Creating a Family: Talk about Infertility and Adoption

I will interview Tom DiFilipo, CEO of the Joint Council of International Children’s Services, and Michele Bond from the Department of State’s International Adoption section about the status of adoption in the major and minor placing countries

I will interview Elizabeth Pantley author of the No Cry Sleep Solution about sleep issues of newly adopted kids.

One option couples have is to donate their excess frozen embryos for research. This option has received much media attention in the past and a ban on federal funding for this research. We will explore the legal, ethical and logistical issues involved with this option. My guest will be Dr. Marie Csete, M.D., PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM); Dr. Shehua Shen, embryologist and Director, UCSF Embryology Laboratory; and Judith F. Daar,Professor o

One option families have is to donate their excess frozen embryos to another infertile couple for them to use. In the second part of this series, we will explore the emotional and legal issues of this option. My guests will include Dr. Jeffrey Keenan, Director of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, University of Tennessee College of Medicine,a nd Medical Director of the National Embryo Donation Center; Ruth F. Claiborne, Attorney specializing in Reproductive Technology

There are well over 400,000 embryos frozen in the US leftover from in vitro fertilization. The couples who created them must decide what to do with them once they no longer want to use them for another attempt at pregnancy. This series of three shows will be the first ever to address this issue and explore the ethical, legal, and logistical issues with each option. This first show will be an introduction to the complex issues involved. My guest will include Dr. Anne Lyerly, Associate Profess

I will interview a social worker with over 30 years experience with foster care adoption about what type of children are available, what is required, how to minimize the risks, and how to get subsidies. I will also interview a mother who adopted three pre-schoolers from foster care.

I will interview the director of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and the founder of www.affordingadoption.com about grants, loans, tax credits, employee benefits, and fundraising for adoption.

I will interview Dr. Lynn Westphal, professor at Stanford, and Dr. Ina Cholst, with Cornell University Medical School, both leading experts on egg freezing about how this technique can be used to preserve your fertility and who should consider it. We will also talk about the possibility of using frozen donor eggs in a donor egg cycle.

Can what you eat increase your chances of having a baby? I will interview Dr. Jorge Chavarro, Harvard professor and lead author of The Fertility Diet about what foods and lifestyle choices increase your fertility.

How can you cope with the infertility rollercoaster and what resources are available to help. What to do about families and friends who don’t “get it”, how to decide when to stop treatment, how to afford treatment, and should you consider giving your unused frozen embryos to another couple. I will interview Barb Collura Executive Director of Resolve: The National Infertility Association.

How do you adopt an orphaned child from another country? How do you find children need of homes, what resources are available to help, what is meant by a child with “special needs”, what are the pitfalls? I will interview Martha Osborne, founder of Rainbowkids.com and The Voice of Adoption Newsletter, and Merrily Ripley, with Adoption Advocates International.

I will be taking all your adoption questions from where to begin to how to survive once you get your child. Deb Harder, long time adoption social worker will answer your questions as well.

I will interview Dr. Foster Cline, world renowned child psychiatrist and author of the Parenting with Love and Logic books, on his approach to parenting and raising responsible children.

Our show on surrogacy will address who should consider surrogacy, how to find a surrogate, the legality of surrogacy, and the pitfalls to be avoided. My guests will be Shirley Zager, parent through surrogacy, director of the support group Organization of Parents Through Surrogacy, and the founder of a surrogacy agency. A woman who has been a surrogate will answer your questions from her perspective and your legal questions can be addressed by Nidhi Desai, an attorney specializing in infertili

I will interview Dr. Steven R. Bayer, professor at Harvard and a practicing Reproductive Endocrinologist. Dr. Bayer's research is focused on identifying factors that increase the success rate for IVF.