Welcome back to another interesting episode of Venus Rising. This week I have the pleasure of chatting with  a young freelance writer and literary scholar, Donovan Cleckley. Donovan holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Montevallo and a Master of Arts in English from Tulane University. His research focuses on the relationship between women’s rights and gay rights, literature and sexual politics, and the social and political implications of transgenderism as an ideology, an industry, and an institution. Today, I talk with Donovan about the crossroads of his research and passion and the debate concerning the medical transitioning of children, which we also explore in our recent documentary Trans Mission: What's the Rush to Reassign Gender?You can learn more about his work at https://donovancleckley.com or join him in discussion by following him on Twitter.

Venus Rising

Episode 40: Podcast #040 (S03): Donovan Cleckley

Today’s guest is Jasmine Esmay, a Registered Nurse Certified in Inpatient Obstetrics with over 20 years of frontline healthcare experience. Jasmine is also a Certified Lactation Counselor and an Internationally Board Certified Lactation Consultant. Jasmine believes that lifelong health and strong family relationships start with pregnancy and birth. Families today face almost insurmountable struggles when it comes to navigating the healthcare system, juggling the demands of a new baby with no paid parental leave, and the lack of postpartum and breastfeeding support. These struggles show in maternal and infant mortality rates, infant feeding outcomes, and increasing rates of postpartum depression. All things we discuss on today’s episode.Jasmine currently works to change birth culture by offering continuing education to healthcare providers through her consulting business “Tongass Lactation Consulting, LLC” and serving on the United States Lactation Association Advisory Board. She is the current President of The Alaska Breastfeeding Coalition. Join us as Kallie chats with Jasmine about the current state of maternal fetal healthcare and what can be done to help women and families succeed in a time where we clearly are failing women. Find Jasmine at www.tongasslactation.com. Find more about Kathleen Kendall-Tackett, whose work is referenced in the podcast, at https://www.kathleenkendall-tackett.comThis week’s episode is also available for viewing on our YouTube channel.

Episode 39: Podcast #039 (S03): Jasmine Esmay

On today's episode of Venus Rising, I sit down with the fearless advocate, Toni Bare.In 2016 Toni agreed to be a gestational surrogate for a couple with hopes that she would make enough money to pay for her own fertility treatment. Toni’s experience as a surrogate mother was so horrific and harmful she has committed to publicly speaking out against surrogacy. Toni’s story is complex and painful, full of abuse, injustice, and personal trauma and I admire her strength as she shares it with me today. You can read more about Toni's story here:https://www.legalizesurrogacywhynot.com/toni-barre-story Join Toni by signing the Stop Surrogacy Now Petition: http://www.stopsurrogacynow.com/#sthash.MiyOBpDk.dpbs

Episode 38: Podcast #038 (S03): Toni Bare

Hello and welcome back to Venus Rising Season THREE! I have so many wonderful guests lined up for this season, but before introducing someone new I decided to kick-off season three with someone you met last season, Alyssia Wood. I spoke with Alyssia about her experience as a surrogate mother in season 2, but only touched the tip of the iceberg.  Today I talks more in-depth about Alyssia's experience as a surrogate mother and really focuses on her last pregnancy as a surrogate mother and what has transpired since the birth of that child and our last time speaking with Alyssia. Thank you for joining me! 

Episode 37: Podcast #037 (S03): Update from Alyssia Wood

Welcome back to this season’s final episode of Venus Rising. Today Kallie has a candid and informative talk with Brynne, one of the brave mothers featured in our newly released documentary “Trans Mission: What’s the Rush to Reassign Gender”.At age 13, Brynne's daughter began suffering from "Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria” (ROGD), a poorly understood phenomena currently affecting hundreds of thousands of girls worldwide. ROGD is characterized by a sudden and severe rejection of a person’s biological sex and corresponding body parts in favor of an identity aligning with the opposite sex.Brynne realized early on that the “experts” proposed solutions to her daughter’s dysphoria all seemed to lead down a pathway of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones with potentially irreversible consequences, and she worried her daughter might later regret these changes. She was surprised to discover that any questioning of this medical pathway is routinely met with hostility and aggression, so she stands bravely in the gap for parents and their children, insisting on asking important questions that are often forbidden discourse.Brynne advocates for radical self-acceptance of peoples’ whole healthy bodies, diverse personality expressions, and the elimination of harmful gender stereotypes. She works with nonprofits that seek to raise funds for public education in regards to the harms and abuse trans-identifying people and their families suffer in the medical and mental health community.Watch Trans Mission: What's the Rush to Reassign Gender on YouTube: https://youtu.be/rUeqEoARKOANeed to contact Brynne or join a Facebook support group? Email her at gendercriticalhumans@gmail.com

Episode 36: Podcast #036: Brynne

Today I have the pleasure of sitting down with four-time surrogate mother, Alyssia Wood. Having wonderful pregnancy experiences with each of her four children, Alyssia felt that surrogacy was an obvious way for her to help others start or build their own families. She is here today to talk about her different experiences as a surrogate mother, which included two miscarriages, two premature deliveries, hyperemesis gravidarum, sepsis, a near hysterectomy, and a host of unexpected challenges she now encourages prospective surrogates to thoroughly research before signing a surrogacy contract.We are so grateful for Alyssia's willingness to candidly discuss her experiences with us so that other women can make informed choices about their reproductive options. Be sure to subscribe to Venus Rising so you can stay updated on Alyssia's story!

Episode 35: Podcast #035: Alyssia Wood

If you are an aspiring labor and delivery nurse or nurse midwife or have ever wanted to chat with a nurse that works at an IVF clinic then today’s show is just for you. I am especially excited about this episode because I get to sit down with nursing colleague, Kelly Wilson. I had the opportunity of meeting and working with Kelly when I was fresh out of nursing school, several years ago. Kelly has been a nurse since 2010 and joined the ranks of labor and delivery nurses in 2013. In 2019 she started working as a fertility nurse while she pursues her degree in nurse midwifery. Kelly has finished her clinical training and is excitedly graduating very soon! She lives in Ohio with her husband and two adorable sons.

Episode 34: Podcast #034: Kelly Wilson, RN

Welcome back to Venus Rising! With me today is Dr. Susan Caldwell, a primary care physician specializing in women’s health practicing in New Orleans, Louisiana.Today we tackle an emotionally sensitive topic, especially as we approach Mother's Day- infertility and IVF. Dr. Caldwell has three children of her own, all of whom were conceived through IVF. Today she explains why, in retrospect, she would not recommend IVF as a solution to infertility and why, in her expert opinion, naprotechnology is a much better pathway for couples struggling to conceive. Dr. Caldwell is able to navigate this difficult subject through a lens of both empathy and immense knowledge. Her insight is invaluable to the broader conversation.Dr. Caldwell received her medical degree from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center where she also completed her residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. In 2016 she became a Certified Naprotechnology Medical Consultant. She enjoys writing and speaking about authentic femininity and reproductive health that upholds the dignity of all human life. She blogs about topics in women’s health at drsusancaldwell.com.

Episode 33: Podcast #033: Dr. Susan Caldwell

Welcome back to Venus Rising! One of the main commodities in the ever-growing infertility industry is human eggs. Young women all over the world are targeted by ads to "donate" their eggs. Who are these women and what are the risks to their health? In this episode I have the opportunity to talk with Kylee Kwiatkowski about her harrowing story of egg "donation" and the aftermath that followed this life-altering decision. If you are considering "donating" your eggs or are dealing with health effects after egg "donation", this is an episode you won't want to miss! You can read about Kylee's story online at: https://www.legalizesurrogacywhynot.com/kylee-kwiatkowski-s-storyKylee was also featured in our award-winning documentary Eggsploitation. You can watch it on Amazon Prime here: https://amzn.to/2Q3NelW

Episode 32: Podcast #032: Kylee Kwiatkowski

In the early 2000s, Liz Scheier’s mom was facing eviction, so Liz, like many young women, turned to egg donation to raise funds to escape financial crisis. Over the next several years, Liz underwent a total of three rounds of egg retrieval. In the years since, Liz has spent a significant amount of time analyzing the situation and asking important ethical questions related to it. She sits on the leadership team of We Are Egg Donors (WAED), a volunteer-run global support network for over 2,000 current and former egg donors across the world. WAED is regularly featured in media outlets including The New York Times, The Atlantic, NBC, WIRED, and others. As media liaison for WAED, Liz speaks frequently with journalists about the experiences of egg donors, the ethical issues involved in anonymous gamete donation, and the urgent need for a long-term longitudinal study of the effects of egg donation on women's health. She is an author, editor, and product developer living in Washington, DC with her husband and two children, and we are honored to have her joining us on Venus Rising today.

Episode 31: Podcast #031: Liz Scheier

Welcome back to an informative new episode of Venus Rising! This week Kallie sits down with Wendy Kramer, Co-Founder and Director of the Donor Sibling Registry (DSR), a network of over 72,000 members worldwide, united by their shared experience as individuals conceived as a result of egg, sperm, or embryo donation and their mutual desire to be connected with others who share their genetic ties.Wendy launched the DSR in an effort to help bridge some of the ancestral gaps for her own son Ryan, who was conceived via sperm donation. A prolific speaker and writer, Wendy is a tireless advocate for the donor-conceived community and a strong proponent of regulations that prioritize the needs of the children born of third party reproductive arrangements.We are so pleased to have her with us today.

Episode 30: Podcast #030: Wendy Kramer

You will not want to miss this week’s episode of Venus Rising, as Kallie sits down with award winning author and writer Pamela Mahoney Tsigdinos for a frank discussion on a painful topic: infertility. Pamela’s book Silent Sorority, became the first account of reconciling infertility that was not written by a mother. With raw honesty Pamela drew from her experience to explore the stigma associated with fertility issues and the complex effects of living involuntarily childless.Through her research and writing, Pamela was introduced to a vibrant community of IVF survivors. Her followup ebook, Finally Heard, gives voice to a large but seldom acknowledged population of women reconciling the trauma of failed fertility treatments. Her writing raises provocative, often uncomfortable questions usually reserved for late night reflection or anonymous blogging. Pamela has authored many other publications and you can view hew work in a variety of media outlets including Marie Claire, Huffington Post, TIME, Redbook, and Fertility and Sterility. Pamela was the co-founder of ReproTechTruths.org, a grassroots initiative to provide a counter-programming platform for women to share the long-lasting impacts of failed IVF. She was named a Top 10 Health blogger by Time Inc.’s Health Magazine in July 2015. To date, Pamela continues to write and serve on several cross-discipline working groups monitoring assisted reproductive technologies. We are thrilled to have her joining us today on Venus Rising.

Episode 29: Podcast #029: Pamela Mahoney Tsigdinos

This week on Venus Rising, Kallie sits down with Isabella Malbin, founder of Whose Body Is It? Isabella is a self-described radical birth keeper, hypnotist, and radical feminist. In 2020, she was kicked out of a fertility awareness teacher training program for using the words “woman” and “mother,” which were deemed “trans-exclusionary.” Since then, she’s become passionate about illuminating the harms of trans ideology, especially in regard to its impact on women. In today’s episode, Kallie and Isabella explore the links between surrogacy, porn, prostitution, and transgenderism and how they all work in tandem to prop up #BigFertility.In addition to serving pregnant women in her community, she leads an 8-week educational series for women questioning the ethics of trans ideology, prostitution, pornography and surrogacy and runs a private virtual gender-critical community where women connect, conspire & enact change.Find Isabella at: whosebodyisit.comInstagram @whosebodyisit

Episode 28: Podcast #028: Isabella Malbin

Maggie was a young, bright-eyed college student when she was first recruited as an egg donor. She eagerly signed up to donate her eggs with plans of helping families while earning some money for her future. Instead, she got stage 4 invasive ductal carcinoma, a diagnosis she is certain she acquired as a result of multiple rounds of egg donation. Her painful experience was documented in our 2015 documentary “Maggie’s Story.”After battling cancer and the completion of chemotherapy, Maggie returned to school to obtain a masters degree in relational counseling, and her focus is working with clients diagnosed with cancer and other illnesses. This June, she will celebrate five years of remission.Today, we are pleased to welcome Maggie and her parents to Venus Rising as we revisit her story and continue an important conversation about the hidden dangers of the fertility industry.Watch "Maggie's Story" on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/2K7Svou

Episode 27: Podcast #027: Maggie Eastman

In today's culture of echo chambers and censorship, at the CBC, we remain fiercely committed to civil discourse as one of the precious few avenues to true and lasting change. It is in that spirit that we bring you this week's episode of Venus Rising.Today, Kallie sits down with Valerie Landis, a fertility representative whose three time personal experience with egg freezing has fueled her passion for educating others about fertility preservation and family planning. Valerie speaks openly about her own experience. She created the educational website eggsperience.com and runs the Eggology podcast. She showcases her experience in the upcoming video docu-series film called, This Is Egg Freezing.Though we disagree pretty thoroughly with Valerie on matters like the health risks of egg freezing and the human rights implications for both women and children as they relate to surrogacy and third party reproduction as a whole, we are grateful for her willingness to share her perspective with us in our mutual attempt to bring much needed education in matters too often ignored by the general public.To listen to Valerie's Eggolgy podcast click here: https://eggologyclub.comMore about This is Egg Freezing can be found here: https://thisiseggfreezing.comYou can follow Valerie on social media through: https://shor.by/valeriedlandis

Episode 26: Podcast #026: Valerie Landis

We are a strong team of women working together to address bioethical issues that most profoundly affect our humanity. We exist to educate the public about these issues to protect our human future. We will be welcoming back some of our most influential surrogates and donor conceived persons to share their first-hand experiences as not only donors but the result of someone’s choice to donate. Our goal is as ever – to create conversation, facilitate discussion and encourage you to think beyond the masses.

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