Film Review: “Intended Parents”

by The Center for Bioethics and Culture on November 30, 2021

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In our global fight against commercial surrogacy, we routinely find ourselves up against skillfully executed propaganda pieces that tug at the heartstrings and obscure objectivity, causing people to think that the ends justify the means when it comes to surrogacy. Intended Parents is not one of those pieces.  The 32 minute video produced by Dr. […]

The Heartbreaking Truth About Assisted Reproductive Technology

by Kallie Fell, Executive Director on November 30, 2021

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I love it when new research surfaces on women’s and children’s health, specifically in the areas of artificial reproductive technologies (ART) like IVF, egg ‘donation’, and surrogacy. It’s unfortunate that, despite social changes including the women’s rights movement and feminism, we continually fall behind in understanding the female body, and we continually allow #BigFertility to […]

Venus Rising with Dr. Joyce Harper: Fertility, Genetics, and Reproductive Science

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Today on Venus Rising Kallie sits down with reproductive science research expert, author, academic and educator Joyce Harper, BSc, PhD. Currently Dr. Harper is Professor of Reproductive Science at University College London in the Institute for Women’s Health where she is Head of the Reproductive Science and Society Group. She is a Director of the Embryology and PGD Academy and founder of […]

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Has America Had Enough of Radical Transgender Ideology?

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America has had it, and the cracks in the veneer are showing. The expression of our outrage is heard in the chants of “Let’s Go Brandon!” at public events, seen among parents pushing back on radical educational agendas that insert trans ideology into curriculum in places such as the Loudoun County school district in Virginia, where a […]

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Counting Our Blessings

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Dear friends, Motivational speaker and writer William Arthur Ward once said, “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” During this season of thanksgiving, we at the CBC want to hand out gifts of gratitude and make sure that we explicitly express how grateful we are for your […]

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Venus Rising with Jennifer Block: Why Health Care Needs a Feminist Revolution

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Welcome back to Venus Rising, now available on Spotify, iTunes, and Podomatic.! Today we have award winning independent journalist and author Jennifer Block on the show. We will be talking with Jennifer about her work including her newest book,  Everything Below The Waist: Why Health Care Needs a Feminist Revolution (St. Martin’s Press). You might have read her work in The BMJ, […]

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When Giving the Gift of Life Costs You Your Life

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Due to the advocacy and educational work I do around the medical, ethical, and legal risks involved in surrogate pregnancies, I was recently alerted that another U.S. gestational surrogate died. Lydia Cox died July 18, 2021, at the age of 33. She was married and the mother of four children. Per her husband Trey’s TikTok message, Lydia […]

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Children Are Not Leftovers to be Frozen

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I recently read an article that called to mind a Daryl Hannah quote from the movie, “Steel Magnolias.” Hannah plays Annelle, a young woman who has prepared a dish for the funeral of Shelby, played by Julia Roberts, saying, “It’s in the ‘Freezes Beautifully’ section of my cookbook, and I want to make something that freezes beautifully.” […]

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Exploring the Intersection of Sexual Politics and Women’s Rights

Welcome back to another interesting episode of Venus Rising, now available on Spotify, iTunes, and Podomatic. This week Kallie sits down with a young freelance writer and literary scholar, Donovan Cleckley.  Donovan holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Montevallo and a Master of Arts in English from Tulane University. His research focuses on the relationship between women’s […]

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October News from the CBC!

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Dear friends, “I want people to know how traumatic that [surrogacy] was. Whenever I talk about it puts me back in that place and I feel all of the things I was feeling when I had to go through that.” We hope these words sound familiar and that you have had an opportunity to listen […]

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China’s Family Planning Crisis

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China seems to struggle with family planning. For many years, China limited household size by only allowing parents to have one child- or pay a penalty. This was to slow population growth. Well, the tides have changed and now China needs more kids! Anyone else see this, or the bachelor crisis from sex-selective female abortions, […]

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How Today’s Healthcare System is Failing Women

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Welcome back to Venus Rising. Today’s guest is Jasmine Esmay, a Registered Nurse Certified in Inpatient Obstetrics with over 20 years of frontline healthcare experience. Jasmine is also a Certified Lactation Counselor and an Internationally Board Certified Lactation Consultant.  Jasmine believes that lifelong health and strong family relationships start with pregnancy and birth. Families today face almost insurmountable struggles when it […]

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COVID-19 and Surrogacy

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We are quickly approaching the second anniversary of what was the start of a virus that has wrecked our mental and physical health, invaded our safety and comfort, ruined our economy and personal finances, and forever impacted our lives and our world. At the start of the pandemic Jennifer and I were closely following news […]

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My Surrogacy Nightmare: Toni’s Story

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On today’s episode of Venus Rising, Kallie sits down with the fearless advocate, Toni Bare. In 2016 Toni agreed to be a gestational surrogate for a couple with hopes that she would make enough money to pay for her own fertility treatment. Toni’s experience as a surrogate mother was so horrific  and harmful she has committed to publicly speaking out against […]

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A Whirlwind Summer at the CBC!

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Dear friends, We’re not sure how your summer went, but ours went by in the blink of an eye. Where did the time go? We typically take the summer off from sending you letters, hoping you are away on some exotic vacation or just enjoying a slower pace. And we take a break on sending […]

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The Rarity of Twin Adoption Versus the Reality of Surrogacy

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As former U.S. presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg and his husband Chasten Glezman Buttigieg released a photo of themselves holding their new twins, Penelope Rose, and Joseph August Buttigieg, social media lit up with comments and speculations about how and where their babies came from. There was a lot of righteous indignation like, “Why are they […]

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Surrogacy Wreaked Havoc On My Health

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Hello and welcome back to Venus Rising Season THREE, now available on Spotify, iTunes, and Podomatic. We have so many wonderful guests lined up for this season. Before introducing someone new, we decided to kick-off season three with someone you met last season, Alyssia Wood. Kallie spoke with Alyssia about her experience as a surrogate mother, but only […]

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Are Our Children a Means to an End?

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I recently read a fascinating ethics consult about the topic of savior siblings. A savior sibling refers to the creation of a genetically matched embryo that will be implanted, and after birth used to be the savior of a sick sibling in need of a donor. Typically, the savior sibling provides bone marrow or stem cells from […]

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