Today’s guest is Yesenia Lemus, a three-time surrogate and the Director of Surrogate Services at Brownstone Surrogacy. Yesenia’s surrogacy story actually started on the sidelines of her kid’s swim team, when she met another mom who was pregnant as a surrogate and thought, Wait—I could do that. Her first journey happened during COVID, when she carried twins for intended parents in California. She talks about the bond she formed with them, how she explained surrogacy to her own kids, and why she sees it as such a powerful act of generosity. She and Ali also get into the highs and lows of her journeys—including an embryo that didn’t survive the thaw—and why the entire experience has been so empowering for her. Yesenia also shares why she found the entire process so empowering—and how she went from surrogate to making this work her career.

For more, go to www.brownstonesurrogacy.com

IG: @brownstonesurrogacy

EPISODE SPONSORS: 

THE WORK OF ART BOOK SERIES

Ali's Children's Book Series about IVF, IUI and Family Building Through Assisted Reproductive Technology 

https://www.infertileafgroup.com/books

The latest book in the Work of ART series, “You Are a Work of ART," is for every kiddo born through ART -- and the people who love them.

Stay tuned for Petri Dish Princess, book #4, coming this fall!

EXTEND FERTILITY

Extend Fertility is a leading fertility clinic helping people take control of their reproductive futures through egg freezing, embryo freezing, IVF, and more. With a focus on making fertility care more accessible, empowering, and personalized, Extend combines cutting-edge science with compassionate care to help patients understand their options and make informed decisions about if, when, and how they want to build a family.

For more, go to extendfertility.com

PHERDAL

IG: @pherdal_science

PherDal is the world’s first and only FDA-cleared, sterile, at-home insemination kit designed to help people build their families in the comfort of home. Created by parents who’ve been there, PherDal is safe, simple, and affordable—putting more options in your hands as you grow your family. Explore at PherDal.com.

Go to PherDal.com today and use code INFERTILEAF for $10 off.

Today's episode is a Listen Again favorite, and we couldn't think of a better one to bring back because Keri Croft is an absolute badass. Keri is an infertility, pregnancy loss, and surrogacy advocate whose path to parenthood spanned an incredible 16 years. Her story includes multiple miscarriages, IVF, a balanced translocation diagnosis, the heartbreaking decision to undergo a termination for medical reasons after learning her daughter Angel was missing part of her cerebellum, and the devastating losses of two more daughters, Hope and Jade. Keri shares how infertility tested every part of her life and marriage, what ultimately led her and her husband to pursue surrogacy, and why she chose to navigate the process independently. That experience inspired her to create Find Your Dream Surrogate, a workshop designed to give intended parents the roadmap she wishes she'd had.

Follow: www.kericroft.com

IG: @thekericroftshow

EPISODE SPONSORS: 

THE WORK OF ART BOOK SERIES

Ali's Children's Book Series about IVF, IUI and Family Building Through Assisted Reproductive Technology 

https://www.infertileafgroup.com/books

The latest book in the Work of ART series, “You Are a Work of ART," is for every kiddo born through ART -- and the people who love them.

Stay tuned for Petri Dish Princess, book #4, coming this fall!

EXTEND FERTILITY

Extend Fertility is a leading fertility clinic helping people take control of their reproductive futures through egg freezing, embryo freezing, IVF, and more. With a focus on making fertility care more accessible, empowering, and personalized, Extend combines cutting-edge science with compassionate care to help patients understand their options and make informed decisions about if, when, and how they want to build a family.

For more, go to extendfertility.com

PHERDAL

IG: @pherdal_science

PherDal is the world’s first and only FDA-cleared, sterile, at-home insemination kit designed to help people build their families in the comfort of home. Created by parents who’ve been there, PherDal is safe, simple, and affordable—putting more options in your hands as you grow your family. Explore at PherDal.com.

Go to PherDal.com today and use code INFERTILEAF for $10 off.

Ali's guest today is Jess Mayhugh, a writer and editor who spent nearly a decade trying to have a baby before the arrival of her son, Cole. Jess's journey includes multiple miscarriages, rounds of IVF, several reproductive surgeries, and the unimaginable heartbreak of losing her newborn daughter, Lucy. On this episode, Jess opens up about navigating it all. It's a story of profound loss, incredible resilience, and massive love.

Jess co-founded a newsletter called Folly, which includes personal essays, expert interviews, and service journalism around family building.

IG: @jessmayhugh @followfolly

EPISODE SPONSORS: 

THE WORK OF ART BOOK SERIES

Ali's Children's Book Series about IVF, IUI and Family Building Through Assisted Reproductive Technology 

https://www.infertileafgroup.com/books

The latest book in the Work of ART series, “You Are a Work of ART," is for every kiddo born through ART -- and the people who love them.

Stay tuned for Petri Dish Princess, book #4, coming this fall!

EXTEND FERTILITY

Extend Fertility is a leading fertility clinic helping people take control of their reproductive futures through egg freezing, embryo freezing, IVF, and more. With a focus on making fertility care more accessible, empowering, and personalized, Extend combines cutting-edge science with compassionate care to help patients understand their options and make informed decisions about if, when, and how they want to build a family.

For more, go to extendfertility.com

PHERDAL

IG: @pherdal_science

PherDal is the world’s first and only FDA-cleared, sterile, at-home insemination kit designed to help people build their families in the comfort of home. Created by parents who’ve been there, PherDal is safe, simple, and affordable—putting more options in your hands as you grow your family. Explore at PherDal.com.

Go to PherDal.com today and use code INFERTILEAF for $10 off.

You might know today’s guest, Alease the Embryologist, from social media, where she somehow manages to educate, empower and entertain while breaking down what’s actually happening behind those mysterious IVF lab doors. Alease is incredibly smart and refreshingly real, and today, Ali and Alease get into ALL of it—including her own decision to freeze her eggs while happily married, because she’s still on the fence about building a family, and why she chose to freeze eggs instead of embryos with her husband. Alease also takes us behind the scenes of the embryology lab, sharing a day in the life, and also what it was like to perform egg retrievals on patients and then become the last retrieval of the day herself. She also answers some of her patients—and your—most burning questions: What exactly is a mosaic embryo? What happens in the lab that we never get to see? And should you actually be genetically testing your embryos?

IG: alease_the_embryologist

EPISODE SPONSORS: 

THE WORK OF ART BOOK SERIES

Ali's Children's Book Series about IVF, IUI and Family Building Through Assisted Reproductive Technology 

https://www.infertileafgroup.com/books

The latest book in the Work of ART series, “You Are a Work of ART," is for every kiddo born through ART -- and the people who love them.

Stay tuned for Petri Dish Princess, book #4, coming this fall!

EXTEND FERTILITY

Extend Fertility is a leading fertility clinic helping people take control of their reproductive futures through egg freezing, embryo freezing, IVF, and more. With a focus on making fertility care more accessible, empowering, and personalized, Extend combines cutting-edge science with compassionate care to help patients understand their options and make informed decisions about if, when, and how they want to build a family.

For more, go to extendfertility.com

PHERDAL

IG: @pherdal_science

PherDal is the world’s first and only FDA-cleared, sterile, at-home insemination kit designed to help people build their families in the comfort of home. Created by parents who’ve been there, PherDal is safe, simple, and affordable—putting more options in your hands as you grow your family. Explore at PherDal.com.

Go to PherDal.com today and use code INFERTILEAF for $10 off.

CARAWAY

Caraway cookware is beautiful, first of all — like, actually gorgeous sitting on your stove — but it also makes cooking feel easier and less stressful.

Visit carawayhome.com to take an additional 10% off your next purchase using code INFERTILEAF at checkout.

Today, Ali sits down with Kate Ryan, founder of Story of Us, for a heartfelt conversation about infertility, resilience, and redefining what family can look like.

Kate shares her deeply personal path to parenthood, beginning with IUI, moving through IVF, and ultimately building her family through donor conception. She opens up about the emotional highs and lows of treatment, the unexpected twists along the way, and what it took to embrace a future that looked different than the one she originally imagined.

Kate also talks about why she founded The Story of Us, a platform dedicated to helping families navigate conversations around donor conception with honesty, openness, and love. Together, she and Ali discuss the power of storytelling, the importance of representation, and why sharing our experiences can make others feel less alone.

For more, go to www.storyofus.love

IG: @thestoryofkateryan

EPISODE SPONSORS: 

THE WORK OF ART BOOK SERIES

Ali's Children's Book Series about IVF, IUI and Family Building Through Assisted Reproductive Technology 

https://www.infertileafgroup.com/books

The 3-book bundle is now just $49 (normally $79)!

The latest book in the Work of ART series, “You Are a Work of ART," is for every kiddo born through ART -- and the people who love them. Stay tuned for book #4, Petri Dish Princess, coming this fall!

EXTEND FERTILITY

Extend Fertility is a leading fertility clinic helping people take control of their reproductive futures through egg freezing, embryo freezing, IVF, and more. With a focus on making fertility care more accessible, empowering, and personalized, Extend combines cutting-edge science with compassionate care to help patients understand their options and make informed decisions about if, when, and how they want to build a family.

For more, go to extendfertility.com

PHERDAL

IG: @pherdal_science

PherDal is the world’s first and only FDA-cleared, sterile, at-home insemination kit designed to help people build their families in the comfort of home. Created by parents who’ve been there, PherDal is safe, simple, and affordable—putting more options in your hands as you grow your family. Explore at PherDal.com.

Go to PherDal.com today and use code INFERTILEAF for $10 off.

CARAWAY

Caraway cookware is beautiful, first of all — like, actually gorgeous sitting on your stove — but it also makes cooking feel easier and less stressful.

Visit carawayhome.com to take an additional 10% off your next purchase using code INFERTILEAF at checkout.

With soccer on everyone’s mind right now, this felt like the perfect time to bring back one of our most unforgettable episodes.

This week on Infertile AF, we’re re-sharing Ali’s powerful conversation with soccer legend Carli Lloyd. Carli is a former pro soccer star, two-time World Cup champion, two-time Olympic gold medalist, and one of the fiercest competitors to ever play the game. And in this episode — which originally aired two years ago — she opens up about something far more personal: her long and difficult infertility journey.

Carli shares what happened when she and her husband, Brian — her high school sweetheart — started trying to grow their family after her retirement and quickly realized it wasn’t going to be simple. She talks about spending years focused on her career, why she didn’t want to have kids while she was still playing professionally, and what it was like to learn, at 39, that getting pregnant was going to be much harder than she expected.

Ali and Carli get into the IVF process, from being told IVF was their best option to going through egg retrievals, a failed first transfer, the emotional toll of it all, and the mental break they needed before trying again. Carli also shares what it felt like to finally get the news she was pregnant — and why this experience challenged her in ways even elite sports never had.

If you missed this one the first time around — or if you’re ready for a listen again — it’s a good one.

EPISODE SPONSORS: 

THE WORK OF ART BOOK SERIES

Ali's Children's Book Series about IVF, IUI and Family Building Through Assisted Reproductive Technology 

https://www.infertileafgroup.com/books

The 3-book bundle is now just $49 (normally $79)!

The latest book in the Work of ART series, “You Are a Work of ART," is for every kiddo born through ART -- and the people who love them.

PHERDAL

IG: @pherdal_science

PherDal is the world’s first and only FDA-cleared, sterile, at-home insemination kit designed to help people build their families in the comfort of home. Created by parents who’ve been there, PherDal is safe, simple, and affordable—putting more options in your hands as you grow your family. Explore at PherDal.com.

Go to PherDal.com today and use code INFERTILEAF for $10 off.

CARAWAY

Caraway cookware is beautiful, first of all — like, actually gorgeous sitting on your stove — but it also makes cooking feel easier and less stressful.

Visit carawayhome.com to take an additional 10% off your next purchase using code INFERTILEAF at checkout.

Today's guest is Danielle Melfi, the CEO of RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association. Danielle brings such a unique perspective because she's not only leading the nation's largest infertility advocacy organization—she's also been a fertility patient herself. In this episode, she opens up about her own egg-freezing journey and how that experience continues to shape the way she advocates for millions of people navigating family building today.

Ali and Danielle talk about what RESOLVE is working on right now, why fertility treatment is still financially out of reach for so many people, and the real work being done to expand insurance coverage and improve access across the country. They also get into what's happening in workplaces, why fertility benefits matter more than ever, and how employers can better support people going through treatment. Danielle shares practical ways every single one of us can become advocates—whether you're in treatment now, you're building your family another way, or you simply want to help make fertility care more accessible for the next generation. Danielle also reminds us throughout this episode is that you are never alone—and together, our voices really can create change.

For more, go to www.resolve.org

EPISODE SPONSORS: 

THE WORK OF ART BOOK SERIES

Ali's Children's Book Series about IVF, IUI and Family Building Through Assisted Reproductive Technology 

https://www.infertileafgroup.com/books

The 3-book bundle is now just $49 (normally $79)!

The latest book in the Work of ART series, “You Are a Work of ART," is for every kiddo born through ART -- and the people who love them.

PHERDAL

IG: @pherdal_science

PherDal is the world’s first and only FDA-cleared, sterile, at-home insemination kit designed to help people build their families in the comfort of home. Created by parents who’ve been there, PherDal is safe, simple, and affordable—putting more options in your hands as you grow your family. Explore at PherDal.com.

Go to PherDal.com today and use code INFERTILEAF for $10 off.

CARAWAY

Caraway cookware is beautiful, first of all — like, actually gorgeous sitting on your stove — but it also makes cooking feel easier and less stressful.

Visit carawayhome.com to take an additional 10% off your next purchase using code INFERTILEAF at checkout.

Today’s episode is a really special one because Ali is sitting down with three of her favorite people in the world: Helen, Aaron, and Blake—the real-life family behind her “Work of ART” children's book, Beautiful Bird.

If you’ve read the book, then you already know a little bit about Jack Bird, the incredible boy at the center of the story. And today, you’re going to hear the real origin story. This is a conversation about love, friendship, family building, and creating a family that looks different than what many of us grew up seeing—but is every bit as beautiful. Helen always knew she wanted to be a mom, and as a solo mom by choice, she embarked on a journey to build her family with the help of her dear friend Aaron. At the time, Aaron was building a life with his partner, Blake, and together, the three of them created a beautiful, intentional village around Jack from the very beginning.

Ali, Helen, Blake and Aaron talk about fertility treatments, donor conception, LGBTQ+ family building, and what it means to redefine family in a way that puts love, honesty, and a child's well-being first. They also talk about one of the most difficult chapters of their journey: Jack's unexpected 33-day stay in the NICU after he was born, and how that experience shaped all of them as parents and as a family. Most of all, this is a story about showing up for one another. It's about friendship becoming family, about creating your own blueprint, and about the many different ways people can build a loving home.

Snag a copy of Beautiful Bird for just $15 here:

https://www.infertileafgroup.com/books

EPISODE SPONSORS: 

THE WORK OF ART BOOK SERIES

Ali's Children's Book Series about IVF, IUI and Family Building Through Assisted Reproductive Technology 

https://www.infertileafgroup.com/books

The 3-book bundle is now just $49 (normally $79)!

The latest book in the Work of ART series, “You Are a Work of ART," is for every kiddo born through ART -- and the people who love them.

PHERDAL

IG: @pherdal_science

PherDal is the world’s first and only FDA-cleared, sterile, at-home insemination kit designed to help people build their families in the comfort of home. Created by parents who’ve been there, PherDal is safe, simple, and affordable—putting more options in your hands as you grow your family. Explore at PherDal.com.

Go to PherDal.com today and use code INFERTILEAF for $10 off.

CARAWAY

Caraway cookware is beautiful, first of all — like, actually gorgeous sitting on your stove — but it also makes cooking feel easier and less stressful.

Visit carawayhome.com to take an additional 10% off your next purchase using code INFERTILEAF at checkout.

On this episode, we're talking about something that affects millions of fertility patients—but that almost nobody talks about until the bill shows up: reproductive tissue storage.If you have embryos, eggs, or sperm in storage, you know the drill. Every year, another invoice arrives. Maybe it's $600. Maybe it's $800. Maybe it's over $1,000. Most people just pay it because they assume that's the cost. But what if it isn't? Ali’s guest today is Charlie Boyer, CEO and Co-Founder of Generations CryoVault, and he's on a mission to shake up an industry that he believes has gotten way too comfortable charging fertility patients more and more for storage. Charlie's background is actually in financial services and cord blood storage, but after taking a closer look at reproductive tissue storage, he started asking some uncomfortable questions: Why are prices so high? Why don't patients know they have options? And why are so many clinics owned by private equity firms without patients even realizing it? In this conversation, Ali and Charlie talk about transparency, private equity, patient choice, and Generation CryoVault’s new Pricing Promise, which aims to dramatically lower the cost of long-term embryo, egg, and sperm storage. They also discuss whoownsyourcare.org, how to find out who actually stores your tissue, and what questions every fertility patient should be asking their clinic. Whether you have embryos in storage right now, you're considering fertility treatment, or you're just curious about where all those fertility dollars are going, this is a fascinating conversation about an often-overlooked part of the family-building journey.

For more info, go to https://gencryo.com/

IG: @generationscryovault

EPISODE SPONSORS: 

THE WORK OF ART BOOK SERIES

Ali's Children's Book Series about IVF, IUI and Family Building Through Assisted Reproductive Technology 

https://www.infertileafgroup.com/books

The 3-book bundle is now just $49 (normally $79)!

The latest book in the Work of ART series, “You Are a Work of ART," is for every kiddo born through ART -- and the people who love them.

PHERDAL

IG: @pherdal_science

PherDal is the world’s first and only FDA-cleared, sterile, at-home insemination kit designed to help people build their families in the comfort of home. Created by parents who’ve been there, PherDal is safe, simple, and affordable—putting more options in your hands as you grow your family. Explore at PherDal.com.

Go to PherDal.com today and use code INFERTILEAF for $10 off.

CARAWAY

Caraway cookware is beautiful, first of all — like, actually gorgeous sitting on your stove — but it also makes cooking feel easier and less stressful.

Visit carawayhome.com to take an additional 10% off your next purchase using code INFERTILEAF at checkout.

Today’s guest is Cory Allen—a former police officer, longtime U.S. Secret Service Agent who spent years protecting Michelle Obama, author, dad, and advocate for LGBTQ+ family building.

You may know Cory from his memoir, Breaking Free, where he shared his journey as a gay Secret Service Agent. Now he’s written a children’s book called Dada Takes a Trip, inspired by the very real emotions that come with leaving your child behind for a work trip—and helping kids understand that love doesn't disappear just because a parent is away.

In this episode, Cory opens up about his path to parenthood through surrogacy, the losses and challenges he and his husband faced along the way, and what it's been like building their family. Cory and Ali also talk about fatherhood, vulnerability, the highs and lows of surrogacy, and why he believes more men should feel comfortable talking about their emotions.

For more, go to https://www.coryallenbooks.com/

IG: @authorcoryallen

EPISODE SPONSORS: 

THE WORK OF ART BOOK SERIES

Ali's Children's Book Series about IVF, IUI and Family Building Through Assisted Reproductive Technology 

https://www.infertileafgroup.com/books

The 3-book bundle is now just $49 (normally $79)!

The latest book in the Work of ART series, “You Are a Work of ART," is for every kiddo born through ART -- and the people who love them.

PHERDAL

IG: @pherdal_science

PherDal is the world’s first and only FDA-cleared, sterile, at-home insemination kit designed to help people build their families in the comfort of home. Created by parents who’ve been there, PherDal is safe, simple, and affordable—putting more options in your hands as you grow your family. Explore at PherDal.com.

Go to PherDal.com today and use code INFERTILEAF for $10 off.

CARAWAY

Caraway cookware is beautiful, first of all — like, actually gorgeous sitting on your stove — but it also makes cooking feel easier and less stressful.

Visit carawayhome.com to take an additional 10% off your next purchase using code INFERTILEAF at checkout.

Model, entrepreneur, and new mom Analicia Chaves (aka Ana Montana on socials) joins Ali to share the fertility journey that led her to motherhood—and the mission that grew from it.

Ana opens up about her experience with infertility and IVF, revealing how little she knew about fertility challenges before facing them herself. "I didn't even know infertility was a thing until it happened to me," she says. While her friends seemed to be getting pregnant naturally, Ana found herself navigating a world of uncertainty, fear, and overwhelm.

She shares her struggles with endometriosis, heavy bleeding, and painful periods—symptoms she once assumed were simply a normal part of being a woman—as well as the many lifestyle changes she made while trying to conceive, from giving up alcohol and changing her diet to acupuncture, lymphatic massages, and finding support and education through TikTok's TTC community.

Ana also discusses launching I AM FERTILITY, a foundation dedicated to supporting others on their family-building journeys. She shares details about the foundation's first initiative, the HOPE Grant Program, which will award two hopeful mothers $5,000 each toward IVF treatment.

For more info, go to https://iamfertility.co/

IG: @iamfertilitynonprofit

EPISODE SPONSORS: 

THE WORK OF ART BOOK SERIES

Ali's Children's Book Series about IVF, IUI and Family Building Through Assisted Reproductive Technology 

https://www.infertileafgroup.com/books

The 3-book bundle is now just $49 (normally $79)!

The latest book in the Work of ART series, “You Are a Work of ART," is for every kiddo born through ART -- and the people who love them.

PHERDAL

IG: @pherdal_science

PherDal is the world’s first and only FDA-cleared, sterile, at-home insemination kit designed to help people build their families in the comfort of home. Created by parents who’ve been there, PherDal is safe, simple, and affordable—putting more options in your hands as you grow your family. Explore at PherDal.com.

Go to PherDal.com today and use code INFERTILEAF for $10 off.

CARAWAY

Caraway cookware is beautiful, first of all — like, actually gorgeous sitting on your stove — but it also makes cooking feel easier and less stressful.

Visit carawayhome.com to take an additional 10% off your next purchase using code INFERTILEAF at checkout.