Infertility is often treated as a medical problem waiting for a solution. But for many women, the deeper questions begin after diagnosis.

Samantha speaks with Leigh Snead, author of Infertile but Fruitful, about the emotional, spiritual, and relational realities of infertility — and the challenge of understanding the meaning of spiritual motherhood when life unfolds differently than expected.

Together they explore how faith reframes suffering, vocation, and hope without reducing them to easy answers.

In this episode:

The lived experience of infertility beyond clinical language

Marriage, identity, and waiting

Christian understandings of fruitfulness

Finding meaning when life diverges from long-held expectations

Buy the book:

Infertile But Fruitful

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Language does more than describe reality. Over time, it teaches us how to see it.

In this episode of Brave New Us, Samantha shares a reading and reflection connected to her spiritual fiction project, The Bellbind Letters, exploring how cultural change often begins not with laws or technologies, but with shifts in vocabulary — especially around the body, femininity, and identity.

What happens when familiar words slowly take on new meanings? And how does language shape the way a society understands what it means to be human?

This episode opens a larger season-long conversation about embodiment, fertility, health, and the search for a more grounded way of living in a technological age.

In this episode:

How language quietly reshapes culture

Why debates about the body are often linguistic before they are political

Fiction as a tool for cultural and moral imagination

Setting the stage for conversations on infertility, health, and embodied life

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The Bellbind Letters

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In a culture that normalizes medical means for non-medical problems, where do we draw the line in the pursuit of beauty?

In This Episode
We explore the ethics of cosmetic procedures—from “baby Botox” and fillers to plastic surgery—and what they communicate about our bodies, our worth, and our deepest desires. Through the story of “Katie” and reflections from Theology of the Body, we ask:

Does altering a healthy body help us love ourselves…or teach us to reject the gift we’ve been given?

Is cosmetic “enhancement” actually making women more confident, or more insecure?

How do we distinguish healing therapies from enhancements driven by cultural pressure?

What does aging reveal about love, humility, and what lasts forever?

Mentioned & Linked in This Episode

Essay: Reject and Inject: The Ethics of Cosmetic Procedures

Concepts from Theology of the Body (St. John Paul II)

Reflections inspired by the life of Servant of God Chiara Corbella Petrillo

Cultural trends: “Sephora kids,” filters, and beauty consumerism

Resources from Samantha

Brave New Us podcast back catalog

Essays on biotechnology, beauty culture, and being human at choosinghuman.org

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Grow Where You’re Planted — preorder bonuses include a downloadable list of favorite non-toxic products

Join the Conversation
Have thoughts on this episode or beauty culture? Join the discussion at choosinghuman.org.

If this episode resonated with you, consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts—it helps others find the show.

Is assisted suicide compassionate—or is it a cultural failure to respond humanely to suffering?

In this episode of Brave New Us, host Samantha Stephenson speaks with author and bioethics speaker Stephanie Gray Connors about physician-assisted suicide, euthanasia, and end-of-life ethics in the age of medical and technological power. Drawing on her book On Assisted Suicide (Word on Fire’s Dignity series), Stephanie examines how language like “death with dignity” and “medical aid in dying” reshapes our moral imagination—and why dignity is not something we lose when we suffer.

From Canada’s rapidly expanding MAiD program to suicide pods in Europe and growing pressure on doctors and patients alike, this conversation explores what happens when a culture begins to treat death as a solution. We discuss suffering, autonomy, coercion, meaning, and the profound human need for relationship at the end of life.

If you’re wrestling with questions about assisted suicide, euthanasia, medical ethics, or how to speak compassionately about death and dignity, this episode offers clarity without abstraction—and hope without denial.

In this episode, we explore:

Assisted suicide vs. natural death: what’s the ethical difference?

Why “death with dignity” is a misleading phrase

Canada’s MAiD program and rising assisted-death rates

How normalization creates pressure on the elderly, disabled, and poor

The illusion of control at the end of life

Viktor Frankl, meaning, and despair in the face of suffering

What compassionate, life-affirming end-of-life care really looks like

About the guest

Stephanie Gray Connors is an author and international speaker on bioethics, abortion, assisted suicide, and human dignity. She is the author of On Assisted Suicide in the Word on Fire Dignity Series and has debated and presented on life issues across North America. Originally from Canada and now living in the United States, she brings firsthand insight into the ethical and cultural consequences of legalized assisted suicide.

Mentioned in this episode

On Assisted Suicide — Stephanie Gray Connors

Suicide Pods

Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) in Canada

The Atlantic on assisted suicide and physician pressure

Mother euthanizes 12-year-old daughter

Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

Nick Vujicic and The Butterfly Circus

Mattie Stepanick

Loveunleasheslife.com

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Keep the conversation going at choosinghuman.org

Why are women developing chronic illness at younger ages—and why are they so often dismissed when they seek answers?

In this episode of Brave New Us, bioethicist and chronic illness patient Samantha Stephenson explores why women are disproportionately affected by autoimmune disease, migraines, infertility, depression, and other chronic conditions. Drawing from ethics, medicine, and lived experience, she examines the role of environmental toxins, hormonal contraception, abortion, and inequities in medical research—and asks how women can pursue real healing without ignoring the spiritual meaning of suffering.

In This Episode

Why women are getting sicker at younger ages

Chronic illness, autoimmune disease, and women’s health

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals in beauty, cleaning, and food products

The “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS) loophole

Hormonal birth control as a band-aid—not a cure

Side effects of hormonal contraceptives, including brain changes

Restorative reproductive medicine and NaProTechnology

Abortion and women’s physical and psychological health

Why women are underrepresented in medical research

The ethics of studying women’s bodies

Finding meaning, faith, and intimacy with Christ through suffering

Essays & Articles

Samantha’s Essay (discussed in this episode)

“Why Are Women So Sick?” — Claire the Catholic Feminist

Abortion Is the Real Assault on Women— Crisis Magazine

Women Deserve Better Than Abortion — Word on Fire

Books & Films

Your Brain on Birth Control— Sarah E. Hill

Offer It Up: Discovering the Power and Purpose of Redemptive Suffering— Megan Hjelmstad (Blessed Is She)

Hush(documentary)

Women’s Health & Fertility

Natural Cycles App

TempDrop

Other Mentions

Alex Clark

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists on the menstrual cycle as the “fifth vital sign”

Momosophy Substack (Elizabeth Kulze)

Resources from Samantha

Details on Samantha’s chronic illness journey

Grow Where You’re Planted — including a downloadable list of favorite non-toxic products available with preorder

Join the Conversation

Have thoughts on this episode or personal experience with chronic illness?

Subscribe to the newsletter to comment and to receive essays, link roundups, and book updates.

If this episode resonated, consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts—it helps others find the show.

Why are highly educated, ambitious women choosing large families in an age of falling birthrates, frozen eggs, and fertility tech? In this episode, Dr. Catherine Pakaluk joins Brave New Us to unpack her groundbreaking book Hannah’s Children: The Women Who Defied the Birth Dearth.

We explore:

What drives women to embrace motherhood as a vocation—not a fallback

How the fertility crisis and biotech age shape our cultural assumptions about children, work, and worth

Why choosing family is the most radical—and future-focused—choice a woman can make today

About the guest:
Dr. Catherine Pakaluk is a professor of social research and economic thought at the Catholic University of America and a mother of eight.

Mentioned in the Episode

Get Hannah’s Children

A Catholic Guide to Infertility with John DiCamillo

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Keep the conversation going at bravenewus.substack.com

Grab a copy of Samantha’s book Reclaiming Motherhood—a theology of the body for motherhood in the age of reproductive technologies.

Stacy Trasancos, author of IVF Is Not the Way, joins Samantha to unpack the hidden costs and ethical challenges of IVF and fertility technology. Drawing on her science background and faith, Stacy reveals why IVF often falls short—and why natural fertility awareness and restorative reproductive medicine offer hope that’s overlooked by mainstream medicine.

We explore how the fertility industry profits from desperation, the ethical dilemmas of embryo freezing and manipulation, and how couples can reclaim control of their fertility through informed, compassionate alternatives.

Links mentioned in the episode:

IVF Is Not the Way by Stacy Trasancos

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If this conversation opened your eyes to what stem cell therapy can do, please:

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Grab a copy of Samantha’s book Reclaiming Motherhood, a theology of the body for motherhood in an age of reproductive technologies.

In this episode of Brave New Us, Dr. Nathanael Blake joins host Samantha Stephenson to discuss his bold new book, Victims of the Revolution: How Sexual Liberation Hurts Us All. Together, they unpack how a movement that promised personal freedom has led to cultural confusion, emotional harm, and deep philosophical contradictions.

We explore:

What sets Victims of the Revolution apart from other critiques of the Sexual Revolution

Why the revolution’s “freedom” often means detaching the self from the body

The real-life consequences for the most vulnerable—especially women and children

What a more truthful and embodied view of human nature might look like

Dr. Blake reveals the philosophical roots and political consequences of sexual liberation—and why reclaiming a sane, integrated view of the human person is key to healing what’s broken.

Mentioned in the Episode

Victims of the Revolution: How Sexual Liberation Hurts Us All
Nathanael Blake at the EPPC: https://eppc.org/author/nathanael_blake/

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Grab a copy of Samantha’s book Reclaiming Motherhood, a theology of the body for motherhood in an age of reproductive technologies.

When does medicine cross the line from healing to harm?

In this episode of Brave New Us, bioethicist and nurse researcher Kallie Fell, Executive Director of the Center for Bioethics and Culture (CBC), joins Samantha Stephenson to expose critical ethical questions around reproductive technologies, gender medicine, and medical consent.

We dig into:

The hidden risks and ethical concerns of IVF, egg donation, and commercial surrogacy

How “informed consent” often fails in fertility treatments and gender-affirming care

The rapid rise of pediatric gender clinics and controversies surrounding transgender medical interventions for minors

What the CBC is uncovering about the commodification of human bodies in reproductive and gender medicine

How profit motives influence both the fertility industry and gender-affirming healthcare

Why women and vulnerable populations often bear the brunt of unregulated medical innovation

This episode offers a clear-eyed look at the intersection of bioethics, reproductive technology, gender medicine, and medical ethics, asking what it truly means to protect human dignity in an age of rapid biomedical change.

Mentioned in the Episode

Center for Bioethics and Culture

CBC Documentaries

Paul Ramsey Institute

The Detransition Diaries book

Kallie on X

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Grab a copy of Samantha’s book Reclaiming Motherhood—a theology of the body for motherhood in the age of reproductive technologies.

Grayson Quay joins Samantha Stephenson to expose the seductive logic of transhumanism—and the moral and spiritual cost of buying in. From AI and brain chips to synthetic immortality and gene editing, the push to “upgrade” the human experience promises power but may unravel what makes us human.

This conversation cuts through the hype to reveal what’s really at stake. Is transhumanism a scientific breakthrough or a new form of worship? What happens when we lose our reverence for the body and our humility before its limits?

Topics we cover:
– Why transhumanism is less science, more spiritual counterfeit
– The link between tech worship and ancient heresies
– What the push to overcome nature reveals about modern despair
– Whether enhancement is actually a form of self-erasure

Mentioned in this episode:

The Transhumanist Temptation

Grayson Quay on X

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Leave a Review + Share the Show
If this conversation opened your eyes to what stem cell therapy can do, please:

Rate and review Brave New Us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

Share this episode with a friend, patient group, or doctor

Keep the conversation going at bravenewus.substack.com!

Grab a copy of Samantha’s book Reclaiming Motherhood, a theology of the body for motherhood in an age of reproductive technologies.