Content Note / Trigger Warning:
This episode includes discussion of fertility challenges, medical complications, pregnancy loss, and barriers to family expansion. Please listen in the way that feels safest and most supportive for you.

Today, I had the honour of sitting down with Michelle and Lisa Cast, a couple whose love story spans nearly 25 years and whose family-building journey has been anything but simple.

Michelle and Lisa first met in 2001, when they were just 18 years old and sophomores in college. What followed can only be described as a knowing. After only a few weeks of talking, Michelle shared, “If you were a guy, I’d marry you tomorrow,” to which Lisa replied, “Yeah… we need to talk about that. I think I’m falling in love with you.” They’ve been together ever since.

Over the years, Michelle and Lisa have navigated profound and intersecting challenges: significant weight-loss journeys, living with and managing PCOS, pregnancy and birth following serious medical complications, and the stress of not conceiving their second child in a timely manner. And still — their story is not finished.

What stands out most in this conversation is their honesty, their refusal to romanticize hardship, and their unwavering belief that their family may yet continue to grow. They speak openly about grief, resilience, love, and the complexity of holding hope after loss.

Michelle and Lisa also share their lived experiences on their own podcast, creating space for truth-telling, connection, and solidarity for others walking similar paths. This episode is a reminder that Queer family creation is rarely linear — and that persistence, love, and care can coexist with uncertainty.

🎧 Be sure to check out their podcast: The Cast Compass Podcast and follow them on social media @Castof2Moms to continue learning from their journey.

Website - https://thecastcompass.com/ (has been revised and has a blurb about our podcast here: https://thecastcompass.com/#podcast)

Podcast Links - Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-cast-compass-podcast/id1812208043, Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3mqkhiFYmENxbYP94u0ckU, YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheCastCompass

Sometimes family begins with timing, courage, and a leap into the unknown.

Nearly 15 years ago, fate brought Heitor and Wayne together when Heitor relocated to Ireland for work. From early on, they shared a quiet but steady knowing: they both wanted to become parents someday. What they didn’t yet know was how that dream would take shape.

With openness, intention, and a deep commitment to understanding what was involved, Heitor and Wayne embarked on a surrogacy journey. Working with an agency based in Cyprus — alongside a consultant who answered every question and supported them through each step — they found both their egg donors and surrogates through the same organization.

Their path was anything but simple. Choosing to keep their journey private, they didn’t share it with friends or family, and when they experienced the devastating loss of their first pregnancy at 11 weeks, they leaned solely on one another for support and healing.

Their contract was signed just before guidelines shifted to limit embryo transfers to one at a time. Because of this timing — and the significant financial realities of surrogacy — their care continued under previous protocols through a grandfathered agreement.

In 2024, after years of hope, grief, resilience, and trust, Heitor and Wayne finally welcomed their children, Blake and Blaire, into their family.

This conversation is a powerful reminder that Queer family creation is rarely linear — and always deeply human.

✨ Learn more and connect with Queer parenting advocacy in Ireland:
📲 @IrishGayDads | @LGBTIreland | @equalityforchildren
🔗 www.irishgaydads.ie | www.equalityforchildren.ie

🎥 Follow Heitor and Wayne’s family journey on YouTube or Instagram: @twindadlife_official

Today on the podcast, we’re joined once again by Christina Alicea — a familiar and deeply valued voice in conversations around fertility, donation, and ethical family creation.

When Christina first joined us a few years ago, she was working within a fertility clinic and sharing her experiences primarily as an egg donor. Since then, her professional journey has evolved in powerful ways. Today, Christina joins us in her current role as a Program Analyst with Everie, where her work centers on examining who is being well served by existing systems — and, just as importantly, where gaps remain that require thoughtful change.

Drawing from her lived experience as a multi-time egg donor and her current work with Everie, Christina reflects on the critical importance of open, ethical, and identity-affirming donation. This approach isn’t a “nice to have” — it’s foundational. Christina and the team at Everie believe deeply that everyone deserves the right to know their origins, and that transparency and respect must be built into the very framework of third-party reproduction.

Before we wrapped our conversation, Christina shared a practical and essential reminder for all hopeful parents: review your insurance policies carefully before beginning your family-building journey. Coverage, eligibility criteria, and requirements can vary widely by state, province, and country — and knowing what’s covered (and what isn’t) can help avoid unexpected financial stress along the way.

✨ To learn more about Everie and the services they offer, visit everiedonation.com
📲 Follow them on Instagram @everie.donation