GoStork Interview Series: LGBTQ+ Family Building with If These Ovaries Could Talk @ovariestalk

Rebecca Hochreiter

CMO of GoStork

We were thrilled to host the super open and honest, funny and dynamic duo Jaimie Kelton and Robin Hopkins of the award-winning podcast If These Ovaries Could Talk, for a fun-yet-informative conversation on our Instagram Live!

Jaimie and Robin are two amazing moms informing and empowering LGBTQ+ parents (and intended parents), while showing the very human side of family building and infertility – always paired with a side of comedy! They’ve also recently published a book (that everyone’s talking about!), If These Ovaries Could Talk: The Things We’ve Learned About Making an LGBTQ Family.

In our live chat, Jaimie and Robin shared their fertility journeys and discussed what they’ve learned from hearing so many other family building stories through their podcast and book – including how to advocate for yourself along the way.

Jaimie and Robin’s advice on LGBTQ+ family building:

  • Each and every story is unique If there’s one thing they’ve learned, it’s that “No single story is without complications in our world – something always veers off course – because we need help to make our kids, there are too many variables from the get go with our family building experiences” 
  • Trust your gut It took Jaimie 20 IUIs, 3 IVFs and a doctor switch to finally get pregnant – “trust your gut, listen to your gut – right after switching doctors, we got pregnant on the second try”  
  • Research As Robin says, “Research the crap out of it to find your path”
  • Consider all the elements A mention from a friend and a rainbow on the website are not enough when looking for a provider to work with. “Go in there and ask questions about our community, how much they’ve worked with our community, how many LGBTQ couples they helped get pregnant… these things matter”
  • Advocate “Figure out first what matters to you and then find the right clinic for you and if you don’t find the right clinic for you, help a clinic be the clinic you need it to be. People have done it, it’s possible.”

“We were going into a system that was set up for people with fertility issues, and we didn’t have that. It was really difficult – there was no acknowledgement from the doctor or staff that we are looking at this a little differently.

What you guys are doing at GoStork is so important – providing a place with transparency and reviews – you’ve taken our LGBTQ drafting and blew it up and so now there’s a place where people can go and read reviews from real people.”

Jaimie and Robin

Thank you for your support Robin and Jaimie, the feeling is mutual – If These Ovaries Could Talk is providing a transparent and safe space to share and celebrate all stories, and that is so important, as well! 

Intended parents, check out the ITOCT podcast, available wherever you listen to podcasts, and the book If These Ovaries Could Talk: The Things We’ve Learned About Making an LGBTQ Family here