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Paula always wanted to be a mom, and she always assumed her path to Motherhood would look like getting married in her late twenties and having a baby before 30. When that timeline didn't materialize, …

Paula always wanted …

Paula always wanted to be a mom, and she always assumed her path to motherhood would look like getting married in her late twenties and having a baby before 30. When that timeline didn't materialize, she realized she didn’t want to wait for a romantic partner to become a mom. So she froze her eggs, found a sperm donor, got pregnant and gave birth on her own. Paula kept an audio diary from the first year of her daughter’s life. In this episode we listen as she navigates the joys and challenges of motherhood, as well as her journey of building a Parenting village without a co-parent. Connect…

Brad and Alyssa tried for three years to have a baby. After multiple miscarriages, five failed IVF embryo transfers and a diagnosis of "unexplained infertility", they eventually turned to surrogacy. T…

Brad and Alyssa trie…

Brad and Alyssa tried for three years to have a baby. After multiple miscarriages, five failed IVF embryo transfers and a diagnosis of "unexplained infertility", they eventually turned to surrogacy. That turned out to be the path that finally opened the door to parenthood, but it wasn’t the end of their journey. During their surrogate’s pregnancy they got a surprise that changed the course of how they were building a family.  _ Connect with us:  EMAIL: [email protected].  WEBSITE INSTAGRAM _ Our team  Host: Julia Winston Producer: Claire McInerny  Audio Engineer: Josh Gilbert Th…

When Sage bought a small pink house in Boulder, Colorado, she had no idea her next-door neighbor would become something closer to family. Over the last 18 years, Sage and Margaret wove their lives tog…

When Sage bought a s…

When Sage bought a small pink house in Boulder, Colorado, she had no idea her next-door neighbor would become something closer to family. Over the last 18 years, Sage and Margaret wove their lives together, sharing meals, childcare, Grief, and joy, in ways neither of them could have planned. Their story is a quiet argument for proximity, and for building family with the people closest to you.  _ Connect with us:  EMAIL: [email protected].  WEBSITE INSTAGRAM _ Our team  Host: Julia Winston Producer: Claire McInerny  Audio Engineer: Josh Gilbert Theme Music: Luke Top – We are a membe…

Years ago, Lauren Makler was diagnosed and treated for a rare abdominal disease. Doctors told her her ovaries might not survive the surgeries she needed, so when she conceived her first child without …

Years ago, Lauren Ma…

Years ago, Lauren Makler was diagnosed and treated for a rare abdominal disease. Doctors told her her ovaries might not survive the surgeries she needed, so when she conceived her first child without any assistance, she was shocked. She took that feeling of having a baby despite the odds and turned it into her business, Cofertility. She wanted anyone who wanted kids to have access to fertility Technology, and not let cost stand in their way. People who freeze their eggs with Cofertility don’t have to pay for the procedure (or storage) if they donate some of their eggs to a family looking for…

Julia and Claire are both getting married this year (cute!) and the wedding planning process has opened up new refamulating questions for them: who do we include in the celebration? What traditions ar…

Julia and Claire are…

Julia and Claire are both getting married this year (cute!) and the wedding planning process has opened up new refamulating questions for them: who do we include in the celebration? What traditions are important and what do we want to ditch? And what is the best way to take back a wedding invite to all of your extended family (we have tips)! And then they reminisce on Claire’s recent bachelorette party in the woods where everyone talked about their feelings and cried. (And why this was the best!)  _  Subscribe to our newsletter for more refamulating! We share how refamulating looks in our …

For a lot of Americans, it’s getting harder and harder to find community. Fewer people are religious, we move around more and with more things online, we spend less time running errands and interact…

For a lot of America…

For a lot of Americans, it’s getting harder and harder to find community. Fewer people are religious, we move around more and with more things online, we spend less time running errands and interacting with people in real life. In this Refam Chat, Julia talks to Katherine Goldstein, author of the upcoming book "How to Find Your People" and creator of The Double Shift substack, which gives advice on how to cultivate an in person community.  _ Additional Resources:  Check out Katherine’s newsletter, The Double Shift.  Here’s her essay about striking up conversations at the farme…

Our culture spends a lot of time talking about the importance of romantic Love: finding it, keeping it, and normalizing it as THE most important person in your life. But that completely discounts the …

Our culture spends a…

Our culture spends a lot of time talking about the importance of romantic love: finding it, keeping it, and normalizing it as THE most important person in your life. But that completely discounts the deep, meaningful friendships so many of us have. In this Refam Chat, Julia talks with author Rhaina Cohen about her book The Other Significant Others: Reimagining Life With Friendship At The Center. Rhaina and Julia talk about the importance of friendship and how many people (including herself) are living with friends, raising kids together and placing friendships at the center of their lives.  _…

When Ruthie Ackerman was in her late 30s, she realized she wanted to have a baby. But there was a problem- she was married to someone who didn’t. So, she got divorced and began a transformative proc…

When Ruthie Ackerman…

When Ruthie Ackerman was in her late 30s, she realized she wanted to have a baby. But there was a problem- she was married to someone who didn’t. So, she got divorced and began a transformative process to motherhood. In this Refam Chat, Julia talks to Ruthie about her experience with IVF and egg donation to finally get pregnant, what it was like to confront the stories about motherhood she grew up with, and how she’s created a new definition of motherhood for herself and her daughter._Pre-order Ruthie’s memoir The Mother Code now!!!Anyone who pre-orders the book can attend a writing mast…

To wrap season 2, we honor and celebrate the unsung heroes of our emotional lives—our closest friends. While we celebrate romantic milestones with parties and gifts, our friendships—often life's m…

To wrap season 2, we…

To wrap season 2, we honor and celebrate the unsung heroes of our emotional lives—our closest friends. While we celebrate romantic milestones with parties and gifts, our friendships—often life's most enduring Relationships—frequently go unhonored. In this episode, Julia shares an intimate conversation with her platonic soulmate, Lia, about what makes their friendship special and how they’ve stayed close through hard moments that could have separated them. _The episode transcript can be found here. _Subscribe to our newsletter for more refamulating! We write about how refamulating look…

Show Notes: Disagreeing with your family is nothing new. But in the last decade, as politics and culture in the U.S. have become increasingly polarized, so have many of our families. Jedidiah Jenkins…

Show Notes: Disagre…

Show Notes: Disagreeing with your family is nothing new. But in the last decade, as politics and culture in the U.S. have become increasingly polarized, so have many of our families. Jedidiah Jenkins felt this kind of division in his family from a young age when he realized he was gay in an evangelical Christian home. Now an adult, Jedidiah has figured out how to maintain a loving, supportive relationship with his mother despite their ideological differences. In this episode, Jedidiah shares how to set boundaries with a parent and how standing your ground with love can lead to deeper understa…

Almost half of American adults are single, yet we still treat being unpartnered as a problem to solve. But being single is not better or worse than being in a relationship, it’s just a different exp…

Almost half of Ameri…

Almost half of American adults are single, yet we still treat being unpartnered as a problem to solve. But being single is not better or worse than being in a relationship, it’s just a different experience. In this episode, Julia interviews her single friends about what they love about being single and how they navigate a world built for couples. Then she chats with author Glynnis MacNicol about challenging the narrative that women need to be partnered to be happy.  Check out Glynnis MacNicol’s books, No One Tells You This and I’m Mostly Here To Enjoy Myself. You can read her New York…

Erica spent her childhood living with a disability and needing a lot of care from her mom. As an adult, she’s now the caretaker to two children with disabilities. In this episode, Erica talks about …

Erica spent her chil…

Erica spent her childhood living with a disability and needing a lot of care from her mom. As an adult, she’s now the caretaker to two children with disabilities. In this episode, Erica talks about what she learned from her mom as a caregiver, the day to day realities of caring for children who need a lot of assistance and how that impacts her career, her Marriage and her finances. Check out Erica’s newsletter at Caffeinated Caregivers.The song featuring Erica’s musical saw was Solar Eclipse by Jenny Johnson._The episode transcript can be found here. _Connect with us: EMAIL: hello@ref…