I open season six of the podcast with the jaw-dropping story of a family who fled France after the authorities targeted them for freebirthing their baby.

Katie initially planned a homebirth for her first child, but during labor, her midwife transferred her to the hospital, where she was given no option but to have a cesarean section. When Katie became pregnant with her second child, her family had relocated from the United States to Paris, France, due to a job transfer. Because of her prior cesarean, no midwife in France was willing to attend her birth.

Faced with the prospect of another hospital experience as her only option, Katie chose to freebirth her baby. The birth was beautiful, but trouble arose when the family tried to obtain a birth certificate. Since there was no record of medical care during her pregnancy and no official attendant at the birth, the French authorities retaliated. After a series of bureaucratic encounters with government and medical officials, Katie learned that French Child Protective Services planned to remove her children from her care.

With emergency passports issued by the American embassy and all their belongings still in Paris, Katie and her family fled the country, eventually making it back to the United States.

Katie went on to have a third baby, another freebirth, which brought her healing, closure, and invaluable lessons. She is now planning to write a book about her extraordinary experience. You can follow her journey on Instagram at @thek80show.

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Do you have a birth story you'd like to share on the podcast, or would like to otherwise connect? I love to hear from you! Send me a note at [email protected]

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Intro / outro music: Dreams by Markvard

Podcast cover photo by Karina Jensen @karinajensenphoto