternati…

Do you think a person should be a mother first, before they donate their eggs?I interview an egg donor, Anna, who experienced secondary infertility after she donated. She shares how different the egg retrievals felt based on the circumstances. She believes that donating gametes is NOT the same as donating blood. It is NOT just a cell. Anna believes…

Back by popular demand, Ally, a donor conceived adult and host of @halfofmepodcast, returns to update us on her life and how the pandemic has affected her career. This is an opportunity to get a glimpse of other aspects of a dc person's life that is unrelated to their conception. It's important to remember that a person is not entirely defined by o…