In this episode, Wynne Leon is with my co-host, Dr. Vicki Atkinson, and they are talking about choice and Wynne's journey to parenthood.

Following up on the question a pre-school teacher asked Wynne about how she became a parent, she shares the story of how she started a family as a single person. From the fertility clinic doctor who laid out all the options for getting pregnant as a 45-year-old single woman to some of the interesting facts I learned about in-vitro fertilization along the way, she share the answers that are part of my process.

With Vicki as a trusted guide, we talk about the role that agency and self-determination played in not only choosing to have kids but also as a part of parenting. Wynne often call the power of choice my secret for digging deep on the days that she doesn’t have enough in the tank. Knowing that she's living the life that she's chosen and doing it her own way gives Wynne the extra charge to step it up and also be so grateful for the life that she has.

In this vulnerable podcast, Wynne reveals the fears that I’ve had to work through to become a single parent. How she knew that she was opening herself up to the opinions of others when it comes to building family in a non-traditional way and how those opinions have sometimes been surprising. We talk about Brene Brown and Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey and how sometimes getting to where we need to go has to pass directly through the heart of vulnerability.

Wynne's often written about intertwined the cycle of birth and death was for me. She wrote my book about her dear father in the wake of his sudden death in a bicycle accident almost nine years ago as she was pregnant with Miss O. Vicki teases out the lessons that Wynne gleaned from her dad's special sparkle that Wynne uses in parenting. His specialties of love, curiosity, openness and faith directly come to play as Wynne navigates trying to parent my two precious kids.

And then we end with an incredible question that Vicki asks about what advice Wynne would give to her previous self to guide her through this journey to parenthood that I’ve gone on. It makes Wynne cry to think of all that I’ve gone through in the last ten years, and all the support she's had from family and friends. She talk through some of the quotes and inspiration that have kept her inspired along the way.

This is a deeply personal and wonderfully warm episode about what it looks like when we flip our scripts from fear to love and walk our individual paths through life – and the blessing of great company along the way. We know you’ll love it!

Episode 40 show notes

Vicki’s personal blog: Victoria Ponders

Wynne’s personal blog: Surprised by Joy

Vicki’s recently released book: Surviving Sue

Wynne’s book about her beloved father: Finding My Father’s Faith