Nikole Ramsay grew up in a tumbling, hectic, people-filled household as the youngest of four kids. A self-confessed tomboy and late bloomer, Nik remembers the fun and chaos of a big family quickly shrinking as each of her three siblings grew up and left home.

She was left as an only, sometimes lonely child, in a quiet house in the suburbs, yearning for the abundance of a big and bustling family again.

Nik eventually grew up too, as we do, and left home to study, live and work overseas as a successful photographer, when she and her husband decided in their mid-30’s they wanted to start a family.

But after taking five years to conceive their son, they struggled to conceive again, and so together they began researching and considering the idea of fostering a child.

This episode steps into the seams of that story, and explores Nik and her husband’s eventual fostering of their now daughter.

We explore the uncertainties, hopes, expectations and emotions that surface when you open your heart and your home to bring a precious and vulnerable little stranger into your family fold. 

The journey has been filled with both joy and challenge, and at times, like all of us as parents, Nik wondered whether she could manage the emotional and relational strain of foster parenting.

But Nik describes her daughter as her greatest teacher and mirror to her own self and story, as she seeks to understand the role of nature and nurture in human development, and the unseen family forces that shape us all.

Guest: Nikole Ramsay
Website: nikoleramsay.com
Australian Foster Care Association 
Socials: Instagram, Facebook

Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine Grummet
Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax

Human Cogs is available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or via our website.

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