New York City psychologist Joann Paley Galst has counseled hundreds of women over the years about dealing with fertility challenges. In her partnership with Choice Moms, she helps educate single women about their options to become mothers -- the realities -- the hopes -- the fears.

In this Choice Chat episode, Joann and I talk about the life span of our eggs. How many eggs need to be frozen for a potential viable pregnancy down the road? At what age are you more likely, and less likely, to produce those healthy eggs? When it is too late, how does she counsel women through their grief? And how does a woman decide between hope and scientific data when discussing treatment options with her doctor?

Thanks to European Sperm Bank of the USA for sponsoring this Choice Chat podcast in 2014.

Visit ChoiceMoms.org for the Choice Mom E-guide: About Eggs.

In this conversation with GenePeeks co-founder Anne Morriss, we talk about the rare genetic issue that led her to create the company... what new technology enables geneticists to do -- and not do... walk through the nature of recessive genes... and learn how GenePeeks weeds out about 15 percent of sperm donors whose particular combination with a woman's genetic make-up might be best to avoid. Though this service is not for everyone, it is new technology for those who are seeking to minimize certain unanticipated risks.

Thanks to European Sperm Bank of the USA for sponsoring this Choice Chat podcast on behalf of the Choice Mom community.

At the Choice Mom networking event in Boston, one of the women we heard from was Holly, who told us in honest detail about her pathway to motherhood through foster adoption. The heartache, the joy, the stress. And, mostly, how a Type A personality as she is has learned to transform and change her pace through the gift of her special needs daughter.

Thanks to European Sperm Bank of the USA for providing the resources so I could bring Holly's story (16:30) to the Choice Mom community through this podcast. -- Mikki

At the Choice Mom Networking Event in Boston (Fall 2013) we had an opportunity to talk with noted fertllity specialist Dr. Vasiliki Moragianni, of Fertility Solutions. In this discussion we hear from her about:

• the hands-on patient-oriented approach of Fertility Solutions
• age-related fertility factors
• the difference between seeing a reproductive endocrinologist and an ob/gyn
• the infertility statute of insurance (applicable in Massachusetts and in many other health plans)
• recommended fertility testing
• how -- at a basic level -- do our eggs work, and when do they start to decline?
• explaining the timing and impact of menopause
• why is IVF successful only some of the time?
• the value of checking SART.org before you select your clinic
• do single women have the same odds as married couples coming to a clinic with infertility issues?

Please forgive the sometimes lacking audio quality. I did not have my trusty sound engineer on hand.

Special thanks to Seattle Sperm Bank (aka European Sperm Bank of USA) for enabling me the time to create this podcast episode.

Thanks to the generous support of the Seattle Sperm Bank (formerly European Sperm Bank of USA), I am able to continue hosting the Choice Chat podcast -- interviews and conversation specifically for single women who are choosing to build a family on their own.

I sat down with Eric Kendall, Clinic Liaison of the Seattle Sperm Bank, to talk about its policies on open-identity donors, family limits, quality and return policies.

The somewhat smaller size of Seattle Sperm Bank enables it to maintain strong policies toward family limits and background checks -- and offers a large number of open-identity donors. 

When faced with the prospect of building a family as a single woman, it can be overwhelming the choices we actually have. What do we really want? This is the process Rachel Lehmann-Haupt, author of “In Her Own Sweet Time,” is currently in, as she decides — as a woman turning 40 — what the right choice for her is. Keep looking for a partner? Use her frozen eggs? Inseminate now? We also talk to Christy Jones, founder of Extend Fertility, about the egg-freezing process.

This is a former "Choosing Single Motherhood" online radio show hosted by Mikki Morrissette in August 2009.

This conversation with Lee Varon, author of “Adopting On Your Own” helps to make the adoption process less overwhelming for the single woman. We talk about the options, the process, the practical issues, and how to pick the right adoption agency.

We also answer specific questions from Choice Moms — and celebrate the fact that “choice mom” was contender for 2009 word of the year by New Oxford American dictionary publishers.

Private domestic adoption is an underestimated choice for many single women, largely because we tend to assume it’s too expensive, the wait time is too long, and that a birth parent in an open adoption (which is much more common these days) is more likely to pick a married couple with money.

We hear from women who are considering adoption, and address their concerns with adoption attorney Micah Salb and Independent Adoption Center agent Jennifer Bliss.

We also discuss the fact that attempting to conceive can take as long, and cost as much, as the adoption process.