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#surrogacy
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Kristen’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristenbellettmartinez?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
Birth can be beautiful, messy, and intensely logistical—especially when you’re carrying for someone else. We sit down with Kristen, a multi-time surrogate and former agency intake coordinator, to trace her path from a pandemic C-section for placenta previa to a confident VBAC with international intended parents racing into the room as the baby crowned. Along the way, she shares what most guides skip: the fourth trimester after surrogacy, the emotional whiplash of shifting contact after delivery, and how hospital routines often ignore surrogacy preferences unless someone speaks up.
Kristen also lifts the curtain on agency intake: why education beats pressure every time, how simple check-ins and care packages change the tone of a journey, and what she learned turning leads into engaged, informed applicants. After a tough year trying to rejoin the industry as staff, she created the Surrogacy Doula program—a virtual service built for surrogates and intended parents that blends monthly support, perinatal nutrition guidance, and real-time messaging with thoughtful mediation when tensions rise. She helps craft surrogacy-savvy birth plans, clarifies roles in the delivery room, and gives IPs practical ways to bond before birth, from shared playlists to mindful rituals that bridge the distance when they didn’t carry the baby themselves.
If you’re weighing VBAC after C-section, navigating domestic vs international IP dynamics, or searching for a surrogacy doula who understands both the paperwork and the heart-work, this conversation is a blueprint. We talk closure language for contracts, setting hospital expectations for immediate skin-to-skin, and how to keep everyone informed without turning the surrogate into the project manager. Listen for grounded, human-tested strategies that make surrogacy safer, kinder, and more connected.
Enjoyed the conversation? Follow, share with a friend who’s exploring surrogacy, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway so we can keep bringing real stories and practical guidance to your feed.
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Chapters

1. Welcome & Sponsor Intro (00:00:00)

2. Meet Kristen: Surrogate To Doula (00:01:19)

3. Discovering Surrogacy & Convincing A Spouse (00:02:09)

4. First Journey During The Pandemic (00:04:33)

5. Agency Work: Intake And Care Packages (00:06:23)

6. Foster Parenting Hurdles (00:08:23)

7. Matching Styles And Relationship Expectations (00:10:15)

8. Domestic vs International IPs (00:12:02)

9. First Birth: Placenta Previa And C‑Section (00:13:09)

10. Recovery, Support Systems, And The Fourth Trimester (00:15:05)

11. Second Journey: VBAC Questions And Risks (00:17:10)

12. Choosing VBAC And Team Communication (00:19:10)

13. Labor Week, Peanut Ball, And Fast Delivery (00:20:40)

14. Hospital Protocols And Surrogacy Boundaries (00:22:20)

15. Family Meetings And Kids Processing Surrogacy (00:24:00)

16. Retiring From Carrying And Finding Purpose (00:25:30)

17. Job Search Roadblocks In The Industry (00:27:05)

18. The Surrogacy Doula: Why And How (00:29:05)

19. Working With Agencies And Setting Packages (00:31:20)

20. Advocacy, Mediation, And Confidential Support (00:33:10)

21. Virtual Birth Support Logistics (00:35:10)

22. Monthly Support, Nutrition, And Education (00:36:45)

23. Birth Plans, Roles, And Healthy Expectations (00:38:20)

24. Bonding Ideas For IPs And Baby (00:40:10)

25. Closure After Birth And Contracts (00:41:35)

26. How To Connect With Kristen (00:43:00)

27. Hosts’ Reflections & Final Credits (00:44:20)

149 episodes