This is Infertility is a bi-weekly podcast where we fuse narrative storytelling with experience and science to give you a new perspective on what it’s really like to go through a family building journey. Each episode dives into the emotional, physical, and financial burdens carried by those who experience infertility on their path to parenthood. Be it IVF, IUI, egg freezing, surrogacy, adoption, etc., the path is never the same and it can be long, painful, and lonely. It’s our mission to give those struggling a platform to be heard, a community connection, and an opportunity to raise awareness of the 1 in 8 who, for many reasons, struggle with infertility.

Episode 42: LGBTQ+ Family Building: Baby Bailey Mama Drama

June is Pride Month, and this year marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, a series of spontaneous demonstrations by members of the gay community at the Stonewall Inn in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan.  

While there is still a lot of work to be done to bring true equity to the LGBTQ+ community, today’s story is a demonstration of how far we’ve come over the past 50 years. We hear from Katie and Christina Bailey, a couple who utilized reciprocal IVF to welcome their baby girl into the world. And a year later, they did it again.  

But their journey wasn’t easy. The couple faced a number of hurdles before they were able to meet their daughters Kennedy and Charlotte, from having to choose the right sperm donor to exploring egg donation due to Christina’s PCOS. In this episode, Katie and Christina share their complex fertility journey, what it was like building a family as a same-sex female couple, and how they decided to give back to the infertility and LGBTQ+ family building communities through their social media and online blog. 

Guests: Katie and Christina Bailey 

Host: Lissa Kline, VP of Member and Provider Services at Progyny 

For more information, visit Progyny’s Podcast page and Progyny’s Education page for LGBTQ+ family building options. 

You can find the couple’s online blog here, or follow them on Instagram: @BabyBaileyMamaDrama. 

Be sure to follow us on Instagram, @ThisisInfertilityPodcast and use the #ThisisInfertility. 

Have a question, comment, or want to share your story? Email us at thisisinfertility@progyny.com. 

Host

Lissa Kline, LCSW, VP of Member & Provider Services at Progyny

Lissa oversees the Patient Care Advocates and the Provider Relations Team. She worked at Columbia University Medical Center for several years in the division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. Involved in Patient Services and the Donor Egg Program, she loved working with patients while they underwent fertility treatment. Lissa graduated with a Master of Science in Social Work from Columbia University

Guests

Katie and Christina Bailey

Together Katie and Christina have two daughters, Kennedy (3 years old) and Charlotte (a year old). To sum up their life so far: They fell in love, got married, and we they have two children via Reciprocal IVF. The path to having our kids is a whole other story. Their family is still growing but for now, they’re enjoying their time as a family of four. They love to travel and show their kids as much of the world as possible. You can follow their journey on Instagram and YouTube.