Fertility Cafe

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?

You've decided you want to build your family through surrogacy. Now what?

In this episode of Fertility Café, Eloise Drane sits down with surrogacy Family Support Advisor,  Jennifer Silva to walk intended parents through the entire surrogacy journey, from that very first phone call to bringing your baby home. Jennifer draws on both her professional expertise and her own deeply personal fertility journey to give one of the most honest, comprehensive conversations about surrogacy you'll find anywhere.

This episode doesn't sugarcoat the process. It breaks down what the matching phase actually involves, why surrogate screening matters more than most agencies let on, what the real financial picture looks like, and why emotional preparation is just as important as having the right embryos.

If you've ever wondered how long surrogacy actually takes...
If you've been shocked by the costs and aren't sure what you're really paying for...
If you're trying to figure out whether you're truly ready to begin...

This episode is for you.

You'll Learn

The major phases of a surrogacy journey and what to expect at each stage

Whether you need embryos ready before reaching out to an agency

Why realistic timelines are 18 to 24 months and why that's actually a good thing

What thorough surrogate screening looks like and why it protects everyone

The real financial picture: why total costs range from $140,000 to $200,000+

What most intended parents don't realize about surrogate compensation and insurance

Why double embryo transfers are rarely done and what to consider instead

How to think through matching criteria, communication styles, and relationship expectations

Why emotional preparation and processing past trauma matters before you start

What questions to honestly ask yourself before taking the first step

Why doors are never truly closed and what to do if you're not ready yet

About Our Guest

Jennifer Silva is a surrogacy Family Support Advisor with deep firsthand knowledge of the fertility journey. After years of navigating her own infertility, severe endometriosis, and multiple IVF clinic changes, Jennifer became a passionate advocate for intended parents, particularly around education, transparency, and emotional readiness. She works closely with Family Inceptions to guide intended parents through every stage of the surrogacy process, from initial consultation through matching, medical clearance, transfer, pregnancy, and birth.

Her approach is rooted in honesty, patience, and making sure every family is truly prepared: not just on paper, but emotionally, financially, and relationally.

Resources & Links

Family Inceptions Website: familyinceptions.com

Free Consultation: Available through the Family Inceptions website

Related Episodes

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. Essential listening for anyone advocating for themselves through a fertility journey.

Ep 129: Acupuncture for Fertility: Supporting Hormones, Cycles & IVF Success
How acupuncture supports hormone balance, regulates cycles, and complements IVF treatment. A great resource for intended parents still in the embryo creation phase.

 

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Fertility Cafe
(00:00:52) - The Surrogacy Process
(00:01:35) - What Is The Process of Surrogacy?
(00:04:22) - surrogacy wait times
(00:05:54) - The Secret to Screening Surrogates
(00:06:54) - The Due Dilution of Surrogates
(00:09:40) - What's The Most Important Requirement for surrogacy?
(00:10:32) - The Secret to Endometriosis
(00:13:21) - What is a surrogate match?
(00:14:46) - What do you think about intended parents when they're starting the surrog
(00:17:32) - The Financial Side of Surrogacy
(00:25:34) - I Want A Double Embryo Transfer
(00:31:16) - The Surrogacy Financial Plan
(00:36:30) - surrogacy: How to Prepare for the First Consultation

What happens when a sperm donor and his donor-conceived child find each other decades later?

In this episode of Fertility Café, Eloise Drane sits down with reproductive medicine physician Dr. Danny Shapiro and Georgia state legislator Josh McLaurin for a conversation that is equal parts fascinating, deeply personal, and profoundly important for the future of donor conception.

Dr. Shapiro donated sperm as a medical student at Emory in the 1980s, never expecting to one day come face to face with the result. Josh McLaurin didn't find out he was donor-conceived until he was 31 years old, a revelation that sent him on a journey of self-discovery that ultimately led him straight to his biological father's 23andMe profile. The twist? Danny was already Josh's elected state representative.

This conversation goes far beyond one family's story. It unpacks the psychology of disclosure, the case for open donation, the evolving landscape of donor-conceived rights, and what it truly means to find yourself through your DNA.

If you have ever wondered what happens after the match is made...
If you are a donor, a donor-conceived person, or a recipient parent navigating disclosure...
If you believe the fertility industry needs to evolve alongside the families it creates...

This episode is for you.

You'll Learn

What it was actually like to donate sperm in the 1980s, before FDA oversight and genetic screening

How Josh discovered the truth at 31 and what the emotional journey really looked like

Why so many donor-conceived people describe feeling "broken" before they know the truth

How a 23andMe profile and a state legislature seat collided in the most unexpected way

What changed in Dr. Shapiro's patient consultations after living this experience firsthand

Why open donation is better for everyone, and where resistance in the field still exists

What the Colorado donor-conceived rights law gets right, and where it may go too far

How Josh and Danny navigated building a relationship without pressure or expectation

Why DNA is disposition, not destiny, and what that means for self-awareness and grace

What donors, donor-conceived people, and recipient parents can take away from this story

About Our Guests

Dr. Danny Shapiro is a reproductive endocrinologist and one of the founders of My Egg Bank, now the largest network of frozen donor egg banks in the United States. He has spent decades helping individuals and couples build families through assisted reproduction, and since connecting with Josh in 2019, has become an advocate for open donation and greater transparency in the fertility field.

Senator Josh McLaurin was elected to the Georgia State Senate in 2022 and serves Georgia's 14th Senate District, covering portions of north Fulton County including Sandy Springs, Roswell, Johns Creek, Atlanta, and Alpharetta. Previously, he served four years in the Georgia House of Representatives. A Double-Dawg graduate of UGA, he received his law degree from Yale and has built a legal practice focused on business litigation and aviation law. He grew up in Cobb County, discovered he was donor-conceived at age 31, and located Dr. Shapiro through 23andMe, only to realize Danny had been his own elected representative all along. Josh is now an advocate for donor-conceived rights and the policy changes needed to support them.

Resources & Links

Dr. Danny Shapiro

Reproductive Biology Associates (RBA): rbafertility.com

My Egg Bank: myeggbank.com

Senator Josh McLaurin

Georgia Senate Official Page:

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Fertility Cafe
(00:00:57) - Dr. Daniel Shapiro and Senator Josh McLaurin
(00:02:42) - Dr. Shapiro on Becoming a Sperm Donor
(00:04:49) - I Learned That My Father Is Not My Biological Father From 23and
(00:09:24) - Donor Registry Recruitment Through 23andMe
(00:16:03) - "I Should've Told My Parents About This"
(00:21:45) - The Secret Life of Donor Egg Banks
(00:26:37) - Donor Conceived Person on the Colorado Law
(00:35:00) - Open Donor Selection
(00:39:09) - Donor-Confidential: The Friendship
(00:46:29) - What Would You Want People To Know About The Love Letter
(00:48:27) - Donor's Story