AllPaths Podcast

Driven by the stark reality that half of all recurrent pregnancy loss cases go completely unexplained, Recurrent Pregnancy Loss Association (RPLA) co-founder Megan Hanson shares her story and discusses turning patient heartbreak into scientific progress. Megan opens up about her personal path through six consecutive miscarriages, the trauma and anxiety of navigating pregnancy loss, and growing her family, first through gesta...

How do you hold space for others through infertility, pregnancy, and the postpartum period while quietly navigating your own recurrent pregnancy loss?

In this episode of the AllPaths podcast, we sit down with Caitlin Vinter, a perinatal therapist and mother of two, to discuss her personal and professional journey. Caitlin candidly shares her three-and-a-half-year path through recurrent pregnancy loss, enduring five miscarriages alon...

In this mini-episode of the AllPaths Podcast - regular full-length episodes resuming next Tuesday - host Emily catches up with listeners, expressing gratitude for the success of AllPaths’ recent Footsteps for Family Building Walk, while acknowledging the emotional challenges of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month in October.

Recognizing that 1 in 4 confirmed pregnancies ends in loss, Emily speaks openly about the lingeri...

In this episode of the podcast, AllPaths Executive Director Lauren sits down with volunteer support group leaders Ashley, Kristen, and Jillian to discuss their personal family building journeys and talk about the power of peer support. Each guest shares the unique path that led them to this community: Kristen details her experience navigating secondary infertility, severe diminished ovarian reserve, and a successful "kitchen sink" ...

In today’s episode, we’re delighted to introduce Boston-based reproductive endocrinologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital at Mass General Brigham and new member of the Board of Directors for AllPaths Family Building

Dr. Zachary Walker to the AllPaths community. Dr. Walker reflects on his career trajectory, from discovering his passion for reproductive endocrinology and infertility (REI) during his residency in Birmingh...

In this milestone 100th episode of the AllPaths podcast, hosts Emily and Lauren welcome Judy Carr, the first mother through IVF in the United States. Judy shares the story of her pioneering path to parenthood in the 1980s, which began with three ectopic pregnancies resulting in the loss of her fallopian tubes. After receiving a pamphlet about a new clinic attempting to help people with fertility problems from her OB-GYN, Judy and h...

When Sasha Ottey was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (recently renamed PMOS, or Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome) in 2008, her doctor handed her a brief pamphlet and told her not to worry about her irregular cycles, just to “come back when she wanted to get pregnant.” Feeling that her concerns weren’t being taken seriously, Sasha began researching and soon discovered that she was one of millions a...

In this episode, we sit down with Kelsey Reynolds, a Board-Certified Reproductive Genetic Counselor with a unique entry into the field. Inspired by her own parents' decade-long journey with infertility and her mother’s bedtime stories explaining their family's inherited chromosomal translocation as simply a "funky chromosome," Kelsey’s career path led her to helping families navigate the complexities of genetic testing ...

Content Warning: Please note that this conversation includes discussions of domestic violence and child abuse. Take care of yourself while listening and see below for helpful support resources.

Every child deserves a foundation of unconditional love, a truth that Comfort Cases founder Rob Scheer learned firsthand after surviving a broken foster care system to build a b...

In this episode of the AllPaths Podcast, we welcome Kayla Branstetter, an educator and author, to share her personal journey through unexplained infertility and miscarriage. Currently pursuing a doctorate in healthcare with a focus on narrative medicine, Kayla shares how her experiences and the subsequent "masking" of her grief led her to go public with her story to combat the societal judgment that often surrounds family building,...

In this episode, licensed social worker and founder of Beyond the Cradle Consulting Max Tang shares their experience as a donor-conceived person and their advocacy work to improve outcomes for donor-conceived people, donors, & parents. Max, a biracial, egg donor-conceived person from a monoracial Chinese American family, first discovered their origins during middle school when their parents revealed that they and their t...

This episode of the AllPaths podcast features Kallie Chausse, a baker and photographer, to discuss her journey to parenthood. After marrying the boy next door in her early 20s and trying to conceive without success, Kallie discovered at the age of 24 that she had the egg count of a woman in her 50s. This diagnosis launched her into the world of IUI treatments and strict hormonal monitoring. After a devastating first failure, Kallie...

In this episode of the AllPaths podcast, we sit down with Jen Rogalski, Assistant Director of Empty Arms Bereavement Support, to discuss her journey through late-term pregnancy loss and her subsequent path to healing. Jen shares the heartbreaking story of losing her first son, Baby R, at 37 weeks after noticing decreased fetal movement. She describes the "robotic" days following the diagnosis, the challenges of navigating a ...

In this episode of the AllPaths podcast, we sit down with Sarah Weiss, a New Jersey native who began documenting her family-building journey on day one on her social media. Sarah discusses the early days of her marriage in 2023 when she and her husband were diagnosed with male factor infertility after just three months of trying, a discovery made possible by a proactive OB-GYN who suggested also testing the male partner at the star...

This episode of the AllPaths Podcast features women's health advocate La-Anna Douglas. La-Anna shares the complex story of her 16-year journey through infertility, which began with excruciating menstrual cycles in her teenage years that were often dismissed by medical professionals who simply labeled her the "girl with bad periods". After years of being "shut down" by doctors, a series of persistent self-advocacy efforts and...

In this episode of the AllPaths Podcast, we sit down with journalist and author Ruthie Ackerman to discuss her memoir, The Mother Code, and her journey to parenthood. For much of her life, Ackerman resided in the "hell no" camp regarding children, driven by a family mythology that she possessed a "flaw" in her DNA inherited from a long line of women who abandoned their children. However, after researching her ancestors and u...

This episode of the AllPaths podcast features Dr. Kim Murray, a licensed marriage and family therapist and certified perinatal mental health provider, candidly recounting her history of recurrent pregnancy loss, the physical and emotional toll of hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), and her and her husband’s struggles with postpartum depression. Dr. Murray’s family building journey was shaped by a generational history of loss w...

In this episode, Toronto-based coach Reema Kiran shares her personal experience of becoming a single mother by choice. Despite initial fertility assessments suggesting she would have a high egg yield, her attempts at egg freezing resulted in only two eggs, a result she realized was not a sufficient "insurance policy." This medical setback, combined with the feeling that her biological window was closing, propelled her into active f...

This episode of the AllPaths Podcast features Alisa DeLage, LICSW, a clinical social worker who shares her personal and professional insights into the complexities of family building. Alisa’s own journey began with the excitement of a pregnancy and the feeling like her story, married to her high school sweetheart, was unfolding exactly how it was supposed to. However a traumatic miscarriage at 11 weeks kicked off an 18-month ...