Message in a Bottle with Kaleigh Karnal
Hosted by the donor conceived novice journalist Kaleigh Karnal, the Message in a Bottle podcast investigates the anonymous sperm and egg donation industry, one person at a time.
She sits down with her own sperm donor father, half-siblings, and other members of the donor conceived community to talk about how at-home DNA kits can turn your life upside down, the dangerous realities of an unregulated system, navigating new family relationships, and much more.
CONTACT: [email protected]
- Update frequency
- every 6 days
- Average duration
- 58 minutes
- Episodes
- 17
- Years Active
- 2021 - 2022
Cora: Finding Her Daughter's 'Egg Mama'
Meet Cora. After struggling with secondary infertility, her and her husband decided to use an egg donor to have another child. Cora thought they'd picked an open donor - turns out, she was wrong. Lis…
Four Moms, One Donor
Melissa L: Discovery & Community
Down The Reddit Rabbit Hole
After falling down the Reddit rabbit hole, Kaleigh was reminded of how misconceptions control the narrative about anonymous donation. So, this week, she sat down to share what she's learned about don…
Eric: a Donor Conceived Person of Color
Meet Eric: a POC from the Midwest who found out he was sperm donor conceived as an adult. Listen as Kaleigh and Eric discuss family trees vs. 'family vines', being a minority within a minority, and m…
Melissa B: the U.S. Donor Conceived Council
Meet Melissa: she's egg donor conceived and the VP of Development at the US Donor Conceived Council, or DCC, which is a nonprofit organization that advocates for the rights of donor conceived people.…
Sarah: Using a Known Sperm Donor
Meet Sarah: a newly pregnant mom who used a known sperm donor! Listen as Kaleigh and Sarah discuss her family's decision to use a known donor, how they found him, being a young mom, wanting what's be…
Should I Become a Sperm Donor?
This week, Kaleigh has a fascinating conversation with a man who is considering becoming a sperm donor. They discuss what motivates a person to donate sperm, how it might affect his life and the live…
Joëlle: Curiosity & Discovery
Meet Joëlle: donor conceived, student, and activist from the Netherlands! Raised in a two mom household, Joëlle was always curious about her donor, who she eventually met and is now neighbors with! L…
Freya: Donor Conceived & Recipient Mom
Meet Freya: an English mom to a donor conceived child and is donor conceived herself. Listen as we discuss growing up with two moms, Freya and her wife's process of having their own child via donor s…
Peter: Author & Advocate
Meet Peter: grandfather, best selling author, and advocate for the rights of the donor conceived. After discovering that he was donor conceived in 1995, Peter set out to learn everything he could abo…
Jonathan: on Being “50% a Stranger”
Meet Jonathan: a donor conceived person who discovered the truth about his identity through a commercial DNA test in his 40's. Listen as we discuss this life-altering news, his relationships with his…
Danny: Secrecy, Identity, & Shame
Meet Danny: a donor conceived person and co-host of The Best Life Podcast. Born in California in the early 80s, Danny found out her parents used donor sperm at age 13 when her dad casually revealed t…
Morgan: 50 Young Half-Siblings
Meet Morgan: a 26-year-old donor conceived person raised by two moms. A few years ago, Morgan's understanding of her donor and her family changed when she discovered that her bio-father donated sperm…
The Case of the Missing Vials
Kaleigh investigates a misunderstanding with California Cryobank in 2001 that led to the birth of a much younger half-sister in 2008. She also gets into the technical aspects of sperm donation and fi…
A Conversation with My Sperm Donor
7 years after discovering her sperm donor's identity through a spontaneous Google search, Kaleigh and Donor 5182 sit down to talk about his decision to donate sperm, telling his family, receiving 15-…
The Children of Donor 5182
Welcome to the show! In this first episode, Kaleigh and her boyfriend Bryce do an FAQ about anonymous sperm donation and discuss the brief version of her experience as a donor-conceived person. We th…