Creating a Family: Talk about Infertility and Adoption

What are the latest developments in the treatment and diagnosis of endometriosis and how does this condition affect fertility. My guest is Dr. Dan C. Martin, a reproductive endocrinologist, endometriosis researcher, President of the Fertility Institute, and Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

How overwidght or underweight do you have to be to have your fertility impaired? How much do you really have to lose to improve your odds? Does it matter how you lose the weight? Join my and my guest Dr. Lubna Pal, professor at Yale School of Medicine to discuss the relationship of weight to infertility.

How do you talk about adoption with your child? When should you start the conversation? Does it matter what you say? Join me and my guest Mary Watkins, author of Talking with Young Children about Adoption.

When you adopt across cultural and racial lines, your family and extended family is changed forever by becoming a multicultural family. What can you do to make the transition positive for your child and your family. My guests will be Chris Winston, author of A Euro-American on a Korean Tour at a Thai Restaurant in China, president of the Korean American Adoptee Adoptive Family Network (KAAN), and mother of two adult children adopted from Korea; and Judy Stigger, an adoption therapist, Director of Professional Relations for Adoption Learning Partners, and mother of a transracial transcultural family.

How do we raise responsible respectful children and still create the bonds of attachment? Parent-child relationships affect child behavior and parental happiness. My guest, clinical psychologist Dr. Beth Grosshans, believes that 50 years of parenting advice—with its emphasis on talking, focusing on self-esteem, and time-outs—has disrupted the balance of family power and is largely to blame for today’s lack of discipline.

Fertility treatment is significantly cheaper in some other countries such as Spain, South Africa, and India. Should you go abroad for treatment? Is it safe? How can you find a reputable successful clinic? Join my guests Angie Best-Boss, co-author of Budgeting for Infertility, and Josef Woodman, author of Patients Beyond Borders: Everybody's Guide to Affordable, World-Class Medical Travel.

My guests include Wendy Cuellar, Director of the Guatemalan Adoption Authority, Michelle Bond, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Adoptions, Randy Weaver, the Guatemala Director of Orphans Resources International, and Kevin Kreutner, co-founder of Guatadopt, an adoptive parent support group. We will discuss the current status of international adoptions from Guatemala, when they might start up again, what are the obstacles, and how can we avoid the problems from the past.

We may feel powerless in infertility, but once in treatment, there are decisions we have to make. How do patients make these big decisions and what’s important when trying to decide. My guests will be psychologists Dr. Shana Millstein, Professor at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, and Dr. Madeline Licker Feingold, in private practice specializing in infertility.

Over half a million children are in the US foster care system. What does it take to foster or adopt one of them. Join us today to talk with long time foster parent, Kathy Harrison, author of Another Place at the Table.

We will talk with author Carol Kranowitz about this often perplexing and misdiagnosed disorder.

Is age just a number? Through donor egg or embryos or through adoption people in the 40s and 50s can now begin their parenting journey. My guest will be psychotherapist Helen Adrienne to discuss the the implications of age on parenting.

Is international adoption inherently corrupt? Does international adoption have a place in international child welfare? What countries are the most corrupt? What can adoptive parents do to avoid unethical practices in international adoption. Guests Tom DiFilipo, with the Joint Council of International Children’s Services, David Smolin, professor of law and research into ethics of international adoption, and Song Linh, Director of Ethica (an organization promoting ethics in international adoption) will discuss these questions.

Adopting older children can be rewarding and challenging. What is considered an “older child” for adoption, and how can you tell if a particular child will be able to transition into your family. The answer may surprise you. My guest will be Debbie Riley, Executive Director of The Center for Adoption Support & Education

Like it or not, money drives infertility treatment. Cost affects the what, who and where decisions. Evelina Sterling, co-author of the new book Budgeting for Infertility, literally wrote the book on what patients can do to lower the cost of infertility treatment

Miscarriage is a little understood occurrence in the medical community as well as in the general public. My guest, Jon Cohen, a biomedical reporter and writer for Science, researched what is known and unknown about repeat unexplained miscarriages in Coming to Term: Uncovering the Truth About Miscarriage.