Stop. Sit. Surrogate.
A mother and daughter podcast educating others on surrogacy from a surrogates point of view. And the point of view from the intended parents, children born from surrogacy, the agency, legal professionals and IVF doctors for the science behind it all. Together we have brought 8 beautiful children into this world and it’s been an insane rollercoaster ride! Good and bad, the sweet and the sour, all coming to light about the truths behind the best and worst surrogacy journeys. Stop. Sit. Surrogate. Is a podcast that is able to give well rounded information about surrogacy from every point of view. We hope to give as much education as we can provide, to those who want to learn and know more about surrogacy.
Stop. Sit. Surrogate.
Creating Families Through Egg Donation & Surrogacy
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#surrogacy #ivf #surrogate
Sara’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/surrornsara?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
Meghan’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meghan.bestlife?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==
Quick clarification/correction: During this episode, I mistakenly mixed up my wording regarding mitochondrial donation. The donated genetic material discussed is mitochondrial DNA, not nuclear DNA. My apologies for the confusion, and thank you for the grace as we continue learning and having these important conversations around IVF and reproductive medicine. 💛
Someone can carry a baby and feel zero “that’s mine” energy. Another person can donate eggs and feel totally at peace never knowing what happened next. That contrast is exactly what we dig into with our guests Sara and Meghan, and it’s the kind of honesty we wish more people heard before they form opinions about IVF, surrogacy, or egg donation.
Sara is on her second gestational carrier journey, and she shares what it looks like to move through transfer prep, meds, and the day-to-day reality of being pregnant for intended parents. Meghan brings a rare perspective as an egg donor who stepped into the fertility world through clinical training, then later became a mom to triplets after IUI. We talk about the practical side of the process, but we also go straight for the big questions: Do you feel attached? Should donor identity be open? What does “genetic connection” mean to the kids created this way, especially now that consumer DNA testing can connect families whether anyone plans for it or not?
Then Meghan drops a story that stops us in our tracks: she also donated a kidney to save a coworker’s teenage son. That launches a deeper conversation about altruism, risk, health screening, recovery, and the kind of boundaries you have to set when you’re a lifelong giver. We also touch on emerging reproductive tech like mitochondrial donation and why the ethics can get complicated fast.
If you’re researching surrogacy, egg donation, IVF, or how intended parents and carriers build healthy agreements, you’ll leave with clearer language, better questions to ask, and a stronger sense of what your non-negotiables might be. Subscribe, share this with someone who has opinions about IVF, and leave a review with the moment that challenged your perspective most.
Welcome, Mission, And Sponsor
SPEAKER_01Welcome. We are the mother-daughter podcast about all things surrogacy. Together, we have brought eight beautiful babies into this world. And we would like to share through education and knowledge about surrogacy with those who want to educate themselves on the topic. This is Top Fit Surrogate. This episode is sponsored by U.S. Surrogacy LLC. If you've ever dreamed of helping grow a family or are hoping to grow your own, U.S. Surrogacy LLC is here to guide you every step of the way. They are a dedicated surrogacy agency committed to supporting intended parents and surrogates through a compassionate, ethical, and well-supported journey. US Surrogacy LLC works with amazing women who want to make a life-changing difference by becoming a surrogate while also helping intended parents experience the incredible gift of parenthood. Their team focuses on transparency, strong communication, and personalized support so that everyone involved feels confident, cared for, and informed throughout the entire process. If you've ever considered becoming a surrogate, or if you're an intended parent exploring your options, US Surrogacy LLC is ready to help you take that next step. To learn more about their programs and how you can get started, visit us-surrogacy.com. That's us-surrogacy.com. And now let's get into today's episode. Hi everybody, welcome back to Stops at Surrogate with Kennedy and Ellen. Today we are having a lovely Friday fax, and we have two wonderful guests. One's a repeat and one is a newbie. So I'm very excited.
SPEAKER_00Sarah will let you introduce yourself first. My name is Sarah. I am a two-time gestational carrier. Well, I don't know. Do you say two times after you finish the journey? You say whenever you want to say it. Okay. Well, I'm on my second surrogacy journey. I am 15-ish weeks right now. Um, and my intended parents just found out it's a boy. It's the first boy that I've ever carried. So yeah.
SPEAKER_01How fun. Oh, we'll get into that. That'll be fun. And Megan, would you like to introduce yourself?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I'm Megan. I'm one of Sarah's good friends. And she actually invited me today because I long time ago, I donated my eggs. And so we kind of we've connected on a lot of different things over the years, but she thought I would be kind of a fun guest to kind of join the chat today.
unknownYes.
SPEAKER_01Super fun. We're this is gonna be so never stir it. Just egg donor.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Yeah. I also have triplets, so that's part of my story too.
SPEAKER_01Oh my gosh. Sarah knows all the little knickknacks here. You literally carried them for yourself.
SPEAKER_05Yes, they are they're my one and only uh litter, I call them.
SPEAKER_01Oh my gosh. My mom carried triplets as a surrogate. Oh wow. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03How old? How old are your triplets?
SPEAKER_05They're 10.
SPEAKER_03Oh god, you're still in the thick of it.
unknownOh my god.
SPEAKER_05There's they're they're in the other room, so if they come barging in, that's why.
SPEAKER_01Oh my god, that's my have a I have a 10-year-old. Can I ask? Are was it like one egg that just like split three times and like you just hit the jackpot?
SPEAKER_05We ended up doing an IUI, and so it was three follicles. The joke is like they saw two and they're like, oh, that third one's not gonna do anything. And that's I call that one my daughter because she's very sassy.
SPEAKER_03Oh, how funny.
SPEAKER_05So two boys and a girl.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yep.
SPEAKER_01And they're all paternal.
unknownYeah.
What Drew Them Into IVF
SPEAKER_01Oh, how cool. Okay, that's fine. All right. Well, okay, well, let's jump in. I'll I'll ask, I'll ask a basic question first. So, um, how did each of you get into like the IVF world? Like what drew you to it?
SPEAKER_00Um, so for me, I shared before that it was, you know, like most people watching that episode of Friends and seeing Phoebe Buffet carry for her brother, and um just knowing instantly like that was the coolest thing in the world and that I had to do that someday. Um, and the thought and the feeling and the drive never left me. And when I was the year I was going to turn 35, I realized that I was gonna be advanced maternal age or elderly or geriatric or whatever other title you want to put on it. And I turned to my husband and I was like, that thing I told you when I was 19, he was 21, uh, when we started dating. And I told him then, you know, I'm like, you you need to know that I'm going to do this someday, or we can't be together. Like, you know, it was it was an ultimatum at 19 years old. I told him, I said, it's it's time. I think I need to do this now. So that was the poll. I had a friend who had had a really beautiful surrogacy journey um just one year prior. And so that gave me the confidence to safely move forward.
unknownGosh.
SPEAKER_01Yay! I love that. That's cool. I love that. And how how did you get into the IVF world, Megan? I'm assuming I think I know how, since you just said how you had your triplets, but well, I don't know.
SPEAKER_05Uh I like Sarah said, I surprise you all the time. Um, I was actually, it was I was in a nursing program to get my master's, and I was studying um case management for the treatment of infertility. Oh, and I am all about a good science experiment. And I was like, well, I'm learning about this, I'm learning about IVF infertility. Like, let's donate some eggs. Let's see like what this is actually all about. So, and I was like, okay, well, a nice pleasant side effect is you get to like help people grow some families. I'm healthy, I think I got some good eggs, so I will be happy to share. And so it ended up being like just like an experiment of sorts in the best of ways, I think. And so that was actually um, I want to say it was like the end of 2011, maybe 2012, I can't remember the exact exact year, but it was it was a bit ago. Um, right, it was like kind of in the beginning of my marriage before we were gonna have our own family. So I was like, if I'm gonna do it, is now is the time. So it worked out.
SPEAKER_03Okay, I have to jump in and ask a question. At any time during this experiment, did you think there may be little Miis running around there? There the any babies that produce from this are gonna be your genetic makeup, part of your genetic makeup, right? Did that weigh into it at all or no?
SPEAKER_05A little, uh like I thought about it. I thought about it, but I was honestly like, I think that's kind of cool. I think that's pretty special. And like if I get this opportunity, like how cool is that?
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_05Do your kids know? No, actually, I haven't brought it up. Honestly, it's one of those things like I did so long ago. I think you forget. I know. So then it's like, okay, maybe I should tell them. I'm sure like eventually. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Okay, okay. It's just not like dinner conversation, just like randomly, like, let's sit down and talk about what mom did before you guys were born. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Oh, there'd be a lot of that. There'd be some interesting stuff too.
SPEAKER_01Wow.
SPEAKER_05Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_03That's stunning. How many they retrieved, and did you do it once or twice?
SPEAKER_05Um, I it was only once. I believe it was somewhere in the ballpark of like, I don't know, 14 to 20. Um, I think what happened was I was like set up with one family if my memory serves me correctly. I've set up with one family and I forgot why it fell through, but they were like, well, you're already kind of in the process. How do you feel about like um like a shared journey? So basically there were two families that were gonna benefit. Um, and I don't know beyond that what ended up happening, but I think two families ended up getting my eggs.
SPEAKER_01So oh, so you you don't know if any were created.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I'm pretty sure there was at least one pregnancy. I think there was two, but I didn't, I don't think I got like official confirmation, or I don't know what happened. So that's kind of like one of those mystery.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_05I don't know. Do you want to know? I mean, I would love to know, but it's not something I stay awake at night over. Okay, right. I think it would be really neat. Okay. Um, especially to like maybe be walking down the street one day and be like, that kind of looks like me. Does that look like me?
SPEAKER_01Wow. Oh, so trippy.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's fascinating.
Attachment Fears And Identity Questions
SPEAKER_01Wow. So, okay, so to kind of put it in like um, not like a versus, right? Not like surrogacy versus egg donation, but I do feel like there's a lot of similarities, but clearly there's a lot of differences. Like these are not biologically our babies 98% of the time. Like there's the 2% that's traditional. We're not gonna get into that. Um, but so I am curious surrogates get the question, like, oh, aren't you gonna be attached? Because like that's your baby. And all the time, right, Sarah, we always have to say it's not our baby. Like, those are technically your babies. So did you ever feel any attachment or like like pull? Yeah, not like nothing.
SPEAKER_05I I think I'm a big I don't think in hindsight I thought about it so much as this, but like I was put on this earth to be a contributor to the world in in different ways, and like if this allowed me, like I said, to like grow families, like awesome, like cool, yeah.
SPEAKER_03I remember I there was a traditional surrogate that I was very from I was doing gestational, she was doing traditional. She literally used her egg, they implanted for you know, IUI, and she got pregnant back way back when when I was doing it. And her mantor, little motto was I'm gonna lose an egg anyway during my monthly cycle, so why not help? And I was it stuck with me forever. I'm like, oh yeah, you are you do those become babies when you when we have a cycle and okay, egg's gone. Bye. So I don't know. I yeah, I don't, I don't know. I could I personally do it. I think I've talked about that before. Probably I couldn't. I I couldn't. I I I think it's a strong person. It really I think I think because of me, I was adopted. And I think that holds a whole nother can of worms on that one because because I grew up not knowing, not knowing, not knowing, not knowing, right? Blah blah blah blah. Yeah. So I think that's where mine heads, but I think if I I don't know, going back, I don't know. It that there might have been a draw for that. There might have been. I'm I'm impressed. I your mindset on it's phenomenal.
SPEAKER_00Like, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Go, Sarah.
SPEAKER_00What's up? Um, Ellen, I can't remember. Did you ever you met your birthday potentially? They found me. Oh, they found you. Yeah, because uh these days with egg donation, I think the tides have turned a little bit where they're really encouraging connections, yes, that not necessarily some ongoing relationship, but that like that child have a picture of you that they know about you. And should something come up in their health that they can go back and be able to connect to their egg donor to ask these questions rather than living that life mystery that many adoptive uh children speak to, of like, where am I from? You know, we have like almost like an identity crisis when we don't know these things, even though somewhere along the line, really, like I found out as a young adult that my dad uh was a product of an affair. So I don't know my biological grandfather, you know. So I think these things are really sprinkled throughout our lives. But when you know it, it's yeah, it's a lot different. So I'm wondering, like, Megan, did they offer you any kind of like did they say like opened or closed or what was that like?
SPEAKER_05I think there was I think there was something there was something like noted in the chart or or there was a question about would I be open if they wanted to like know who it was in the future? And I was like, heck yeah. So I I don't know, we'll see. We'll see how if that comes with anything, you know.
Screening, Matching, And The Process
SPEAKER_01Yeah, okay. So because we could talk about this all day and we we will jump back to it. But so the the correlations between like surrogacy, like to be a surrogate and to be an egg donor. I'm curious if it's kind of similar. Like there's a process that obviously surrogates have to go through. You know, we we have to go through a sight clearance, a medical clearance, like we have to make sure that we're mentally healthy and like physically healthy. Do you have to do something similar?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, and I don't remember exactly how in-depth it was, but I do remember obviously, you know, starting with like the basic questionnaire about who you are, health history, there was some kind of a psychological screening, but I can't remember how in depth it was. Um and just really making sure like you were aware of like what you were doing, um, and all of that. But I I feel like it wasn't as in depth as a surrogate. Really? And it's and as long as I was like young, like I think I was maybe 24, going on 25 at the time. So I think as long as like my eggs were young, you know, they were good to go.
SPEAKER_03And the same does not apply that to be a surrogate, you've had to have to have a baby. Right. Be an egg donator, egg donator, egg donation. You do not you do not have to have so they don't even know if the eggs are like right, like right, yeah, yeah. Like it hasn't gone through a process, like, oh yeah, here's one. We see what it looks like, we see what happened there, right? So I don't think that's a right, that's not a thing for egg donation even now. You don't have to have to have a child because a lot of college students do it, right? Yeah, it's interesting.
SPEAKER_01That's so very interesting. Okay.
SPEAKER_03I think the do you remember roughly the pro like, was it a couple months? Was it drawn out? Because surrogates it's a long time before we actually can get into the process, but egg no nation, I mean six months, less than six months. Do you think you were retrieved?
SPEAKER_05I feel like it was somewhere in that six-month ballpark. It wasn't super long.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_05And I don't remember like lots of hoops to jump through or lots of things to be waiting on. It was pretty straightforward. I think the only the only like uh time delay was when it fell through with like the original family, and then but but like within like hours or a day, they had found other people. So it was like it was quite like by the way, we still have people look at you.
SPEAKER_03You're blonde. I don't know if your eyes are.
SPEAKER_05I was gonna say you have like colored eyes, right? Like your blonde colored eyes, like that's always like the key markers, yeah, educated, but and I was a college graduate, so like that was a that was there was like a very I feel like there was an in-depth questionnaire about like not necessarily that they got my IQ, but just to make sure I was actually like of sound in mind and educated, and you know, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Oh okay. Now I want to ask, do you remember anything about the retrieval? Was it like painful afterwards?
Med Protocols And Triplets Pregnancy
SPEAKER_05No, I just remember I I felt like I had like super ovulated, like very floaty. Yeah. Um, but really like I feel like the next day it was fine.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's kind of what I hear.
SPEAKER_01So because you recently just went through this, Sarah. So what was your med protocol to have a transfer?
SPEAKER_00Um, just for transfers. So aspirin every day, which many of us do. Um I had estrace. It's funny. I literally just did this and I'm like, how many pills did I take? Or am I mixing that up with my last journey? Okay. Estrace was oral, so I did not do any injections for um estrogen.
SPEAKER_04Oh, wow.
SPEAKER_00Or no patches for estrogen, just pills. And it was two orally in the morning, two orally in the evening, one vaginally in the morning, one vaginally in the evening. And we did that based off of knowing last my first journey, what really helped my lining get thick enough was doing the vaginal ones. So really total three pills in the morning, three in the evening, just kind of split routes. Um, and then you know, the six days before transfer is when I started the PIO. And then I continued those medications until um shortly after six weeks, uh six weeks, ten weeks.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_01Okay. And then Megan, wow, in 2011, if you remember, like do like were you did you have to do a bunch of meds to like amp up your eggs?
SPEAKER_05I only remember like injecting myself when they whenever they told me to, and I that that was it. I've but like going through I have more of like a photographic memory of like my own meds when I did like my IUI because I did like a like a stimulated cycle. Um but I really don't remember way back then, um, except just like you know just like shoot it to release them.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. I I don't know for egg donation, do you guys did like do they go on Clomet or do they go on like a like a uh to to get the follicles to grow? What do they use to get get more?
SPEAKER_05I don't remember, and I don't know if I'm mixing up in my head what I did with my IUI for my my babies and what I did for my donation. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03I just don't know how they get so many. They gotta do something.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, they definitely hyperstimulate, like for sure.
SPEAKER_03Cause 14. Lord. Wow.
SPEAKER_01Can I can I ask? Do they for the IUI? Can I can I ask about that? Like, do so for medication for that, is it did did they have because you said three, but they were like, oh, that third one's not gonna be there. So were they amping up your follicles then too?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we we ended up doing it, was our third IUI that I had the triplets. And so I think we used like Phamera, the oral medication, and then I added injectables on top of it. Um, but we did that for my second IUI and nothing happened. So they're like, well, we'll just keep we'll just keep going. Um so I don't remember if they like increased my meds or what they did with the third one.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Um, because I had the same number of follicles on my second cycle and nothing happened. So they're like, Well, we have the same number this time. So I think, you know, we'll see.
SPEAKER_01And oh, how crazy.
SPEAKER_05Hello. Hello, there's three. Oh, that's so wild. How far did you carry? I'm just curious. I was uh 33 and two. So I was on I call it couch rest from like 17 weeks to 33, and then I delivered early because I had pre-clampsia.
SPEAKER_01Okay. Oh my gosh, no.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I had uh three placentas, so the odds were in my favor.
SPEAKER_01That's a lot.
SPEAKER_03That's true, but you made it really, really long with triplets. Yeah, 33 2. I went I went 32. Yeah, yeah, 32. And that's but no bed rest. None. They let me keep going and they're 20, they're 23, so they had no idea back then. Yeah, wow. Just do just do you okay? Live your life.
SPEAKER_05I mean, I enjoyed, I didn't have any other kids, so I enjoyed my couch rest. I got off, I was off work. I got to catch up on like Ellen. I watched Ellen all day. Yeah. And it was a good time.
SPEAKER_03That's awesome.
SPEAKER_01That's cool.
Family Reactions And Milk Donor Friendship
SPEAKER_03Wow.
SPEAKER_01Can I ask what both of your families thought, Sarah, when you were like, hey, I'm gonna be a surrogate. And Megan, did you tell people that you were gonna donate eggs, or like was it like after the fact?
SPEAKER_00Um most people were really surprised, uh, really supportive, um, excited. Nobody was surprised just in in my person. In fact, my mother-in-law said, Um, was my husband who had told her initially said that's the most Sarah thing that Sarah could do. Oh no, I was like, I think that's a compliment. That is a compliment. Yeah. Uh my grandma was that, she said she was just worried about my health, you know, she's concerned. Um, so I did get, you know, can concerned comments. People, you know, concerned was I gonna be, you know, psychologically healthy or have problems with that. And yeah, you know, it they don't understand the surrogate mind. So, you know, you just reassure them otherwise. But um, the I only had one family member who like kind of looked at me sideways was my uncle. And you know, he just so not everybody gets it. He didn't tell me it was like bad or wrong or anything like that. It just wasn't the same like level of excitement as everyone else seemed to be. So, generally speaking, very supportive, which made me even more affirmed in my decision.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's great.
SPEAKER_05Especially if you're not used to people carrying other people's babies, I could see it being a little bit huh. Right.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. Actually, Megan um and a girlfriend of mine, Naomi, they we have like a little a little ongoing chat, and Megan was the first person that I had told like, don't tell anyone I'm gonna do this thing. I love it. Oh, I love that. Wait, how do you guys know each other? That's a really fun story. So we have time. We got time when I was relocating from the Bay Area to the Sacramento area. Um I when I started the new job, I was still pumping and breastfeeding my twins. And I had my girls would not take a bottle. So I had a ton of milk. And uh one day, this person who was training me, I I must, I think I said something on the way to the car. We were walking together, and I was like, I want you know, said something about. Needing to do something with my milk or donating it or something. And she was like, actually, I we have a coworker who's out right now who just had triplets and my jaw just dropped. Okay, this is this was in April, and her babies were born in February. So I'm like, oh my gosh, here I am thinking like two babies is hard. I'm like, I'm sorry, what? She's like, Yeah, she's looking for breast milk donors. And I was like, send me her information because I have a freezer full and my babies will not drink it. They want it only straight from the tap.
SPEAKER_04Oh my god.
SPEAKER_00And that was the start of a beautiful friendship. So she and her mom would come over to the house and line all three babies up in their car seats. We would chat for a few minutes, they'd load up the car and head back on out. And then um eventually, you know, when she came back to work, we started working together. Uh, she moved nearby, we started carpooling together, and so just naturally got really close. Bonding over one, me helping feed her babies, and uh two being moms of multiples in a singleton world, yeah. Uh, amongst tons of other things that we um have in common.
SPEAKER_01That's such a cool story.
SPEAKER_05I can tell you, if I'm sure the people listening, some of them might resonate, but like to to not have like to really want to breastfeed and not be able to do that, uh, and to have someone like that was willing to share, I was like so grateful.
SPEAKER_03Did you provide enough for all three, Sarah, or did you have to get another um donor, Megan?
SPEAKER_05I ended up, I I ended up getting like I think my kids are healthy because I think I've had like six breast milk donors from around the Sacramento area.
SPEAKER_04I love that.
SPEAKER_05But Sarah had like a crazy supply. Like, I would bring over my big cooler and like fill it up and be like, see ya. Wow, you struggled really good stock.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. That's that's a Sarah thing to do. For sure.
SPEAKER_05That is awesome. So we uh I joke that we bonded over breast milk.
SPEAKER_03You did it's very true, and y'all didn't know each other before the work. It was new for you, and you had gone out on maternity leave. So there was probably yeah, okay. Oh gotcha.
SPEAKER_05And 10 years later, we're still markop poloing each other in the cars or driving places. Guys are funny.
SPEAKER_01Oh my gosh, I love that. That's so sweet. Honestly, that's probably like the best. Like, that's like one of the cooler, like, this is how I met my best friend. Yeah, that's really fun.
SPEAKER_00That's my work wife. She works elsewhere now, but um, but still call her my work wife.
SPEAKER_01That's so sweet. So sweet. Okay, okay, back to my question. Yeah. Um, okay, so Megan, were people shocked when you were like, hey, I'm gonna donate my eggs? Or did you not tell people until after it was done?
SPEAKER_05I really don't think I told many people. Yeah. I think I was like very immersed in like my my nursing program. Um I really didn't have a lot of like extra socializing time. Um, so really it was like um I had a part-time job, I was in this master's program, I was recently married. It was just like my husband and my nursing program essentially. Yeah. And my husband's so good, like multiple years later, he's used to my like wild ideas. Um, so I think at the time he was like cautious, like he's not really sure. Like, that's kind of weird, but okay. Like, what am I gonna say? No. Right. Wow.
SPEAKER_03Did you did you incorporate that into like a paper or anything for your mask for your program? Did did you about your experience or no?
SPEAKER_05I don't remember if I donated after turned in my like thesis or if it was during, I feel like I donated after I had already turned it in.
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_05Um but I definitely um it it was nice to kind of have a little bit of experience to kind of guide like the format and the research and things like that as I was writing it. So I think there was a little bit of overlap. Um yeah.
SPEAKER_03Amazing. Just take that on while you're in a master's program. Like, I mean, it's not it's not like you can just go one day and go, hey, I want to join MAAG. I mean, there's a process, like you had you were, you know, you were doing things for it. It's like, well, okay. Doctor's appointments and stuff. Yes.
SPEAKER_05I tend to not just do one thing at a time. I tend Sarah knows this. I uh the balls in the air. I one of my uh first bodybuilding shows I did, I got ready a prep for that while I was uh my triplets were potty training. So like I was like, if I can get through that, I can do like anything.
SPEAKER_01Oh my gosh, that's crazy.
SPEAKER_03Wow, what do you not do? That's so this is just an offshoot. Do you bodybuild like like is that full time for you?
SPEAKER_05Like it's it's it's more of a side hobby. Um, I'm I do online um functional health coaching, so I have clients online, and then I'm per DM doing a labor and delivery nursing. Um, but the the bodybuilding is like my love and my my sanity saver. It's my mental health. Gotcha. So I can't do one without the other. Understood. Wow.
Different Mindsets And Changing Ethics
SPEAKER_01I get that. This is my bodybuilding right here. Sitting and talking to people. This is my bodybuilding. We're building body bodies. Oh my gosh, why didn't I go there? So much smarter than me. We are literally building bodies. Literally building bodies. Oh my gosh, that's great. Oh my gosh. I'm just I'm like at a loss, like things to just like ask because my brain is running, and I'm just like, and I'm gonna be so blunt. I will because we've been doing this for years and I'll take a shot at it. Let's go blunt. Um, I could never be an egg donor. And like I always get so annoyed when people like are like, oh, I can never be a surrogate because of A, B, and C. And like here I am being like, but I know myself, and like I could just never be an egg donor for the pure fact that I like look at my son and soon, you know, will look at my daughter, and I'll be like, how, how could how could I have little mies out there and just not know you? And I think that that is so freaking cool for egg donors to be able to like disassociate or disconnect or whatever it is, because surrogates, we disconnect in a completely different way. We grow a human, but we know it's not our human, but we're still growing it. So, like there it's just it's so wild how everybody's brains can be wired differently, but we can all still help the same community. I I just find it fascinating. That's my bluntness.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah, yeah. There is not there's not one one path that is for every person, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_03Because egg donors have must have to go. There's a different I don't want to say a different mindset, but they look at it a little differently, I think, than a surrogate looks at it, because it's not it it's I don't want to say it's the same, but a little bit different. I mean, who is a human? We we we just held it once it was all done. Like that I and I don't want to say that one's more important than the other, but in this sense, it's that's more important. Like you need the substance of the you need the egg and the sperm to to make the human. Like you need it. And uh some people can't get it, right? That's why they need egg donors, like they right. So it's it's very nobling. I'm oh yeah, I really am. I'm blown away. I really am. And I'm blown away by surrogates too. I really, yes, but I don't know. Egg donors, I don't know.
SPEAKER_01It's it's I think for us, it's just so fascinating to look at it from the other side. Like every every surrogate baby I carried or transferred was always an egg donor baby. Like, actually, not transferred, but every surrogate baby I carried was an egg donor baby, and they're happy, cute, living their lives. Like, you know, there's these families that wouldn't have these children if not for those egg donors. And I just think it's just just a different way to look at it. It's just so crazy.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, go ahead, sir. In in all three of your journeys, they needed to utilize an egg donor. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Well, so for two of them, I had so my first two, they're um, they were two different same-sex males. And then my third, I was not told the reason why, but um, it was a heterosexual couple, and she needed to have an egg donor. Okay. Wait, was it an egg donor? I think it was hers. It was hers. I'm getting mixed up with my most recent one where I did all these transfers and it was egg donors. Thank you. Right, okay. Thank you.
SPEAKER_03All three of mine were all egg donors. Yes. All same sex, yeah. Yeah, yeah. And my triplets just found out who their egg donor was. They asked a question of their father, and they were all at college, and he literally just texted them the picture. Crazy.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Megan, do um the parents of these fam, do these families have your picture? I don't think so. Oh but they saw something initially, right? Like with your profile. Maybe they do. So in the profile?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, there had to have been in the profile, but I don't know if they were like beyond that given anything extra. I don't remember.
SPEAKER_01Did you have to? I'm curious, how did you I know this is forever ago, but like making the profile, did you I'm curious if you kind of had to do it in a similar way that we surrogates have to like promote ourselves. Like, hey, we're fun, loving human beings that like to go to the beach, or you like, you know, like things like that. Like, did you did you have to say things like that, or were you just like, here's my medical health?
SPEAKER_05I think it was all I think it was all put on by the the IVF clinic. I don't think I had any hand in like compiling phrases or anything like that that I remember. Like maybe they asked me what my hobbies were, maybe, but beyond that.
SPEAKER_03Right. Nothing crazy. How did you find the okay? This is probably a two-part. Did you go with an egg donation company, or did you literally hook up from your master's program through an IVF clinic and they were doing egg donation? You're like, oh, this will be good. I'll do it, they'll do it here.
SPEAKER_05How did you it was um it was just a local IVF clinic? I think it was um California IVF, like in Davis. And it was a big well-known company. I just I think I just like picked them, found them on their website or something, and just like and yep. Here we are.
SPEAKER_03Yep.
unknownWow.
SPEAKER_03Amazing. So who knows how many families were grown because of you or made because of you? That's super cool.
SPEAKER_01I know, because nowadays we've talked to other egg donors and they're like, oh, you know, I get like a like a ding or a message saying, like, oh hey, like a baby's been born due to my egg donation. Like, you know, but these are more recent times, so obviously people have kind of like changed their process and like updates, and obviously, like like Sarah said, like the connections of it all, like, hey, here are pictures and here's here's a letter for when you're 18, or or whatever it is. Like, I've heard all these different things. It's just interesting how how different or how how much it's grown. I mean, surrogacy's grown so much within the past what what is that, 15 years? Egg donation has grown and is more talked about, I feel, within the last 15 years as well. Did you feel did you feel well you didn't really tell a lot of people, but I'm curious, like, was there any negative connotations around egg donation back then?
SPEAKER_05I think I think because this was back in like the the Google chat room, like um like the little internet um groups. Um, but I think it was very like ethically controversial. Um and I don't know honestly, because I'm kind of like outside of that world now, I don't know what the general tone is now. But I feel like back in the day it was like a little bit more controversial and um polarizing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I can make sense. I can see that because I mean surrogacy was kind of looked at the same way. And for people on the outside who aren't in the IVF community, I guess you could look at them both very much the same when it comes to ethical or conservative or however you want to spend policy.
SPEAKER_05I think I tried to join, I think I joined like one of those donor websites, but it got to a point where they like they wanted you to like pay to stay like a member. And I was like, well, no, I'm okay with that. So I don't know if like I'm still part of that, like if they did want to find me, but I thought of also like maybe doing like one of those genetic like 21ancestry.com things of like if they wanted to somehow think I don't know.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, because if you have that on file and they ever submitted one, they would find a link. Uh-huh. It would be familial. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Wow, and like how cool, like they would be like, Oh, we have triplets as you know relative past biological. Yeah, like so just cool and different. Yeah, yeah. We'll see. Yeah, right. One day, I know your kids are are 10. So, I mean, really, if if somebody did have a baby from your egg donation, that baby would be like fifth, 15, 16, maybe.
SPEAKER_05Who knows? I think so. And it depends like how if they still got him frozen somewhere, I don't know.
SPEAKER_01Right, right, right, right. Right, if they used it right away, they'd probably be like somewhere in their teens. Yeah, wow. Crazy, not far off. That's so crazy. That is so cool. Oh my gosh. My brain is just still like in awe of you. Like, I I it is. Am I crazy like that, surrogate ladies?
SPEAKER_00Like, there's a great perspective on it.
A Kidney Donation That Changed Lives
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I know.
SPEAKER_00If you weren't impressed by my work wife enough, because uh what we do, we like yes, there's an extreme altruistic component to what we do. Yes, we are not in this. Oh, you're in this for the money. You can't I am nausea. I got my nausea pills. I'm not in there's no amount of money that you could pay for me to feel this way. Okay. Right. And egg donors are compensated as well. Do you know who's not compensated? I'm gonna cry. This this person, while on my screen, she's right below me. She answered the call. You're gonna make me cry now. Gosh. When one of our coworkers put out a desperate plea, she answered the call to be a kidney donor.
SPEAKER_01Oh my god, that chills, Megan.
SPEAKER_00And she gave, is it your right E? I can't remember. I gave my left E. She gave her left E.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00Do you know where that is? It's pretty cool, huh? Yeah, she matched. Oh, I know. And then I started and then she doesn't stop crying.
SPEAKER_03Um like take the jaw drop, Sarah. This is like the fifth one. Like God almighty.
SPEAKER_00She saved, she saved our coworker son's life. Oh my god, weren't you a kid?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, he was he he had just turned uh 15. Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_00And coincidence, coincidentally, this coworker of ours is also a fellow mom of multiples. Oh, yeah. Extra bonds there, but is he a multiple? The one who got your kid. Yeah.
unknownOh wow.
SPEAKER_03We were a match. That's a I mean, Megan, that's amazing that you were a match. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Like completely no relation. Right. I just happened. It's interesting. And like I said before, like I was here to like contribute, and we don't know what how we're gonna contribute, but I just saw, and I'm not on Facebook a ton, but like when I opened up Facebook that day, it was literally the first post that was there was her asking uh if anyone would like apply that could even like possibly think of being a donor. And I was like, Well, she had listed his blood type, and I was like, Well, that's my blood type. No, let's just like give it a whirl and see where it leads. So wow.
SPEAKER_03Oh my gosh, are you cool with just one? Yeah, like like and I shouldn't say you cool being in your head, just health-wise, right? Because we can live with one.
SPEAKER_05It's a very thorough screening process, very, very thorough. And they want to make sure like you will be very healthy afterwards with just one. Yeah. Um, and I've I've taken very, very good care of my body and still do, and I'm probably more diligent than most kidney donors. Um so like my labs now are as good as someone with two kidneys. Wow. Impressive.
SPEAKER_03Because you need to be here for your kids and your husband, and you need like you, yes, you want to help, but that that's above okay. I get the egg donation, but giving a kidney, that's that's that's that's superhero fantastic go. That's ridiculous. That's I don't even know what to say to it. It's I don't we're here to shock you today. That's amazing. It is.
SPEAKER_05No, it's it's it's pretty, it's pretty neat just just to be able to get be in the position to help someone in that way because I think it was like half the people don't even pass past like the first questionnaire, half the people don't pass the blood work, yeah, another half don't pass like they do like CT scans and a bunch of other stuff. So most people don't even get to the point to donate.
SPEAKER_03And and most people, it's not a coworker, it's somebody across the country or in another world. Like the fact that it was that close. Do you keep in touch with these people? Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_05He's doing very well.
SPEAKER_00That's awesome. Wow. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05He gets to do like teenage boy stuff now that he didn't have the energy to, which is that's amazing.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Was this congenital? Was it you just born with like bad kidneys? Or yeah, yeah. Yeah. Got it. Oh wow. Wow. That is I I just can't. That all those that all those things lined up. I I it's amazing.
SPEAKER_00I can't decide if we're really good for each other or really bad for each other because eventually we're gonna run out of things. Right.
SPEAKER_05Oh, how funny. Livers can rejuvenate. We could do that. That's true. Livers can rejuvenate. I've heard of kidney donors going on to be like liver donors. I'm like, well, we'll see. But right now, no, I'm good.
SPEAKER_03You're good. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Wow.
SPEAKER_03Well, I know when you get a transplant for a liver, because I've a very one of my surrogate dads, one of my he got a liver transplant because he's a good one. Oh, that's right. He's on like on a barrage of meds just to keep it up. Like you don't need to do any of that, or do you? I don't.
SPEAKER_05The recipient does. Okay, so anti-rejection, right? Very huge regimen of medications, um, which surprisingly a lot of them are like kidney toxics, so they have to be careful. Um, which is very it's very it's a whole new world that I barely know much about, but it's it's it's pretty intense, yeah.
Training, Recovery, And One Kidney
SPEAKER_01So I'm I'm curious. Have you have you like you said though, you are very healthy, you're a bodybuilder, like you take care of yourself for sure. But have you had to change any aspects of your life due to now only having one kidney?
SPEAKER_05A little at first, so it's interesting. I come from the functional health space, so my perspective on health maintenance and being healthy is very different than like traditional medicine. So they were very like I say they like the medical team was very cautious with me being a bodybuilder because they thought like I'm gonna I'm gonna completely yeah, like go off the rails, I'm gonna eat like massive amounts of protein. And but actually, I so I followed their recommendations the first few weeks outside of a few things. Um but using my my knowledge, my education, kind of like taking their guidance, but blending it with my own. Um, I basically uh the big thing is like, and this is like a huge tangent, but um like protein is not bad for kidneys, and their their viewpoint is like you have to have a very, very small amount of protein. So that was one thing that I was like, okay, I will take your guidance, but I'm gonna do my own thing. Um, so I took it very, very slow and just really watched my labs closely as I kind of like very slowly increased protein. Um, and I'm in a really good spot eating probably more protein than most American women eat.
SPEAKER_04Wow.
SPEAKER_05Um I'm still doing really well.
SPEAKER_01So your functionality, like, you know, they all I mean that's just the things that I hear on like you know, Grey's Anatomy, like, oh, you only have one kidney, so you can't play soccer. Like, you know, like you know, like things like that, but not that not saying you're gonna go out and like play soccer tomorrow. But did anything like drastic, like functionality wise, have to change for you? Like you have three kids that you have to like not necessarily run after because they're not toddlers, but they're active, I'm sure.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Uh the first like six weeks kind of like Um, kind of like a C section. Um, you're not supposed to lift anything heavier than like 15 pounds. So um, but I can't just like sit around not doing anything, that's not my style. So I was very I did not lift more than 15 pounds. That's for six weeks, but I did band work, I did resistance bands, very light. Oh, and I made sure like I was not gonna let kidney donation like completely change my life, but like figure out a way to like enhance it.
SPEAKER_03Were your kids little? How old were they when you did this?
SPEAKER_05Oh, this was that this past November.
SPEAKER_01Oh, oh I'm thinking this was like seven years ago.
SPEAKER_03Okay. Thanksgiving miracle, my lord. Wow. Wow. So your kid, I know we are off topic, but your kids are. No, it's okay. I'm so sorry. But your kids completely understood this. Completely got this.
SPEAKER_05Like, how yeah, yeah, how did they my daughter was very worried. She was like, No, mama, like you're not gonna give, you're not gonna give your kidney. I had to explain. It was a good lesson, like, okay, like what do kidneys even do? Like, yeah, educating them like they have too, uh, what they do in the body. But I just explained it, like, I am I am healthy and I am able to, and I'm gonna be completely fine afterwards. And this is like our way to to find who who needs it. And after that, after that discussion, it was like, okay, okay. Wow.
SPEAKER_03And obviously, husband was fine with it. I won't. I mean, again, your body, I guess you're gonna do what you're gonna do, but again, like yes, he knows he's used to my crazy ideas, so it's not a crazy idea.
SPEAKER_01It's uh it's such a very huge, unique heart. Like, and I say that in like the best way, because you're or others, you're but your heart and your mind can go together, like one of them's not overpowering the other, like you're logical on it and your heart's in the right place. Whereas, like a lot of people, like, yeah, they would their heart would be in the right place, but logically, they're not thinking of all the aftermath and everything that would come with it in egg donation or in a kidney, you know, um donation. So just unique, unique, unique. You are very unique and it's very amazing.
SPEAKER_00I feel like somehow you having donated the kidney and talking with them about that now in real time. Obviously, they needed to know because you needed to recuperate, and this was a big, you know, decision. Is somehow gonna make it easier to explain that you donated your eggs. Right. Remember when I gave my kidney there were right, yeah.
SPEAKER_05That's true. Yeah, I didn't even think about that, but that makes sense.
unknownYeah.
Mitochondrial Donation And Future IVF
SPEAKER_01Oh. Fascinating. Well, I okay, so we'll kind of look at the background. So I I I went all blunt and I said, Oh, you know, I could never be an egg donor. Um, out of curiosity, mom, how do you feel? Do you feel like you could ever donate your eggs? Nuh-uh.
SPEAKER_03No. I I I have to stand by it. Yeah, I could I don't think I could, even yeah. Because of the whole MIDI you the whole adoption, the whole I had no idea where it came from, blah blah blah blah. And then when I found out, and then I had my own, I was like, oh, wait a minute, these people look like me. Hold on.
SPEAKER_01Yours is different. You have an excuse. It's fine. A little different, yeah. So no, I don't think I could. Sarah, do you think that you could donate eggs?
SPEAKER_00Um, I I did think about it when I was younger, and I think I would struggle, yeah, truly with um it's it's just it which it it sounds silly when I say it out loud. But that's like my instinct is like, ah, you know, is there some sort of I don't it's just it I don't know, I can't make sense of it.
SPEAKER_03It's the it's the mind, it's the mindset. Megan's got Megan's got I I just I would like to just pour into your brain and go, where is it coming from? Like, where's the mind? Like you just seem so yeah, right.
SPEAKER_01No, somebody's so it's so funny because if you think about it, I bet that's what people look at us surrogates like, like, how could you do that? I don't understand. Like, where's your mindset? And it's like, well, that's easy.
SPEAKER_00And Megan's over here probably it's easy. But I always thought, like, if I had a sister who I don't have a biological sister, like, oh, I could totally do that for you know, so there there are some times, and I think maybe that feels different because you have like ongoing relationship, you're seeing, you know.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um, but it's interesting because I've donated my blood more times than I can count. That's that's my living person inside of other people. I've donated hair three times. There's people out there wearing wigs with my locks, you know. Um I don't know what it is that feels so intimately different about an egg, like you said, that's being we lose eggs all all day, every day. Yeah, you really have to, I think, separate yourself from the idea that that is your baby because it's not your baby. Right. It's a cell, a single cell that is out there that grew up and is actually somebody else's baby. Right, right, right, right.
SPEAKER_05You don't even have to stop. I thought of it like my genetic contribution.
SPEAKER_03Okay, right. That yeah, I like that.
SPEAKER_01I love that. Now, Megan, do you think you could have could ever have been a surrogate? Oh, yeah, I totally could. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_05Especially when when Sarah was going through think your first journey, I was like googling and like, should I apply? But my my complication uh is like I had a tummy tuck and I was like done with babies. And so I was like, Well, I would in case I need another tummy tuck, I don't want, I don't know, I don't know. So I decided to not, and I ended up donating the the kidney, so it kind of worked out. There you go, it's totally fine.
SPEAKER_00And the pre-eclampsia g light qualified. Right. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Oh, how very interesting. But you know, there's that new I would have said no, Megan, so that way we all sounded we were just like, oh okay, we're all like we're in our corners. No, it's okay, you can be an amazing person, it's fine.
SPEAKER_03What were you saying, Sarah?
SPEAKER_00There's a what there's that new thing where you donate um like part of your genetic material, not the whole egg.
SPEAKER_01The mitochondrial, the it's the thing that I was gonna do, but it's not legal in the US, so I chose not to go forward with my journey. Because I'm like, huh.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01Could I do that? I feel like I could do that, maybe.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, because that's I could do that. That feels different to me.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so for people that don't know what Sarah's talking about, there is it's when the it's when the egg gets, and now I'm going to probably butcher this a bit, but there is a nuclear DNA and a mitochondrial DNA. And the mitochondrial is from the mother, I believe, and that's the part that you keep. And the nuclear is like the part that would have um, oh, not is it spina bifida or not spina bifida? Um like something that would be passed. Oh, what's the lung thing? Cystic fibrosis. Thank you. Yes, that's what this, that's what this was started off with was cystic fibrosis. And so that's what the nuclear DNA holds. And I talk, I promise I'm not talking about my butt. I talk to people, I talk to like a high doctor in in Europe who explained this to me. So the nuclear DNA that holds the cystic fibrosis gets taken out of that egg from the mom, and with a donor egg, they take that nuclear DNA and put it and replace where they put where they took out like the cystic vibrosis DNA. Like fragments. Yes. Not really a three DNA baby, is what they're saying. Or three D. Yeah, it's not really a three DNA baby, but it's not FDA approved here. Um, the first baby born was in 2023 in Europe. Um, so what, maybe gonna go years old to being three. So there's no side effects currently in pregnancy. When I was talking to the doctor, there were only eight women in the US that were doing this, and only one of them was a surrogate, and I was like, Pass, thank you. Um yeah, so it's and I just talked to somebody, I think about like a year ago, like last April. So it's very, very new. It's very different. But you're right. If that was my I might be able to do that because that's no DNA of mine. You don't show the DNA when the baby's born. Like the baby doesn't come out looking like donor nuclear. That's weird.
SPEAKER_00And I wonder, I don't know anything about really genetics, if um, if you did do a 23andme or ancestry.com, would it would it still link to you or not? I don't I wouldn't have a problem with that necessarily being like, I gave you some mitochondria or whatever.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I gave you some healthy cells to like not have the diseases.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's and don't ask me why. In my mind, like that feels okay, but oh, an entire egg feels so much more intimate.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um, but you know what? God bless egg donors.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, God bless them. Well, we need them. We need people like you, Megan. We need donors of everything. Jeepers, girl.
unknownJeepers.
SPEAKER_03Sperm donors don't get kind of a, you know, they don't really get talked about a whole lot, but like a lot of, you know, people use each. You say sperm donors?
SPEAKER_01I did. They can produce so much. The sacrifice feels so little. They're fine. They don't have, I don't think they have to do any shots or anything. They just show up one day like we want to donate. It's like, cool, here you go. And so, you know, but yes, sperm donors are great. All right, you're so funny.
SPEAKER_05Make that your bumper sticker.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, right. There you go.
SPEAKER_05Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_01Are we like not touching on anything? I mean, I know that we like literally jumped around the world. We did.
SPEAKER_05My favorite kind of convo. I know, right? That's what we do.
Advice, Boundaries, And Wrap Up
unknownThat's what we do.
SPEAKER_01We can't um is there is there any advice that you have for those who are like maybe looking into egg donation or thinking about it or just like researching it or just anything?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, and I and I think we kind of touched on like if you don't feel like it's for you, like that's cool. If you feel like it is for you, it's not anybody else's business but your own. And and but it's it's your decision, and you have to like sleep well at night. So make that decision and know that it's coming from here and up there. There you go. Excellent.
SPEAKER_01Wonderful. And Sarah, I feel like we didn't, I feel like we didn't touch a lot on surrogacy, but we did at the same time.
SPEAKER_00But if somebody's looking to be like, you know, a surrogate, like what's your advice for them? It's hard to synthesize into just, you know, one good piece of advice. Yeah um, but what I have learned and taken away um from my experiences is to not bend on the things that are important to you, uh, because that makes or breaks the journey. It is what establishes, and we'll talk about later, like early healthy boundaries when it's made known that I am who I am. These are the things that are important to me, and not being like, oh, well, I think as surrogates, a lot of times we're big givers, and so we sacrifice a lot. Um, we're willing to compromise a lot, but there are some things that can be compromised and some things that should not ever be compromised. So that would be my piece of advice would be to really sit down and think about what are your negotiables and your non-negotiables in a journey. And that you might not really know those things as a first-time surrogate. So really taking the time to, you know, listen to these podcasts, talk to experienced surrogates about things that, you know, do they have any regrets? Do they have any any things that they kind of wish that they had voiced their opinion about stronger on to give to kind of help people brainstorm a little bit better about uh what boundaries they want to establish very early on, because I think the sooner you can do those things, for example, in a match meeting, hey, these are these are my non-negotiables, the better. Rather than waiting until things show up on delivery room day or awkward things happen once you're finally pregnant, or even even in contracts. Like it sucks for something to come up in contracts and be like, well, I don't want to break a match over this, so I guess I'll compromise. Yeah. You know, that's that doesn't make for a healthy journey. So it doesn't. It's hard because there's a lot of things that could come up that I, you know, I could name three, four, five different things right now that you may not necessarily think about unless they happen to you that you're like, Oh, I would never this, but right, what do you say when you're faced with that in the moment and you have to make a decision right then and there?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, good advice. Yeah, great.
SPEAKER_01Wow, goodness, lovely. Wow, thank you, ladies. This is so fun. I have this is did you mom? Did you have so much fun? I had so much fun. I'm glad Sarah invited me. No, thank you for for coming. I know she's like, I have I have a friend that's an A donation. I'm like, oh, okay, she wants to talk to us. She's like, Yeah, yeah, yeah. She's great.
SPEAKER_03I'm like to be more like Megan, more like the giver. I'm gonna I'm gonna strive more like Megan. She's gonna be my motto. I'm getting that bumper sticker, more like Megan. No, it's a Megan thing to do.
SPEAKER_01There you go. There you go. See how I circled that back.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, well now it's and it's just now sets me up to actually think about like I do have to like have a conversation with my kids at some point about you know, half sibling thing at some point, but there, but yeah, but now it's just easier.
SPEAKER_01Now, now it now, you know, one step's done, and so now it's it'll be an easier topic to bring up, not just like a random.
SPEAKER_03I think anything that you explain to somebody is yeah, like yes, they're gonna get it. Like, yes. Oh, yeah, that makes sense. Yep, no problem. Yeah, but you're so confident in what you're saying. Yeah, the recipient is like, right, yeah, right. I mean, you almost swayed me like I could have done egg donation. I'm like, hold on, pull it back, Ellen. Excellent.
SPEAKER_04Gosh, so funny.
SPEAKER_01Oh my gosh. Well, thank you so much, ladies, for taking time. And Sarah, I hope you feel better. Yeah, thank you. I'm starting to. Yeah, go ahead. Gotta eat that second trimester. That's where that energy goes. Gotta that's that's the part you live for. Awesome. Well, thank you, Megan, and thank you, Sarah. Have such a great evening. Yes, thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_00Thank you guys. Thank you for having me. Goodbye. Bye.
SPEAKER_01Both of you. Thank you. Bye-bye. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Well, thank you, ladies, so much. That was absolutely fascinating. I can't even, I can't even fathom. It was jaw-dropping. Seriously. So much, so much information and so much, so much heart. Awesome. Oh my gosh. Um, so thank you, Sarah and Megan. If anybody has any questions or stories that they would like to share, please feel free to reach out to us on Instagram at stop periodsit period surrogate or at our email at stop periodsitperiod surrogate at gmail.com.
SPEAKER_03It's been another edition of Friday Facts with Ellen and Kennedy. Stops it surrogate.
SPEAKER_01It's been one, guys.
SPEAKER_03See you later. Bye-bye.
SPEAKER_01Before we wrap up, a huge thank you to our sponsor, US Surrogacy. Their support helps us continue to share real stories, educate our community, and connect families through the incredible journey of surrogacy. Thanks so much for tuning in to Stops It Surrogate, where every story matters and every journey is worth sharing. We'll see you next time.
SPEAKER_02If you enjoyed this podcast, be sure to give us a like and subscribe. Also, check out the link to our YouTube channel in the description. And be sure to also check out our children's book, My Mom Has Superpowers, sold on Amazon and Etsy.