The Queer Family Podcast – LGBTQ Families & Queer Parenting Stories

What does it really take to build a family through surrogacy as a same sex couple? In this episode, Jaimie sits down with attorney and dad Alexander Paykin to talk about his family’s surrogacy journey, the many unexpected twists along the way, and the legal realities queer parents need to understand before getting started.

Alexander shares how he and his husband chose an egg donor, what surprised them most about the surrogacy process, and why so much of queer family building comes down to preparation, paperwork, and knowing the laws in the right states at the ri...

Robert and Shannon are “two regular degular schmegular queers” who went from friends… to dating… to buying sperm in just a few months (yes, it’s as lesbian as it sounds). In this episode, they share what it looked like to build a family as a cisgender woman and a transgender man, including the realities of trans fertility, the complicated emotions around fertility preservation, and the deeply values-based way they chose a sperm donor: not for height or Ivy League degrees — but for happiness.

We also talk about raising a donor-conceived toddler with openness from day one, why donor co...

Building a family didn’t happen the way same sex parents Sarah and Beth originally imagined. What began as a straightforward plan unfolded into miscarriage, multiple rounds of IUI, IVF, and ultimately the realization that neither of them could use their own eggs. They share what it meant to pivot again and again — and how they ultimately welcomed their 13-year-old twin boys through both an egg donor and a sperm donor.

They also talk about approaching donor conception transparency from day one (including Sarah writing her kids a personalized storybook before they were even born), and how puzz...

Jaimie sits down with Hilde Festerling—queer mom, children’s writer, and the creator of the all-ages “barnyard gothic” audio drama podcast The Goat American Novel. Hilde shares the story of coming out later in life, navigating an amicable divorce, and building a creative partnership with her girlfriend. The heart of the episode is how Hilde’s family used storytelling as a literal lifeline: writing and producing a full podcast with her kids (and extended family!) became a sacred space through adolescence, transition, and big family change—while also creating queer representation that can still feel accessible for kids in conservat...

Lex Beach is a gay mom of seven kids (ages 8–23), and her LGBTQ family-building story truly covers the waterfront: donor sperm, IUIs, donor sibling connections, parenting through divorce, blended same sex family life, known-donor attempts, miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy, and ultimately IVF.

Lex knew she wanted to be a mom from the jump—and at 22, she got pregnant (the gay way) right after college… with sperm her parents literally bought as a graduation gift. From there, the story only gets bigger: twins, more pregnancies, co-parenting across households, a queer Brady Bunch era, and hard-earned reflections on what helps...

We were supposed to be dark this week… but instead, we popped in with a very special bonus episode. In this short, unscripted, slightly chaotic conversation, Jaimie is joined by longtime friend and collaborator Jose Rolón (aka @nycgaydad) to officially announce their brand-new podcast:💥 Love, Take Two 💥This episode, recorded without a producer, without an editor, and without a microphone (sorry in advance), gives listeners a behind-the-scenes look at how Love, Take Two came to life — from messy recording moments and last-minute decisions to big creative leaps, studio learning curves, and the joy of building something new together.

If you...

I’m putting this archived conversation back into the world because, like many of you, I’m feeling overwhelmed, angry, and honestly a bit helpless after the most recent ICE killing of Alex Pretti. When violence like this happens it can feel impossible to know where to put our grief or how to turn it into action. This episode with Marie Newman is a reminder that change doesn’t come from waiting to feel less scared—it comes from people who decide to show up anyway. Marie has gone the distance, personally and politically, and hearing from someone who has foug...

ARCHIVE (Recorded in 2024): Meet Shawndeez, a non-binary trans dad who shares their journey towards self-discovery and parenthood. Shawndeez discusses the challenges they faced as a queer and trans individual, their decision to pursue IVF and egg retrieval, and the importance of unconditional love in the parent-child relationship. Shawndeez also talks about their work supporting parents of trans children and the need for compassionate guidance in navigating the complexities of gender identity. Tune in for an inspiring and heartfelt conversation

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This episode was recorded in 2020 and originally released under the show’s former name, If These Ovaries Could Talk. While Ranae von Meding’s family life may look a bit different today, the laws in Ireland have not meaningfully changed—and many same-sex parents are still fighting for full legal recognition and protection for their children.

At eight months pregnant, Ranae von Meding learned a shocking truth: after the birth of her child, her wife Audrey would not be legally recognized as a parent under Irish law—even though they were married, and even though Audrey is the gene...

This episode originally aired back when the show was called If These Ovaries Could Talk, hosted by Jaimie Kelton and Robin Hopkins — before the show evolved into The Queer Family Podcast.

Over the years, I’ve had countless listeners reach out asking the same thing: “Can you connect me with Emily and Sara? I want to learn how they shipped fresh sperm.” So I’m resurfacing this conversation because yes — it can work. And since this episode first aired, Emily and Sara have helped many others create their families using the same method.

In this archival epi...

As we head into a new year, we’re revisiting a very special episode — and carrying those Pride vibes forward with us.

This episode originally aired as the finale of our very first Pride Extravaganza, where all month long (and a little beyond) we doubled up on Queer Family goodness with incredible guests and powerful stories.

For this grand finale, I asked every single Pride Extravaganza guest one simple but loaded question:

What does Pride mean to you?

What you’ll hear is a moving compilation — a beautiful quilt of voices reflecti...

Before The Queer Family Podcast had its name, it began as If These Ovaries Could Talk—a show Jaimie launched with original co-host Robin Hopkins.

In this very first episode, Robin interviews Jaimie and her wife Anne as they share the real-time story of building their family as a lesbian couple: unexpected infertility, choosing a sperm donor, navigating IUI and IVF, and the emotional and financial reality of trying to have a second child.

At the time, they couldn’t find many podcasts that talked honestly about queer fertility and LGBTQ+ family building—so they made t...

Jaimie talks with Naia, founder of Be Parent Surrogacy, about international surrogacy options, what intended parents can expect when working with an agency, and how Be Parent supports LGBTQIA+ families with transparency, ethics, and hands-on care. Naia also shares her own IVF story and her real-time sperm donor search—including why she’s choosing to freeze embryos as a future “insurance policy.

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Anish & Miguel are two dads in Berlin who recently welcomed their son, Alexander, through agency-based surrogacy. And listen — some of us (cough… Jaimie… cough) approached queer family building with good vibes and very few spreadsheets. But THESE TWO? Absolute meticulous gay dad excellence. From cross-country agency visits, to karyotype testing, to annual goal-setting (“become parents” was literally on the list!), Anish and Miguel walk us through the entire surrogacy process with clarity, honesty, and so much heart. This episode is truly a surrogacy masterclass — a must-listen for anyone exploring this path.

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Sam & Laura Abbey are BACK, y’all. The last time they were on the show it was still called If These Ovaries Could Talk, they only had one kid, and their Bravo reality show moment had just helped catapult them into queer family-building visibility.

Seven years and two very boy-ish boys later, we’re catching up on IVF paid out of pocket (twice), using the same sperm donor for both kids, what happens when you over- or under-buy sperm, and yes—having to literally sign paperwork to “dispose” of a leftover vial while a straight guy wrestles with the “...

Midwife, parent, nurse, educator, and proud Palestinian Ash joins Jaimie for a powerful, expansive conversation that connects queer birth work, liberation, bodily autonomy, and the politics of modern healthcare. From becoming a parent before coming into their trans identity, to the crisis inside U.S. obstetrics, to creating community-centered birth education for queer & trans families, Ash brings depth, clarity, and truth. The episode also touches on Ash’s ties to Palestine, why so many people are re-examining the narrative they were taught, and how to learn, help, and show up with intention.

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Jaimie chats with Yanica & Leah, the interracial two-mom family behind @thefaustinfam, about building a queer family with intention. They discuss their donor conception journey, navigating race and colorism, raising multiracial donor-conceived kids, second-parent adoption, coming out stories, and parenting free spirited little humans in the South.

If you love stories about LGBTQ family building, intentional parenting, mixed-race families, and queer joy — this episode is everything.

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Author and educator Kirsty Loehr joins Jaimie to share her beautifully messy story of queer family building — from reciprocal IVF with her ex-wife to co-parenting their 4-year-old son and now navigating life in a blended family with her new partner and her partner’s two kids.

Kirsty talks candidly about the breakup that came just months after welcoming her son, the challenges of 50/50 custody, and learning to blend families while balancing love, chaos, and new beginnings. She also shares the inspiration behind her new book, A Short History of Queer Parenting, a funny, accessible, and essential look at h...

Alon Rivel joins Jaimie for a brutally honest, funny, and heartfelt conversation about what it really takes—emotionally, financially, and spiritually—to build a queer family through surrogacy. From his surrogate’s iconic one-liners (“I’m not keeping it”) to his reflection that queer parents are architects of love, Alon reminds us what intentional parenthood looks like.

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Meet Mark and Eoin, two Irish dads proving that queer family building is both an act of love and of advocacy. Their path to fatherhood took them from Ireland to New York and Texas—navigating surrogacy independently, honoring their daughters’ Nigerian-Irish heritage, and pushing the Irish government to finally recognize families like theirs.

Together, they’ve turned loss, learning, and legislation into love and legacy. From discovering their donor’s culture to challenging outdated Irish surrogacy laws, Mark and Eoin remind us that sometimes the most radical thing LGBTQIA+ parents can do is parent out loud—and make the s...

What happens when you grow up in an evangelical cult, spend years closeted, marry to appease your family, and still find your way to queerness, healing, and chosen family? Therapist and author SC Nealy (they/she) joins Jaimie to share their powerful story of resilience and reinvention.

From a childhood in religious isolation to co-parenting two daughters one block away from their queerplatonic co-parent, SC shows us that family can be redefined—and joyfully so. They talk about surviving their eldest child’s terrifying medical crisis during COVID, leaving behind a judgmental family, building an affirming community, and...

In this mind-expanding conversation, Jaimie sits down with Maya Gonzalez — genderqueer artist, author, publisher, educator, parent, and creator of The Gender Wheel — an innovative, nature-based framework that reimagines how we understand gender, identity, and self.

Maya takes us through their lifelong work of blending art, research, and spirit to help kids (and grownups!) move beyond the binary and return to connection — with themselves, with each other, and with nature. They talk about using children’s books, coloring pages, and even escape-room–style workshops to teach inclusivity and embodiment in playful, accessible ways.

The two also dive deep...

Kevin and Alim—longtime partners, dads of two, and global citizens—share how they built their family through Canadian surrogacy, what they looked for in an egg donor, and how they talk to their kids about donor conception using a “meet them where they are” approach. We get real about the bio vs. non-bio parent feelings (yes, they’re normal), the difference between a natural birth and a planned C-section as intended parents, and the constant “coming out” kids do at school. Kevin also serves as Vice Chair of Fertility Friends Foundation, a Canadian charity offering fertility grants and partnered IVF...

Screens are everywhere — but how do we keep them from taking over our kids’ lives? In this special ally episode, Jaimie sits down with Casey O’Roarty, a positive discipline trainer, parent coach, and host of the Joyful Courage podcast, to talk about raising kids in a high-tech world.

Casey shares practical strategies for balancing independence with safety, building critical thinking skills, setting real limits, and creating a united front with other parents. This candid conversation also weaves in Jaimie and Casey’s personal lives — both are supporting spouses through cancer — and how “life is lifing” for them while they...

Queer therapist and “kid of queer parents” Ann Russo joins Jaimie to show what ordinary, extraordinary queer family looks like. Raised in the ’80s by a mom, dad, and dad’s partner under one roof—publicly “the roommate” for safety—Ann shares how chosen family (yes, Deadhead potlucks) and three parents taught compassion, and why bio vs. non-bio bonds never mattered. We get religious trauma 101: Ann’s fly-on-the-wall years inside a fundamentalist church as an out teen, what religious trauma is (and isn’t), and practical tools clients can use today—nervous-system grounding, boundary-setting, and how to vet an affirming therapist wi...

Transmasc author and parent Jesse Callans joins Jaimie to flip the parenting script. Jesse shares how he pressed pause on transition to build a family (surprise—then three more!), what it looked like to transition while his kids were 7, 4, 2, and 1, and how toddlers helped distill a complex change down to “the things that stay the same” (yes, there will still be spoons and napkins). We dig into gendered expectations in public, the patronizing “wow, you’re so good with them” dad compliments, and why communal, queer-inspired parenting beats competition every time. Jesse’s middle-grade novel Ollie in Between tackles puberty, ident...

We went in-studio (!) with journalist Orion Rummler (The 19th) and Rachel Minkin (Pew Research Center, and a gay mom) to unpack Pew’s major 2025 study of LGBTQ+ Americans—released around the 10-year anniversary of Obergefell. We talk social acceptance gaps (L/G & bi vs. trans/nonbinary), how data actually moves policy, the everyday realities of queer family-building (hello, insurance barriers), chosen family, medical micro/macro-aggressions, and what comes next. Orion also shares reporting on transmasculine pregnancy; Rachel brings the numbers and her family story.

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In this Season 20 opener, Jaimie sits down in person (for the first time in years!) with two powerhouse voices in the LGBTQIA+ family-building world: José Rolón (aka NYC Gay Dad) and Luce Remey (VP of Public Policy at Family Equality). Together, they dive deep into what it really means to build, protect, and nurture queer families in today’s political climate. From navigating wills, Social Security benefits, and second-parent adoptions, to standing firm against legislative attacks on our rights, José and Luce remind us that our intentionality as queer parents comes with both gratitude and baggage—and that communi...

🎉 Bonus Episode Alert! 🎉 Season 20 officially drops on September 1st, but while you wait, we’ve got one last bonus for you. This heartfelt and thought-provoking conversation redefines what it means to parent in our queer, messy, beautiful, modern world.

Writer, activist, and parent S. Bear Bergman sits down with Jaimie to explore love, family, and LGBTQIA identity against the backdrop of today’s political climate.

Bear shares his journey from coming out at 15 to more than 35 years of activism and parenting as a queer, trans parent. Together, they unpack the joys and challenges of inclusive parenting...

As we gear up for the launch of Season 20 this September, we're sharing some favorite past episodes that continue to resonate—because queer family-building is never just a one-time story.

Originally aired in Season 14, this episode features Emme Reynolds, a transgender parent of two in a newly blended family. Emme brings honesty, vulnerability, and wisdom to the conversation as she shares her personal journey of self-discovery, transition, and parenting.

In a world that often misunderstands or oversimplifies gender identity, Emme reminds us that transitioning isn’t a moment—it’s a lifelong process. She opens up about...

While we gear up for Season 20 (September 1st!), I’m sharing something special — an episode swap with the fabulous podcast Cruising. They’re featuring one of my episodes on their feed, and I’m thrilled to bring one of theirs to you. This one’s a beautiful slice of queer history, love, and resilience.

Juanita Pierre and Leslie Martinez opened New Orleans' first Black-owned lesbian bar, Les Pierres, on the corner of Pauger St and N. Rampart St. No one can quite remember the exact date Les Pierres opened, but based on some other stories and dates, we can gue...

🎉 BONUS REPLAY: Flipping the Script on Foster Adoption

As we gear up for the launch of Season 20 this September (!!!), I’m revisiting some of my favorite episodes from past seasons. These stories continue to resonate, inspire, and remind us why queer family visibility matters—every single day.

Originally aired in Season 13, this heartfelt and eye-opening episode features Ed Center, a husband, father, and educator who shares his family's journey through foster adoption with humor, grace, and deep honesty.

Ed and his husband—both Filipino men—broke stereotypes by adopting two white children, and their story...

🎉 BONUS EPISODE DROP! 🎉

As I get ready to launch Season 20 of The Queer Family Podcast this September(!), I’m sharing a few guest appearances that I think deserve a spot in this feed. This week, I joined Dr. Kelsey Duncan on The Fertility Confidence Podcast to talk candidly about queer fertility, intentional parenthood, donor selection, and the legal complexities that queer families face. If you're navigating the path to parenthood—or supporting someone who is—this one's for you.

Fertility, Donor Sperm, and Queer Parenthood with Jaimie Kelton

In this heartfelt and eye-opening episode, Jai...

🎉 Bonus Episode Drop! 🎉

While we gear up for Season 20 of The Queer Family Podcast, we're sharing this powerful conversation Jaimie had as a guest on the No Guilt Mom podcast! We talked all things queer family building, parenting with purpose, standing up (loudly) for what’s right—and yes, even voiceover work and musical theater. Enjoy this bonus episode while you wait for what's coming next!

Upstanders vs. Bystanders: Embracing Allyship for LGBTQ Families Everywhere with Jaimie Kelton

What do you get when you mix voiceover talent, musical theatre chops, and two kids made with...

🎉 Bonus Episode Drop! 🎉

While Jaimie gears up for Season 20 of The Queer Family Podcast—launching this August!—she's sharing this bonus episode from her recent guest appearance on the No One Told Us podcast. It’s a beautiful conversation about queer parenting, representation, and the honest, hilarious chaos of raising kids while gay. Enjoy this sneak peek into what’s to come next season!

Episode 92: Celebrating Queer Families & Normalizing Representation with Jaimie from the Queer Family Podcast

In this episode Rachael welcomes Jaimie, the creator of the Queer Family Podcast, for a vibrant and heartfelt...

Haven and Koy's journey to parenthood included IVF, IUIs, anonymous and known donors, multiple moves, and ultimately foster care—where they met and adopted their 6-year-old son, River. In this final episode of our Pride Extravaganza, they open up to our host, Jaimie Kelton, about what it’s really like navigating foster-to-adopt as queer parents, how loss and resilience shaped their parenting journey, and how all of it inspired a new film.

Oh—and did we mention River is the star of that film?

This episode is loud, joyful, chaotic, and beautifully honest—just like queer fa...

Can cis men be lactation consultants? Can trans folks chestfeed? Can someone who had top surgery still make milk? YES, YES, and YES. In this eye-opening Pride Extravaganza episode, Jaimie sits down with Jacob Engelsman, a cisgender queer man, lactation consultant, and author of Lactation for the Rest of Us, a groundbreaking guide designed specifically for queer and trans families. Together, they dive into all the whos, whys, and hows of induced lactation—debunking myths and expanding the conversation around who gets to feed babies with their bodies. Jacob also shares his personal story of love, queerness, and staying co...

Jaimie and her wife Anne share a heartfelt update on Anne's breast cancer journey, including the challenges of chemotherapy, unexpected back surgery, and the support from their community. They discuss upcoming medical procedures and the emotional toll of their experiences. Photographer Suzanne Fiore joins the conversation to offer discounted sessions for queer families, highlighting the importance of capturing family moments. Listeners are encouraged to celebrate and document their families, emphasizing love and resilience within the LGBTQ+ community.

🎉 NYC Queer Fam! Don’t forget to RSVP to the Pride Family Meet-Up on June 28th at Sugar Mouse!

The...

Peggy Gillespie returns to The Queer Family Podcast with even more stories, accolades, and queer advocacy badassery.

Peggy Gillespie, co-founder of Family Diversity Projects and creator of Love Makes a Family and Authentic Selves, is back for our Pride Extravaganza—and she has not slowed down. Since her first appearance on the show, Peggy has been honored by Family Equality, hugged by Katie Couric, and danced her way into queer history. In this episode, host Jaimie Kelton sits down with Peggy to hear about the Family Equality Gala, her powerful new exhibits centering trans and nonbinary folks, an...

Darra Gordon, the new CEO of Family Equality, joins host Jaimie to share her wild, beautiful, and intentional journey to queer parenthood—while simultaneously leading in LGBTQ+ advocacy. In a conversation filled with laughs, wisdom, and the occasional tween meltdown tangent, Dara opens up about trying to conceive at the same time as her wife, choosing donors (yes, plural), navigating unexpected challenges, and raising three incredible kids—including a nonbinary teen—in a world that’s not always built for queer families. Plus, they discuss why Family Equality’s work matters more than ever in our current political climate.

🎙️ "W...