Sarah's Laughter Infertility Podcast

Brian McCollister was given two weeks to live when he was just three years old. He beat leukemia, but that victory cost him his fertility. This is his story. "If I had the choice to go back and have my life with or without the cancer, I would choose the cancer, because it's made me who I am today—and I don't know what type of person I would be without that." -- Be sure to listen to Episode 6, our interview with Brian's wife, Chipley.   For more about Sarah’s Laughter, please visit our website at sarahs-laughter.com. You can follow us on social media linked here: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Please sign up for our weekday devotionals/occasional newsletter here. *** Sarah’s Laughter is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity. If you’d like to help support what we do, including this podcast, please visit sarahs-laughter.com/partner. Thank you.

Jamie Hymel is a longtime friend and the very first Sarah's Laughter volunteer. She has a great career, an abundant life, and is childless. This is her story. "After my mom passed away, I thought, 'I have so much to give. I have so much to offer. God has gifted me incredibly. And I am wasting my life and my calling pining away for children that I will never have.'" -- For more about Sarah’s Laughter, please visit our website at sarahs-laughter.com. You can follow us on social media linked here: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Please sign up for our weekday devotionals/occasional newsletter here. *** Sarah’s Laughter is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity. If you’d like to help support what we do, including this podcast, please visit sarahs-laughter.com/partner. Thank you.

Eloise Drane is the founder of Family Inceptions International, a faith-based egg donor & gestational surrogate agency. "God has put in my heart to serve people. If I can ease the pain of somebody else from a desire they have deep in their core, and God has told me to do that for them, who am I to say No?"  -- For more about Sarah’s Laughter, please visit our website at sarahs-laughter.com. You can follow us on social media linked here: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Please sign up for our weekday devotionals/occasional newsletter here. *** Sarah’s Laughter is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity. If you’d like to help support what we do, including this podcast, please visit sarahs-laughter.com/partner. Thank you.

Liv Ryan is a blogger and the author of Bearing Hope: Navigating the Desert of Waiting for a Child. "We are still able to bear hope even when we're not bearing children."  You can purchase Liv's book at Amazon by clicking here. At livryan.com, you can find follow her blog and—if you live in the Quad Cities area—you can get directions to her monthly support group. -- For more about Sarah’s Laughter, please visit our website at sarahs-laughter.com. You can follow us on social media linked here: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Please sign up for our weekday devotionals/occasional newsletter here. *** Sarah’s Laughter is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity. If you’d like to help support what we do, including this podcast, please visit sarahs-laughter.com/partner. Thank you.

Mary Claire: "Just Keep Swimming" (from the 2016 Sarah's Laughter Infertility Workshop). -- For more about Sarah’s Laughter, please visit our website at sarahs-laughter.com. You can follow us on social media linked here: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Please sign up for our weekday devotionals/occasional newsletter here. *** Sarah’s Laughter is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity. If you’d like to help support what we do, including this podcast, please visit sarahs-laughter.com/partner. Thank you.

This episode is a special treat: Elisha Kearns' keynote from the 2016 Sarah's Laughter Infertility Workshop. Please follow her amazing blog by going to https://waitingforbabybird.com/. -- For more about Sarah’s Laughter, please visit our website at sarahs-laughter.com. You can follow us on social media linked here: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Please sign up for our weekday devotionals/occasional newsletter here. *** Sarah’s Laughter is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity. If you’d like to help support what we do, including this podcast, please visit sarahs-laughter.com/partner. Thank you.

After years of trying to conceive, James & Portia told everyone they were having a baby. After Portia's pastor asked her to speak on faith, she miscarried—and preached anyway. This is their story. "I really didn't know if I wanted to continue a relationship with God. That's how hurt I was."

Katie and her husband are white. Their child is not. This is their story. -- For more about Sarah’s Laughter, please visit our website at sarahs-laughter.com. You can follow us on social media linked here: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Please sign up for our weekday devotionals/occasional newsletter here. *** Sarah’s Laughter is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity. If you’d like to help support what we do, including this podcast, please visit sarahs-laughter.com/partner. Thank you.

Infertility "soul sisters" Mary Claire and Melissa met at a Sarah's Laughter workshop. Each tried to conceive. One miscarried. One had twins. Here's their story. --  Mary Claire's blog: https://thestickles.wordpress.com/ Melissa's blog: http://www.littlemrsmarried.com/ -- For more about Sarah’s Laughter, please visit our website at sarahs-laughter.com. You can follow us on social media linked here: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Please sign up for our weekday devotionals/occasional newsletter here. *** Sarah’s Laughter is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity. If you’d like to help support what we do, including this podcast, please visit sarahs-laughter.com/partner. Thank you.  

Katie Guillory gets straight to the point about getting help before you reach your breaking point, the all-consuming nature of infertility, and the difficult conversation that may have saved her marriage. "This is our cross to bear. So, we're going to make it through it, our faith is going to be stronger, and our marriage is going to be stronger." We discuss infertility, miscarriage, MTHFR mutation, PCOS, getting support, the effect of infertility on marriage, and the devastation of losing sixteen embryos during IVF. Katie's guest post, Impossible God Stories: permalink -- For more about Sarah’s Laughter, please visit our website at sarahs-laughter.com. You can follow us on social media linked here: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Please sign up for our weekday devotionals/occasional newsletter here. *** Sarah’s Laughter is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity. If you’d like to help support what we do, including this podcast, please visit sarahs-laughter.com/partner. Thank you.

Patricia Mitchen – "I really didn't find a doctor that looked at my situation and felt confident that they could help me." We talk about her unexpected and potentially life-threatening hospitalization, gestational carriers, and the effect of infertility on her faith. -- For more about Sarah’s Laughter, please visit our website at sarahs-laughter.com. You can follow us on social media linked here: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Please sign up for our weekday devotionals/occasional newsletter here. *** Sarah’s Laughter is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity. If you’d like to help support what we do, including this podcast, please visit sarahs-laughter.com/partner. Thank you.

Chipley's infertility story began when her husband was given two weeks to live—at age three. She candidly shares about her husband's two and a half years of chemotherapy, Sertoli cell only syndrome, brain tumors, embryo adoption, the simultaneous devastation and opportunity resulting from cancer, and God's sovereignty through it all. "When everything is good in your life and you have no medical issues or anything, it's easy to trust God. There's nothing going on. But when something totally turns your world around and you're not in control, you learn to really rely on God." --  For more about Sarah’s Laughter, please visit our website at sarahs-laughter.com. You can follow us on social media linked here: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Please sign up for our weekday devotionals/occasional newsletter here. *** Sarah’s Laughter is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity. If you’d like to help support what we do, including this podcast, please visit sarahs-laughter.com/partner. Thank you.  

Yoga instructor Sadie Landry talks about the fog of infertility & the illusion of control. “I would never change it. I mean it sucks, and I obviously want a baby. Like, #infertilitysucks is the hashtag of all hashtags, but I wouldn't change it. And I know our journey's not over, and that's a struggle. But I know that IT'S NOT OVER, so that's hope as well.” Please visit Sadie's blogs at http://www.sadielandry.com/ & http://www.bearhope.com/.   -- For more about Sarah’s Laughter, please visit our website at [sarahs-laughter.com]. You can follow us on social media linked here: [Twitter], [Facebook], and [Instagram]. Please sign up for our weekday devotionals/occasional newsletter [here]. \*\*\* Sarah’s Laughter is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity. If you’d like to help support what we do, including this podcast, please visit [sarahs-laughter.com/partner]. Thank you.

Laurel Broussard opens up about the miscarriage that rocked her marriage, the fertility medicine that put her in the emergency room, and her transformation into her own healthcare advocate. “When you want a baby so badly, you are willing to do anything. You will stand on your head. You will take whatever medicines they tell you to take. You just do not care—because all you want is that baby.”   ***   For more about Sarah’s Laughter, please visit our website at sarahs-laughter.com. You can follow us on social media here: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Please sign up for our weekday devotionals/occasional newsletter here.   Sarah’s Laughter is 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity. If you’d like to help support what we do, including this podcast, please visit sarahs-laughter.com/partner. Thank you.

Lauren Best won a free IVF at our 2015 BabySteps. She talks about miracles and disappointments, faith and head games. “Your mind just goes to bad places as soon as somebody tells you they found a lump.” Lauren's social media: blog and Instagram. Audio clip of Dr. Dunaway announcing IVF winner courtesy of Persongraphy. You can watch the full video here. For more about Sarah’s Laughter, please visit our website at sarahs-laughter.com. You can follow us on social media here: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Please sign up for our weekday devotionals/occasional newsletter here. *** Sarah’s Laughter is 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity. If you’d like to help support what we do, including this podcast, please visit sarahs-laughter.com/partner. Thank you.  

Endometriosis affected Margo Kitto’s relationships, budget, and her concept of pain. “It’s hard to just come out and say, ‘Oh, guess what? I was in the fetal position last night and I couldn’t get up. I couldn't walk I was in so much pain. I thought my body was just going to shut down on me.’ Sometimes I just forget that that happens.” Please visit Margo’s blog at http://allforthelove.squarespace.com/ and her Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/all_forthelove/.   For more about Sarah’s Laughter, please visit our website at sarahs-laughter.com. You can follow us on social media here: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Please sign up for our weekday devotionals/occasional newsletter here. *** Sarah’s Laughter is 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity. If you’d like to help support what we do, including this podcast, please visit sarahs-laughter.com/partner. Thank you.  

Family therapist Beth Anne Walters had to find support for herself. “We dismiss our own problems because we feel like other people have bigger problems. I didn’t feel like I deserved to have a story in this infertility journey. And I was wrong. Boy, was I wrong.” Please visit Beth Anne’s professional site at http://www.elizabethwalterslpc.com/ and her infertility blog at http://www.aimlessambitions.com/. For more about Sarah’s Laughter, please visit our website at sarahs-laughter.com. You can follow us on: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Thank you.

Beth & Jason Forbus are the founders of Sarah's Laughter. This is their infertility story. “I remember sitting there thinking: ‘The next few minutes are either going to change my life, or I won’t even remember this day in a couple of weeks.’”   You can find us here: Main site: sarahs-laughter.com Podcast site: podcast.sarahs-laughter.com Instagram: @sarahs_laughter Facebook: Sarah's Laughter | Baby Steps Twitter: @sarahs_laughter | @jasonforbus