Katie Bryan grew up in a nuclear family in Texas, and always dreamed her future family would include a doting husband, a beautiful house in the suburbs, and of course, children. She spent almost 20 years searching for the right partner so she could make this dream come true, but at 39 she was still single and child-free. That’s when she realized she didn’t have to wait for a husband, she could have a baby on her own. In this episode Katie shares her emotional journey of releasing the idea of what a family should look like, and building the family of her dreams. 

Learn more about solo motherhood by choice at Katie's website.

Listen to Katie’s podcast, The Single Greatest Choice.

_

The episode transcript can be found here. 

_

Subscribe to our Substack for more refamulating! We write about how refamulating looks in our lives, share resources we’re using as we make this show and share special bonus content for paid subscribers.

_

Connect with us: 

EMAIL: [email protected]. 

WEBSITE

INSTAGRAM

TIK TOK

_

Our team 

Host: Julia Winston

Producer: Claire McInerny 

Manager of Engagement: Grace Barry

Audio Engineer: Josh Gilbert

Theme Music: Luke Top

–

We are a member of the Feelings and Co network. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A lot of us refamulating have faced a similar challenge: as we choose a new path or carve out a different role in a family, we realize there is no name for us. A step-parent wants a more warm and loving name. An egg or sperm donor with an emotional tie to the family doesn’t want to be referred to by this clinical title. Or maybe a close friend plays an important role to your kids but isn’t technically an aunt or uncle.

On this Refam Chat, Julia and Claire talk about their own struggle with names, and read some of the names you all shared with us on Instagram for your unique family roles.

A video version of this episode is available for paid subscribers to our Substack.

-

Join us for this month’s ReFamily Dinner, where we’re talking about navigating dysfunctional family dynamics. Our guest is therapist, writer and podcaster Whitney Goodman (@sitwithwhit). Come with questions for Whitney about estrangement and the holiday season, boundary setting, disappointment in family, accepting family, in-law relationships, politics, or anything else! This is a free, virtual event on Dec 3. Sign up here!!

_

Connect with us: 

EMAIL: [email protected]. 

WEBSITE

INSTAGRAM

TIK TOK

_

Subscribe to our Substack for more refamulating! We write about how refamulating looks in our lives, share resources we’re using as we make this show and share special bonus content for paid subscribers.

_

Our team 

Host: Julia Winston

Producer: Claire McInerny 

Manager of Engagement: Grace Barry

Audio Engineer: Josh Gilbert

Theme Music: Luke Top

–

We are a member of the Feelings and Co network. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Emily was a child, a family member abused her and told her to keep it a secret. She kept that secret until she was 34, but her family didn’t react well once she told the truth. Eventually Emily chose to stop talking to them, and in this episode she explains her choice to be estranged from her family and why estrangement has been important for her healing.

-

Join us for this month’s ReFamily Dinner, where we’re talking about navigating dysfunctional family dynamics. Our guest is therapist, writer and podcaster Whitney Goodman (@sitwithwhit). Come with questions for Whitney about estrangement and the holiday season, boundary setting, disappointment in family, accepting family, in-law relationships, politics, or anything else! This is a free, virtual event on Dec 3. Sign up here!!

_

The episode transcript can be found here. 

_

Connect with us: 

EMAIL: [email protected]. 

WEBSITE

INSTAGRAM

TIK TOK

_

Subscribe to our Substack for more refamulating! We write about how refamulating looks in our lives, share resources we’re using as we make this show and share special bonus content for paid subscribers.

_

Our team 

Host: Julia Winston

Producer: Claire McInerny 

Manager of Engagement: Grace Barry

Audio Engineer: Josh Gilbert

Theme Music: Luke Top

–

We are a member of the Feelings and Co network.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show Notes:

What happens when you expand beyond the nuclear family home? In this episode, we meet people who've chosen to share their daily lives with others in unconventional ways - from two married couples buying a house together to raise kids, to a man who's spent 14 years living on a hippie commune. Their stories challenge our assumptions about what makes a successful adult and show how living communally might be an antidote to America's epidemic of loneliness.

Additional Resources: 

–

Every month, we host ReFamily Dinner, a virtual event that connects our audience with someone who has refamulated. The guest talks about their experience and answers your questions. This month’s dinner is a conversation on communal living with Lily Lamboy and her husband Alex Savtchenko. Lily & Alex own and operate Ryza, a community home in Berkeley which they share with six friends.

Sign up for this month's event here, and join us Nov. 13 from 8-9:30 p.m. EST. 

_

The episode transcript is here. 

–

Connect with us: 

EMAIL: [email protected]. 

WEBSITE

INSTAGRAM

TIK TOK

_

Subscribe to our Substack for more refamulating! We write about how refamulating looks in our lives, share resources we’re using as we make this show and share special bonus content for paid subscribers.

_

Our team 

Host: Julia Winston

Producer: Claire McInerny 

Manager of Engagement: Grace Barry

Audio Engineer: Josh Gilbert

Theme Music: Luke Top

–

We are a member of the Feelings and Co network.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The nuclear family has been held up as the ideal for generations, but it's actually a relatively recent invention. From college dorms to pandemic pods, some of our happiest moments come from living in community with others. So why do Americans cling to independence as a marker of success? In our Season 2 premiere, we explore how our individualistic lifestyle developed, what it's costing us, and how reimagining family structures could create a more connected future.

Our guest is Dr. Kristen Ghodsee, professor of Russian and Eastern European Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and author of Everyday Utopia: What 2,000 Years of Wild Experiments Can Teach Us About the Good Life.

_

Every month, we host ReFamily Dinner, a virtual event that connects our audience with someone who has refamulated. The guest talks about their experience and answers your questions. This month’s dinner is a conversation on communal living with Lily Lamboy and her husband Alex Savtchenko. Lily & Alex own and operate Ryza, a community home in Berkeley which they share with six friends.

Sign up for this month's event here, and join us Nov. 13 from 8-9:30 p.m. EST. 

_

Referenced in this Episode:

_

The episode transcript can be found here.

_

Connect with us: 

EMAIL: [email protected]. 

WEBSITE

INSTAGRAM

TIK TOK

_

Subscribe to our Substack for more refamulating! We write about how refamulating looks in our lives, share resources we’re using as we make this show and share special bonus content for paid subscribers.

_

Our team 

Host: Julia Winston

Producer: Claire McInerny 

Manager of Engagement: Grace Barry

Audio Engineer: Josh Gilbert

Theme Music: Luke Top

–

We are a member of the Feelings and Co network. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Before season 2 officially starts Tuesday, Nov 12, Julia and Claire chat about a few things: Julia is officially a Fairy Godmother and shares an update (the twins are born! she's held them!) Claire is getting married, which has brought up a lot of refamulating feelings. And then we have a special segment where Claire, a reality TV junkie, makes Julia, a reality TV virgin, watch an episode of Sister Wives and talk about how they are refamulating.

Listen to the season 2 trailer now!

There's a video and ad-free version of this episode on our Substack. While you're there, subscribe to get more refamulating!

--

Connect with us: 

EMAIL: [email protected]. 

WEBSITE

INSTAGRAM

TIK TOK

_

Our team 

Host: Julia Winston

Producer: Claire McInerny 

Manager of Engagement: Grace Barry

Audio Engineer: Josh Gilbert

Theme Music: Luke Top

–

We are a member of the Feelings and Co network. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're back with season 2 of Refamulating! We have more stories of personal and family transformation including being a solo mom by choice, how caregiving impacts families, polyamory and more.

Season 2 launches November 12, 2024.

_

Subscribe to our Substack for more refamulating! We write about how refamulating looks in our lives, share resources we’re using as we make this show and share special bonus content for paid subscribers.

_

Connect with us: 

EMAIL: [email protected]. 

WEBSITE

INSTAGRAM

TIK TOK

_

Our team 

Host: Julia Winston

Producer: Claire McInerny 

Manager of Engagement: Grace Barry

Audio Engineer: Josh Gilbert

Theme Music: Luke Top

–

We are a member of the Feelings and Co network.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Each month we host a live, virtual event called The ReFamily Dinner! It's a way for us to connect with other refamulators outside of the podcast.

This month’s ReFamily Dinner will feature a conversation with Heath Schechinger, a psychologist and co-founder of The Modern Family Institute, about ethical non-monogamy. Whether you're considering this lifestyle or simply curious to understand it better, this talk will provide insights into how non-monogamous relationships can be structured in healthy, supportive ways. Join us to listen, learn and ask questions!

The Q&A with Heath is Oct. 17 at 8 p.m. EST. Sign up for the event here!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Liam is a transgender man who has spent the last eight years embracing his true life. He changed his name, took hormones, and got top surgery. But recently he had a big realization. He wants to be a father – and he wants to carry his own child. Now Liam has stopped taking hormones and started preparing his body to do something he never imagined: get pregnant.

Listen to Liam’s Terrible, Thanks For Asking episode here. 

Here is Liam’s YouTube Channel where he’s chronicling his journey to pregnancy. 

Our newsletter this month includes a list of books Liam has been reading to prepare for a trans pregnancy and single fatherhood. 

_

The episode transcript can be found here. 

_

Connect with us: 

EMAIL: [email protected]. 

WEBSITE

INSTAGRAM

TIK TOK

_

Subscribe to our Substack if you want a monthly newsletter about all things refamulating. We share resources for people refamulating, upcoming events and links to other podcasts/articles/books that discuss refamulating topics. 

_

Our team 

Host: Julia Winston

Producer: Claire McInerny 

Manager of Engagement: Grace Barry

Audio Engineer: Josh Gilbert

Theme Music: Luke Top

–

We are a member of the Feelings and Co network. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show Notes: When Lindsay lost custody of her toddler, Gabriel, an acquaintance named Rachel stepped in as his foster mom. As Lindsay worked toward reunification with her son, she and Rachel developed an unlikely friendship. The journey they’ve shared has led them to create a new family unit with Gabriel at the center.

The episode transcript can be found here. 

_

Connect with us: 

EMAIL: [email protected]. 

WEBSITE

INSTAGRAM

TIK TOK

_

We're hosting our first live event! On July 11th we're hosting the first Re-Family dinner, a free, virtual meet up. We will create a place for you to connect with other people who are refamulating and learn more about refamulating topics. Sign up to get more info on our website. We can't wait to meet you!

_

Subscribe to our Substack if you want a monthly newsletter about all things refamulating. We share resources for people refamulating, upcoming events and links to other podcasts/articles/books that discuss refamulating topics. 

_

Our team 

Host: Julia Winston

Producer: Claire McInerny 

Manager of Engagement: Grace Barry

Audio Engineer: Josh Gilbert

Theme Music: Luke Top

–

We are a member of the Feelings and Co network.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices