Family creation lawyer and surrogate Sarah Jefford explains how surrogacy works in Australia for solo mums — finding a surrogate, altruistic laws, the legal process after birth, overseas surrogacy risks, what intended parents can pay, and how to share your story without advertising. Essential listening if surrogacy is your next step.

Merryn has Sully with an ex who cheated two weeks postpartum, Sinclair via IVF with City Fertility, and baby girl on the way. She does both — co-parenting and solo motherhood by choice — and says solo is easier every time. She’s also built a duplex next door to another solo mum. Practical, warm and completely no-nonsense.

Sam started her solo mum journey at 24 in New Zealand, waited over 3 years for a donor, did IVF at 29 — injecting herself in the back of an ambulance between shifts — and got pregnant on her first frozen Easter transfer. Theo is 8 months. She built a Canterbury solo mum community from a Facebook post and recently got back from Fiji. Warm, funny and overwhelmingly positive.

Reproductive psychologist Narelle Dickinson from Lotus Health and Psychology joins Alisha to explain what implications counselling actually is, what it isn't, how to use a counsellor when you have a recruited known donor, red flags in the unregulated donor space, how to talk to your donor-conceived child as they grow, and where to find an ANZICA-accredited counsellor near you.

Claire started IVF at 30 with endo and a thin endometrial lining, went through 5 failed transfers, two early losses, and landed in the NSW donor audit that nearly ended her access to her chosen donor. She now has Augie, 9 weeks old. Warm, practical, and packed with things nobody told her about the newborn stage.

Brooke spent years in a relationship with a man who didn't want more kids. Her brother's brain aneurysm at 42 was the wake-up call. She started IVF at 43 — 11 eggs, 7 embryos, four transfers, a chemical pregnancy, and a Plan B car — before the fourth transfer worked. Mia was born 10 days after Brooke's 44th birthday. Her dad met Mia before he passed. Honest, warm, and quietly remarkable.

Alex tried a recruited known donor for 12 months, two early miscarriages, stage two endo, and multiple IVF cycles before a double transfer finally worked. She's also a foster mum to a 16-year-old. Ollie is six and a half months — they've already been to Bali, Canberra, Darwin and are heading to Europe. A two-part episode covering the full journey from first try to six months in.

Alisha shares everything that's happened since Season 1 — quitting corporate, four years sober, ADHD diagnosis, My Perfect Family, The Bump Membership, three Bali trips, finding Lexi's donor sibling, school challenges, navigating Father's Day, and today's launch of the SMS Membership. Plus — Jeremy's anniversary, and what she'd tell anyone sitting on the fence.

Kate navigated Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, Asperger's, three rounds of IUI and eight-plus IVF cycles before a natural FET in December brought Amelia. She now lives with her parents in Tasmania, works from home four days a week, and is taking Amelia to Japan. An honest, warm story about persistence, late diagnosis and never giving up.

Dr Michelle Smith from Ova Acupuncture joins Alisha to break down how acupuncture actually supports IVF — blood flow, egg quality, implantation, the parasympathetic nervous system, and when to start. She also covers PCOS, known donor cycles, perimenopause and needle phobia. Plus: Michelle is a solo mum by choice, currently 13 weeks pregnant after her first IVF transfer.

How one solo mum by choice built her family from a Tasmanian town of 35 people: a first-try IUI, gestational diabetes, her son's clubfoot treatment, and the four-generation household that helped raise him. An honest look at solo motherhood outside the big cities, from decision to two and a half years in.

Beth Sadowsky is a solo mum by choice and author of Choosing Rose — a children's picture book for SMBC families that answers the question every donor-conceived child asks: "Mommy, why don't I have a daddy?" We talk about how and when to start the conversation, navigating Father's Day, and why you can't get this wrong. Available on Amazon Australia now.

Nine days after telling her family she was done fighting, Jessica's mum died — leaving Jessica to plan a funeral with her five-month-old in the next room. Part 2 of her story: a COVID homecoming gone wrong, grief and gratitude in the same two hands, a tattoo that says "look for the joy," and why she's chosen to be one and done. Honest, heavy in places, and ends somewhere good.

Jessica set a deadline for solo motherhood at 32 — and spent the years before it on nursing school, bariatric surgery and a 70kg weight loss. Then her mum was diagnosed with terminal cancer right as she started IVF. Part 1 of her story: the donor she found in a single afternoon, a lower-than-hoped egg collection, and the calm caesarean that changed everything.

Emma was 32 with an AMH of 8 when she decided to stop waiting and just do it. One round of IVF, first transfer, pregnant. Franklin is now 17 months old. She talks about the decision, choosing a donor by vibe, an hour-15 active labour, mixed feeding, a wedding at 5 days postpartum, and the work complications nobody prepares you for. A warm, reassuring listen for anyone just starting out.

Kristina had IVF at 38 with an implanted defibrillator, a COVID pregnancy, a baby born with talipes (clubfoot), a miscarriage, then moved back to New Zealand 7 months pregnant with her second. Otis is 5 and Ari is 2 and a half. She's just launched her own business. This episode is for anyone with a health condition who thinks solo motherhood might not be possible for them.

Lindsay is the kind of person who, when she decides something is happening, makes it happen.

She promised herself at 27 — the day she left her marriage — that not having a partner would never mean not having a child. She promised herself again at 30, moving to Scotland on her own without knowing a single person. And she promised herself at 35 that if she was still single, she would make it happen that year. She was. She did.

Most of the stories on this podcast start at the beginning. This one starts seven years down the track — and it's one of the most valuable perspectives we have.

Renee made her first appointment at 37, after a colleague finally said the quiet part loud and told her to just do it already. She did two IUI rounds, had a bad experience with her first IVF clinic and walked away, found Dr David Wilkinson at City Fertility, and on her third and final round — a frozen transfer she specifically advocated for against the default fresh option — fell pregnant with Aria. She was 39.

Ashleigh's story is one of those ones that will genuinely reassure anyone who is at the very beginning of this journey and quietly terrified about how long it might take.

She was 33 when a friend planted the seed about egg freezing. She went to an initial clinic consultation — more curious than committed — and on the same day, a colleague at work mentioned she'd just had a baby via IVF with a sperm donor. Two seeds in one day. Eight months later, Ashleigh was pregnant.

Nearly half of first-time mums are induced in Australia — but most don't know what's actually involved. Midwife and solo mum Nat breaks down the full induction process: bishop scores, balloon catheters, oxytocin drips, epidurals, cascade of interventions, and the difference between hospital policy and your actual medical situation. Essential listening before your third trimester.