{"podcast":{"title":"Infertile AF: Infertility and Modern Family Building through ART","slug":"infertile-af-infertility-and-modern-family-building-through-art-206488","podcast_index_feed_id":206488,"rss_url":"https://feeds.redcircle.com/0de6df85-dd92-47bc-acde-76dd6447d1ea","website_url":"https://redcircle.com/shows/infertile-af-infertility-and-modern-family-building-through-art","image_url":"https://media.redcircle.com/images/2024/7/19/21/e5a0e5ee-7c22-4dbd-9c0d-4970df7981ce__4796d451-1a0b-470a-b769-96fb152be1d9_img_0661.jpg","author":"Alison Prato","episode_count":387,"summary":"In this unfiltered podcast about infertility, Brooklyn-based journalist and mom-of-two Ali Prato, who went through secondary infertility and IVF herself, talks to women—and some men—about the messy, frustrating, painful, heartbreaking, absurd and sometimes hilarious journey to have a baby. Or in some cases, to not have a baby. Each episode tells a different story about family building, getting real about miscarriages, egg freezing, sperm and egg donation, IUIs, endometriosis, male factor infertility, adoption, surrogacy, genetic testing, single parenting by choice, LGBTQ+ fertility, living childless not by choice, depression, relationship issues, money issues, jealousy, PTSD, and so much more. Ali covers all of the outcomes in this safe, non-judgement zone: the happy endings, the soul-crushingly sad ones, and the ones still in limbo.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-12T18:18:07.711380+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/infertile-af-infertility-and-modern-family-building-through-art-206488"},"episode":{"title":"The True Story Behind Ali's Children's Book, Beautiful Bird: Helen, Aaron and Blake on Love, Friendship, Donor Conception, Surviving the NICU and Building a Beautiful Modern Family","slug":"the-true-story-behind-ali-s-children-s-book-beautiful-bird-helen-aaron-and-blake-on-love-friendship-donor-conception-surviving-the-nicu-and-building-a-beautiful-modern-family","published_at":"2026-06-25T16:55:40+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/infertile-af-infertility-and-modern-family-building-through-art-206488/the-true-story-behind-ali-s-children-s-book-beautiful-bird-helen-aaron-and-blake-on-love-friendship-donor-conception-surviving-the-nicu-and-building-a-beautiful-modern-family","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/infertile-af-infertility-and-modern-family-building-through-art-206488","url":"https://www.infertileafgroup.com/podcast","audio_url":"https://audio1.redcircle.com/episodes/c526ae8d-c755-4df0-95b6-630847474714/stream.mp3","summary":"Today’s episode is a really special one because Ali is sitting down with three of her favorite people in the world: Helen, Aaron, and Blake—the real-life family behind her “Work of ART” children's book, Beautiful Bird . If you’ve read the book, then you already know a little bit about Jack Bird, the incredible boy at the center of the story. And today, you’re going to hear the real origin story. This is a conversation about love, friendship, family building, and creating a family that looks different than what many of us grew up seeing—but is every bit as beautiful. Helen always knew she wanted to be a mom, and as a solo mom by choice, she embarked on a journey to build her family with the help of her dear friend Aaron. At the time, Aaron was building a life with his partner, Blake, and together, the three of them created a beautiful, intentional village around Jack from the very beginning. Ali, Helen, Blake and Aaron talk about fertility treatments, donor conception, LGBTQ+ family building, and what it means to redefine family in a way that puts love, honesty, and a child's well-being first. They also talk about one of the most difficult chapters of their journey: Jack's unexpected 33-day stay in the NICU after he was born, and how that experience shaped all of them as parents and as a family. Most of all, this is a story about showing up for one another. It's about friendship becoming family, about creating your own blueprint, and about the many different ways people can build a loving home. Snag a copy of Beautiful Bird for just $15 here: https://www.infertileafgroup.com/books EPISODE SPONSORS: THE WORK OF ART BOOK SERIES Ali's Children's Book Series about IVF, IUI and Family Building Through Assisted Reproductive Technology https://www.infertileafgroup.com/books Th…","meta_description":"Today’s episode is a really special one because Ali is sitting down with three of her favorite people in the world: Helen, Aaron, and Blake—the real-life…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":4164,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/infertile-af-infertility-and-modern-family-building-through-art-206488/episodes/the-true-story-behind-ali-s-children-s-book-beautiful-bird-helen-aaron-and-blake-on-love-friendship-donor-conception-surviving-the-nicu-and-building-a-beautiful-modern-family/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/infertile-af-infertility-and-modern-family-building-through-art-206488/the-true-story-behind-ali-s-children-s-book-beautiful-bird-helen-aaron-and-blake-on-love-friendship-donor-conception-surviving-the-nicu-and-building-a-beautiful-modern-family.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}