Since having their children by surrogacy, Mike and his partner have been advocating for equality in surrogacy as well as modernising guidelines and laws. They have also tirelessly supported many others through their surrogacy journeys. In this episode, Zoe speaks to Mike about his own experience to becoming a parent with his partner Wes, the challenges they had, the many positives and why they are so passionate about changing many of the conversations around surrogacy. KEY TAKEAWAYS Children were always on the cards for Mike and Wes. Mike had previously been married to a woman and one of the ..read more

An honest and insightful episode where Zoe speaks to Sarah of the Instagram account @sarah_and_marnie. Sarah talks to Zoe about finding out her baby had downs syndrome during pregnancy and life now with her beautiful 3-year-old Marnie, who teaches her something new every day.   KEY TAKEAWAYS Sarah met her husband Colin at a NYE party. They started trying for a baby quite early on as they were both in their early forties. Sarah had children from previous relationships but Colin didn’t have any children yet and Sarah surprised herself by being very open to the idea. Sarah fell pregnant aft ..read more

In this episode, Zoe speaks with Nina Willer, a diabetes specialist midwife and a type 1 diabetic herself. Nina opens up about her own journey to conceive, including her struggles with infertility and delves deep into the implications of diabetes in pregnancy and motherhood.   KEY TAKEAWAYS Nina met her husband at work in a surf shop before she became a midwife and now it has gone full circle and they work together again! Nina developed her diabetes when she was 21, having looked at a lot of research she believes that the cause was an already existing pre-disposition to diabetes and then ..read more

ABOUT THE GUEST @julie.audette julie@coethical.com @coethical @themovement.ae https://www.rmhc.org Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS) Parents - Peer support for families who have gone through, are going through or seeking more information about Twin to Twin Transfusion: https://www.facebook.com/Twin-to-Twin-Transfusion-Syndrome-TTTS-Parents-Arabia-1699149873687130 ABOUT THE HOST Zoe Cresswell Devoted mother of two (and a big hairy dog), UK trained midwife, doula and personal trainer, specialising in pre and postnatal fitness. Zoe was born in the UK and before moving to Dubai in 2013 and ..read more

In this episode, Zoe speaks to Tia about her journey with Lee to creating a family. They talk about the many failed IVF attempts, her experience of care, using an egg donor and the impact this has had on Tia’s emotional and physical health.   KEY TAKEAWAYS   Tia met her husband Lee online on a dating app. They would spend hours on the phone talking at the beginning, they then had their nervous first date and the rest is history. After 18 months of trying to become pregnant, Tia and Lee went to the Dr and they found that Tia’s bloods showed she had a very low chance of conceiving a c ..read more

In this honest and brave episode Zoe speaks with Hannah Sinnott. Hannah talks about her beautiful daughter Cora, who tragically died of birth complications at just 24 hours old. They discuss Hannah’s journey to motherhood, her tragic birth story and the difficulty of being pregnant again after such a devastating loss.   KEY TAKEAWAYS Hannah married her husband Joe in 2015 after meeting at university. They went on honeymoon to Thailand and made the decision not to come back and travelled for 18 months. Hannah and Joe have always been family orientated and Hannah has always loved children ..read more

Welcome back to the second series of Motherhood Exposed, where your host, mother, midwife, doula and personal trainer Zoe Cresswell explores the ups, downs and often complicated parts of motherhood. In this episode, Zoe returns to speak to Sophie Martin, known on Instagram and in the blogging world as the infertile midwife, to revisit her story of infertility, loss and the journey to her now 7-week old baby boy, Percy. To hear the previous episode with Sophie, go to episode 12.   KEY TAKEAWAYS Sophie did a frozen transfer of IVF and incredibly it worked first time. It was the beginning o ..read more

In this episode, Zoe speaks with mother of four daughters, Leona Bugden. Leona talks about her experience of being a teenage mum and now parenting her eldest daughter who is a teenager herself. Leona also has three younger children with her husband Ross. She talks about her experiences with the NICU as well as pregnancy and birth during covid.     KEY TAKEAWAYS     Leona found out she was pregnant with her first child at just 18. It was a huge shock, it took her a while to take a test as she kept having periods and was on the pill. At first Leona didn’t even consider that ..read more

This episode is part 2 of a double episode with Kreena Dhiman. If you haven’t listened to part 1 yet, go back to the previous episode of the podcast.   An incredible story full of strength, inspiration and told by Kreena in such a positive and empowering way.     KEY TAKEAWAYS     When Kreena was in intensive care in Canada she received a message from a potential surrogate. This made Kreena feel so much positivity and gave her hope for the future. This surrogate had such an appreciation for the intended mother of the child, she was never someone who wanted to be show ..read more

This episode is part 1 of 2 with Kreena Dhiman. In this first part Kreena talks about her background story to becoming a mum, after being diagnosed with stage three breast cancer and then 3 years later suffering from heart failure.   An incredible story full of strength, inspiration and told by Kreena in such a positive and empowering way. Listen to part 2 for Kreena’s surrogacy journey.     KEY TAKEAWAYS   Kreena met her husband when working part time before university but they didn’t start dating until they both graduated and moved back home. There were some initial diff ..read more