Danielle Winston is the co-founder of Seed Scout, a donor matchmaking agency reimagining how families connect with known sperm donors. A former lawyer who left the legal field after seeing firsthand the ethical challenges in the sperm bank industry, Danielle and her wife built Seed Scout to offer a more transparent, personal, and human-centered approach to donor conception. Since launching, they’ve helped hundreds of LGBTQ+ families, single parents by choice, and couples with male-factor infertility find donors who align with their values.

Listen as Danielle shares with Ellen and Jenn:

• Why Seed Scout: Danielle’s own experience of a dehumanizing, “Tinder-style” bank experience lead her to build Seed Scout -- to provide a curated, relationship-based alternative.
• What’s different: Seed Scout has a majority LGBTQ+ donors; age 24+; background checks for donors and intended parents; require yearly child updates; medical-history refreshes.
• Ethics over scale: Hard cap of three families per donor; no re-donation of sperm/embryos; families introduced to each other to avoid hidden half-siblings.
• Transparency beats anonymity: Real names, meetings before matching, and mutual approval replace one-way, anonymous selection.
• System frictions: Legacy FDA rules, quarantine nuances, and clinic pushback—especially where clinic owners are tied to banks.
• Future outlook: More open-ID laws (e.g., Colorado), rising donor-conceived voices, and pressure for sensible U.S. oversight.

Want to share your story or ask a question? Call and leave us a message on our hotline: 303-997-1903.

Learn more about Seed Scout: www.theseedscout.com

Follow Seed Scout on Instagram: @theseedscout.com

Learn more about our podcast: https://iwanttoputababyinyou.com/

Learn more about our surrogacy agency: https://www.brightfuturesfamilies.com/

Get your IWTPABIY merch here! https://iwanttoputababyinyou.com/merch

Learn more about Ellen’s law firm: http://trachmanlawcenter.com/

Sarah Jefford OAM is a family creation lawyer in Melbourne, practicing across Australia. Sarah was a parent via IVF, and later become an egg donor, and delivered a baby as a surrogate for two dads in 2018. Sarah practices surrogacy and donor conception law, advising surrogates and intended parents about domestic and international surrogacy. In 2025, Sarah completed a Churchill Fellowship, researching best practice surrogacy to inform law reform in Australia, and her final report is published on her website,

Listen as Sarah shares with Ellen and Jenn:

• Her path to surrogacy and advocacy.
• Writing More Than Just a Baby and launching the Australian Surrogacy Podcast (100+ episodes).
• Australia vs. U.S. frameworks: Australia’s patchwork laws, altruistic-only system, low overall volume (about 150 domestic births/yr), and limited infrastructure push many intended parents overseas.
• Compensation does not equal commodification: Sarah argues compensation can honor time, risk, and labor while still centering altruistic motives—pointing out that everyone else in the fertility ecosystem is paid. The real risk isn’t money; it’s lack of robust safeguards.
• Safeguards that matter: Independent legal counsel for all parties, informed consent in a language the surrogate understands, counseling, medical best practices, and regulation that protects surrogates, children, and intended parents.
• Medical-need requirements: Sarah’s evolved view—dropping mandatory “medical or social need” recognizes lived realities (recurrent loss, tokophobia, gender dysphoria, etc.) and avoids intrusive, inequitable gatekeeping.
• Media narratives and “human trafficking” claims: Sensational coverage often ignores nuance, ethical programs, and children’s future privacy. Red flags abroad include language barriers, agency-appointed lawyers, and opaque promises.
• Churchill Fellowship learnings: After meeting stakeholders in South Africa, Ireland, England, Canada, and the U.S., Sarah sees momentum for reform—if lawmakers treat surrogacy as reproductive health and women’s rights.

Want to share your story or ask a question? Call and leave us a message on our hotline: 303-997-1903.

Learn more about Sarah Jefford: www.sarahjefford.com

Follow Sarah on Instagram: www.instagram.com/sarah_surrogacylawyer/

Buy Sarah’s book: More Than Just a Baby - Sarah Jefford Surrogacy Lawyer Australia

Learn more about our podcast: https://iwanttoputababyinyou.com/

Learn more about our surrogacy agency: https://www.brightfuturesfamilies.com/

Get your IWTPABIY merch here! https://iwanttoputababyinyou.com/merch

Learn more about Ellen’s law firm: http://trachmanlawcenter.com/

Dawn Wickhorst is a two-time surrogate, single mom of five, and founder of Lumière Surrogacy Advisory. She is passionate about helping intended parents tell their stories authentically while inspiring women through her own journey of resilience, motherhood, and entrepreneurship.

Dawn shares her story as a surrogate and mom, blending honesty, humor, and heart. She talks about building her business, finding strength through life’s challenges, and using her experiences to guide and inspire others on their path to parenthood and self-growth.

Listen as Dawn shares with Ellen and Jenn:

• Becoming a mom in her teens.
• Working with a birth magazine and as a birth photographer.
• Interviewing a local author on a book about infertility and loss, feeling so grateful for her own children, and realizing she could do something to help.
• A few of the surrogacy differences in Canada versus the US – no compensation!
• Saying “yes” to HIV-positive Intended Parents, because they were HIV positive!
• Second time around, looking for Intended Parents who would want to share the journey with the world with her.
• A relationship with Intended Parents was high priority, knowing they would be friends.
• When the second journey ended, she wanted to help others in another way.
• Started Lumiere Surrogacy Advisory to help Intended Parents tell their stories.
• What makes an Intended Parent profile stand out for surrogates.

Want to share your story or ask a question? Call and leave us a message on our hotline: 303-997-1903.

Learn more about Dawn and Lumiere Surrogacy Advisory: https://www.lumieresurrogacyadvisory.com

Check out Dawn on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1JnQYSEt2b/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Learn more about our podcast: https://iwanttoputababyinyou.com/

Learn more about our surrogacy agency: https://www.brightfuturesfamilies.com/

Get your IWTPABIY merch here! https://iwanttoputababyinyou.com/merch

Learn more about Ellen’s law firm: http://trachmanlawcenter.com/