Fertility Cafe

Does your employer cover IVF, surrogacy, or egg donation? Most people have no idea what fertility benefits they’re entitled to, or how to ask for them.

In this episode, Eloise Drane sits down with Brooke Bartholomay Quinn, COO of Carrot Fertility and fertility benefits expert, to explore how companies are building fertility and family-building benefits into their packages, what those benefits actually cover, and how employees can advocate for themselves if those benefits don’t yet exist at their workplace.

They cover why family-building benefits have taken so long to become standard, how many current offerings still fall short on inclusion, and what it looks like when an employer gets it right.

If you’re navigating surrogacy or egg donation and wondering whether your employer could help cover the costs, this episode is essential listening.

“Fertility benefits aren’t a perk. They’re a signal of who your employer thinks deserves to build a family.” – Brooke Bartholomay Quinn

 Guest Bio

Brooke Bartholomay Quinn is COO of Carrot Fertility and a fertility benefits expert with extensive experience helping companies build family-building support programs for employees navigating IVF, surrogacy, egg donation, adoption, and more.

 This episode is for intended parents and anyone exploring family-building who wants to understand whether their workplace benefits can help offset the cost.

 What You’ll Learn

Why fertility and family-building benefits have lagged behind other workplace benefits

How many current fertility benefit offerings still aren’t fully inclusive

What employers gain by offering family-building support

How to start the conversation with your HR team or employer

What employees should ask when reviewing their benefits package

 Episode Resources

Brooke on LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/brooke-bartholomay-quinn

A History of Employer-Sponsored Healthcare – griffinbenefits.com

 Related Episodes

Ep 35: Infertility Epidemic 

 

Start Your Family-Building Journey

If you’re considering building your family through surrogacy or egg donation, visit thefertilitycafe.com/start to talk with our team.

This episode is part of our Between Seasons series, where we’re bringing back some of the most-loved and most-needed conversations from the Fertility Café archive while we work on our next full season.

 Stay Connected

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/fertilitycafe

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/fertilitycafe

LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/fertility-cafe

 More Resources

Learn more about surrogacy & fertility – https://familyinceptions.com/

Listen to past episodes – youtube.com/@FertilityCafePodcast/playlists

Get expert insights & updates – thefertilitycafe.com/resources

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Back in the Fertility Cafe Archive
(00:00:52) - Fertility Cafe: Season 3
(00:03:33) - A Question for Parrot's Lead Employee
(00:04:44) - Carrot Fertility: What is it and how does it work
(00:11:04) - Employment Benefits: The Need for Infertility Coverage
(00:17:03) - The need for more inclusive language in fertility care
(00:18:50) - Carrot Family Plan
(00:22:10) - Is Google's Family Building Benefit Endangering Parenthood?
(00:24:45) - Carrot Fertility: The Ideal Company for Family Forming Benefits
(00:28:28) - Clinical Fertility Care Is Ending
(00:29:37) - Fertility Cafe

What do you wish someone had told you before you became a surrogate?

In this episode of Fertility Café, Eloise Drane opens up the conversation surrogates rarely get to have out loud: the strange facts, surprising details, and small things nobody warns you about before a surrogacy journey begins.

Drawing on years of stories from surrogates past and present, the Family Inceptions team, and friends across the field, this episode gathers the honest, behind-the-scenes truths -- from what not to do during the application process (hint: don’t assume one answer will disqualify you) to the surprisingly common “crying husband” moment on delivery day.

It is candid, funny, and full of the kind of insight you only get from people who have actually been through it.

If you are thinking about becoming a surrogate and want the real story, not the brochure version...

If you have already started your journey and want to know what is coming next...

If you simply want a behind-the-scenes look at how surrogacy really works...

This episode is for you.

Chapters

You’ll Learn

How long the screening process really takes, and how to be choosy about your agency

Why this is your journey too, and you choose your intended parents as much as they choose you

Why surrogacy is not just a side hustle, plus what to expect for compensation

Why a little fertility biology goes a long way before clinic meetings

Why kids often grasp surrogacy faster than adults, and how to field their questions

About Our Host

Eloise Drane is the founder of Family Inceptions, a full-service surrogacy and egg donation agency she launched in 2008, and the host of Fertility Café. A six-time egg donor and three-time gestational surrogate herself, Eloise built her agency around informed empowerment, transparency, and care for everyone involved in the family-building process. She is also the creator of Surrogacy Roadmap, a course for intended parents pursuing independent surrogacy.

Her mission is simple but powerful: to give surrogates, egg donors, and intended parents the honest information they deserve before they begin.

Resources & Links

Learn more about the podcast: Fertility Café

Learn more about our surrogacy and egg donation agency: Family Inceptions

Learn more about independent surrogacy: Surrogacy Roadmap

How to apply to be a surrogate: The Application Process

On the blog: Ten Things That Make You an Ideal Surrogate

Thinking about becoming a surrogate and want to talk with a team that has been doing this for over two decades? Visit https://quiz.familyinceptions.com

Connect with Eloise & Family Inceptions: familyinceptions.com

Related Episodes

Ep 78 -- What It’s Really Like to Be a Surrogate

A firsthand look at the day-to-day reality of carrying for someone else, from matching through delivery.

Ep 13 -- Becoming a Surrogate: The Real Process

A step-by-step walk through what the surrogacy process actually involves, start to finish.

What happens when an industry built to help people build families starts failing the very people it's supposed to serve?

In this season seven finale of Fertility Café, host Eloise Drane steps out from behind the interview chair to speak directly about what's been happening in the fertility and surrogacy space: the progress worth celebrating, the structural failures that keep producing real harm, and the political forces reshaping access to care right now.

Eloise draws on nineteen episodes of conversations, years of experience inside this industry, and her own story as a former surrogate to give an honest assessment of where things stand and why so many people are getting hurt along the way.

From agencies collapsing mid-pregnancy to embryo mix-ups with no federal reporting requirement, from the California surrogacy fraud case to billionaires fathering over 100 children through the American surrogacy system, Eloise names what's happening and why it keeps happening.

If you've ever trusted this industry and wondered whether your trust was well placed...
If you're considering surrogacy or egg donation and want to go in with your eyes open...
If you believe that the people building families through these paths deserve better than what the system is currently offering...

This episode is for you.

You'll Learn

Why the surrogacy industry's lack of licensing requirements is at the root of its most serious failures

What the 2025 California surrogacy fraud case revealed about how women are being deceived

What is happening when wealthy men use the American surrogacy system to father dozens or hundreds of children

Why embryo mix-ups keep occurring and why there is still no federal requirement to report them

How fertility fraud by doctors using their own sperm without patient consent is still being uncovered today

Where federal policy is moving on IVF access and why progress on one side is being undercut on the other

Which states are leading on fertility insurance mandates and what those laws actually cover

What the push for restorative reproductive medicine in federal policy actually means for patients

Why Eloise believes a federal insurance mandate is the only thing that will truly move the needle on access

What the Vatican's call for a global surrogacy ban gets wrong about ethical, supported surrogacy

How to thoroughly vet an agency, clinic, or donor situation before you commit to anything

What the stories that never make the news say about what this industry looks like when it works

About Eloise Drane

Eloise Drane is the founder of Family Inceptions, a licensed surrogacy and egg donation agency, and the host of Fertility Café. She has spent over two decades working across every facet of third-party reproduction as a professional, an advocate, and a former 3x surrogate herself. She brings that full picture to every conversation on this show, including this one.

Resources & Links

Website: familyinceptions.com
Instagram: @fertilitycafepodcast
YouTube: Fertility Café

Related Episodes

Ep 136: When the Donor and the Donor-Conceived Meet: One Remarkable StoryA sperm donor from the 1980s, a fertility specialist, and the sitting senator who came looking for him.

Ep 135: I Carried Two Babies for Other Families: The Truth About Becoming a Surrogate TwiceDarnae Pitts on what surrogacy really looks like from the inside, twice.

Chapters

(00:00:00) - The Future of Fertility in a
(00:00:34) - The Fertility Cafe
(00:01:33) - A Taste of This Season's
(00:06:24) - The Need for Federal Action on Infertility Coverage
(00:13:52) - On the Egg Donor and Fertility Clinics, Issues
(00:15:46) - The Evident Issues of IVF Embryo Mixups
(00:17:07) - Fraud in the fertility industry
(00:18:20) - Beyond access to family building:
(00:21:56) - On Proposals to Ban Surrogacy
(00:28:27) - Voter education on surrogacy, egg donation
(00:30:44) - The Real Story of Intro Fertility

What if everything you thought you knew about fertility was only half the story?

In this episode of Fertility Café, Eloise Drane sits down with board-certified reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist Dr. Natalie Crawford for a deeply honest, science-backed conversation about what's really going on inside your body and why so many women are left in the dark until it's too late.

Dr. Crawford opens up about her own fertility journey: recurrent pregnancy loss, an ectopic pregnancy, and the humbling realization that even as an OB-GYN and fertility fellow, she didn't have the answers to her own most basic questions. That experience, combined with years of clinical research, led her to a powerful conclusion: inflammation is the silent driver behind far more fertility struggles than we're told, and most of us have more control than we think.

From egg quality and ovarian reserve to sperm health, insulin resistance, and the role of sleep and stress, this conversation goes places most doctors simply don't have time to take you.

If you've ever felt dismissed, confused, or like you're always one step behind on your own health, this episode is for you.

You'll Learn

Why fertility is a marker of long-term health, not just a life stage

The difference between egg quantity (ovarian reserve) and egg quality, and why it matters

What AMH actually tells you, and what it doesn't

How chronic inflammation and insulin resistance silently impact your eggs, sperm, and hormones

Why sperm health is 50% of the fertility equation and gets about 10% of the conversation

What men should absolutely avoid if they want to preserve their fertility

How sleep, stress, and exercise form the foundation of hormonal health

Why IVF is not a guarantee, and how lifestyle factors affect your outcomes even during treatment

What to ask your doctor that most patients never think to ask

How Dr. Crawford's new book, The Fertility Formula, gives you an actionable roadmap no matter where you are in your journey

About Our Guest

Dr. Natalie Crawford is a double board-certified OB-GYN and reproductive endocrinologist, host of the As a Woman podcast, and author of the forthcoming book The Fertility Formula. She holds a master's degree in clinical research and has spent her career bridging the gap between cutting-edge fertility science and the real, everyday questions her patients are asking.

After experiencing recurrent pregnancy loss and an ectopic pregnancy during her own medical training, Dr. Crawford channeled her personal struggles into a mission: to make fertility education proactive, personalized, and empowering, long before a patient ever needs to sit in a fertility clinic.

Her work challenges the industry's reactive model and advocates for earlier testing, lifestyle-informed care, and treating fertility as the whole-health marker it truly is.

Resources & Links

Instagram: @nataliecrawfordmd

Podcast: As a Woman -- available on all podcast platforms and YouTube

Book: The Fertility Formula – available at www.nataliecrawfordmd.com/book 

Connect with Eloise & Family Inceptions: www.familyinceptions.com 

Fertility360: www.fertility360.com 

Related Episodes

Ep 129 -- Acupuncture for Fertility: Supporting Hormones, Cycles & IVF Success How acupuncture s...

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Fertility Cafe
(00:01:04) - Fertility Cafe: The Science of It
(00:01:59) - Dr. Natalie Crawford on her personal journey to motherhood
(00:09:09) - Ideas for more proactive fertility care
(00:15:33) - Does the metabolic health of your eggs affect your fertility?
(00:18:42) - Ovarian reserve test and egg quality: What's the difference
(00:22:01) - Fertility and Well-Being
(00:22:45) - How to help others with infertility
(00:29:50) - Sperm health in order to conceive
(00:36:32) - Insulin resistance or diabetes risk
(00:38:47) - Hormonal health 6, Sleep, Exercise
(00:44:34) - How to talk about infertility with a partner
(00:50:46) - Is IVF a good plan for getting pregnant?
(00:51:56) - The Fertility Formula

What does it actually take to become an egg donor, and what happens after the retrieval that no one warns you about?

In this episode of Fertility Café, Eloise Drane sits down with Christina Alicea, a fertility field professional and five-time egg donor, for one of the most honest and wide-ranging conversations about the egg donation experience you'll find anywhere. Christina brings a rare dual perspective: she has worked inside fertility clinics and egg donation agencies for over seven years and has personally gone through the process five times.

From the initial application to the emotional weight of long-term implications, Christina pulls back the curtain on what donors are often underprepared for physically, emotionally, and ethically.

If you've ever considered egg donation...
If you work with donors and want to better understand their experience...
If you're an intended parent curious about what a donor actually goes through...

This episode is for you.

You'll Learn

What the egg donation screening process actually involves and how to prepare for it

What donors experience physically and emotionally during a cycle (the parts no one talks about enough)

What OHSS is, why it matters, and one cautionary story about ignoring aftercare instructions

Why true anonymity in egg donation no longer exists and what that means for everyone involved

The spectrum of donation arrangements, from de-identified to fully open, and how they've evolved

Why the donor-conceived community is changing the conversation around transparency and identity

What the long-term research gaps mean for donors who want to protect their future fertility

Why egg donation is a lifetime commitment and not just a medical procedure

What Christina would tell any woman considering donation before she even fills out the application

About Our Guest

Christina Alicea is a fertility field professional with over seven years of experience working inside fertility clinics and egg donation agencies. She is also a five-time egg donor whose donation arrangements have ranged from de-identified to fully open. Christina brings a deeply personal and professionally informed perspective to conversations about donor education, ethical practices, and the long-term implications of egg donation. Her passion lies in helping donors see beyond the compensation and understand the full scope of the commitment they are making.

Resources & Links

Connect with Eloise & Family Inceptions: familyinceptions.com

Become an Egg Donor: familyinceptions.com/egg-donors 

Related Episodes

Ep. 134 -- The Truth About Birth Control, Ovulation, and Your Hormones with Lisa Hendrickson-Jack
A deep dive into the menstrual cycle as a vital sign, how hormonal birth control affects the body, and why understanding your cycle matters before and beyond trying to conceive.

Ep. 129 -- Acupuncture for Fertility: Supporting Hormones, Cycles & IVF Success
How acupuncture supports hormone balance, regulates cycles, and complements fertility treatment.

Ep. 126 -- What Your OBGYN Isn't Telling You
A candid discussion about the gaps in reproductive health education and why so many women leave appointments without real answers.

 

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Fertility Cafe
(00:00:59) - Fertility Cafe: Donor Spotlight
(00:01:43) - I Donated My Eggs to Help Others
(00:06:00) - The Donor Selection Process
(00:07:53) - Donor Experience: My First Cycle
(00:14:55) - Donors Remember When They Donated First Time
(00:15:41) - Was My Egg Donation Open or Closed?
(00:16:44) - De-Identified Donor arrangements
(00:18:26) - Donor experiences
(00:21:00) - Donor conceived people on the issues of anonymity
(00:28:43) - Donor Conceived Community's Voices
(00:42:38) - What would you tell a potential donor about the egg bank?