Stork'd

David Vendetti has learned to be resilient and reflective through transitions, having been adopted, married twice, and the owner of a yoga studio that recently closed its doors due to COVID-19. As an adopted child, David lacked a sense of belonging. While he has always felt loved and supported by his adoptive family, this missing piece resulted in a strong desire to create relationships and communities that foster belonging for others—from supporting his classmates in a new grade school; to choreographing dance classes based on kindness rather than perfection; to his leadership in establishing a yoga community widely known for creating a sense of family.

This episode is about building and rebuilding family outside of the construct of the family that you're born into, as well as thinking of the way in which we build and create ourselves for our family or on behalf of our family. David has questioned what the elements of a family are, discovering that anyone can be family, as long as the relationship is built off of unconditional love, support, and transparency. Plus, we talk about handling difficult transitions, walking away from blood family, and the concept of birthing and parenting yourself. A consummate learner and educator, David shares his journey and his wisdom with our listeners.

For show notes & more visit: www.storkdpodcast.com/podcast

After Brooke's father's death, she realized that no one knew how to speak to her about grief. Most people are uncomfortable with the topic, which is why she started The Grief Coach Podcast. Grief, love, and pain can be hard to talk about and articulate in words with family members. With this loss, Brooke had to reformulate her own expectations around what a family life looked like. Luckily, her family came together despite losing their gravitational center.

We discuss how traditions are less than ideal when you don't fit into the standard box and why Brooke felt pressure to have kids on a timeline. Stay tuned as Brooke speaks about the pressure of having kids, finding emotional endurance, and feeling lighter after the grieving process.

For show notes & more: www.storkdpodcast.com/podcast

Suman and his wife's family building journey started in 2012 and they're finally expecting twins! Having gone through 8 years of trying to conceive, including experiencing three IVF processes, his wife's fibroid surgery, and deep consideration around adoption, Suman rode waves of hope and a rollercoaster of emotions. Suman wrestles with the disappointment of not hitting the milestones expected of him by his Indian heritage. As the journey progresses and Suman confronts the growing unlikelihood of conceiving, he and his wife consider a life without children. His perspective is heavily rooted in statistics, but he also has real emotions to share.

Stories of fertility journeys often focus on the person bearing the physical weight of trying to get pregnant and they don't often highlight the supporting partner. In this episode, we dive into Suman's experiences during the last 8 years, detailing his vision for a family, the difficulty of seeing his wife go through multiple medical procedures, and the other paths they considered to build a family.

For show notes and more visit: www.storkdpodcast.com/podcast

Jamie and Christian are a polyamorous couple. Together, they share what polyamory means to them and confront common misconceptions about their relationship. They discuss defining their rules according to what makes them happy as a couple, rather than conforming to cultural norms. And, they describe ways in which polyamorous relationships require the same core elements of communication, respect, and foundational trust as successful monogamous relationships—perhaps even more so since they involve more than one person.

The story in this episode provides a model for giving yourself permission to define or redefine your family according to your own true north. Listen as Jamie and Christian explain how they navigate jealousy and build trust, practice naming and identifying their emotions, and what they believe are the essential ingredients for creating any lasting relationship.

For show notes & more visit: www.storkdpodcast.com/podcast

Arden O'Connor learned early on in her adult life that she wasn't going to be taking a traditional path towards having children. In her twenties, Arden had leukemia, which left her unable to conceive a baby naturally. Now 42 and single, she is putting the puzzle pieces together with a sperm donor, an egg donor and a surrogate. In this episode, Arden answers the big questions for herself about how she defines family and how she wants to build hers. Her choices are influenced by her health risks, a tragic loss in her family, her Catholic upbringing, and a lot of deep introspection.

Arden is the Founder of O'Connor Professional Group, a mental health consulting company that addresses the needs of individuals and families struggling with an array of behavioral health issues, including addiction and mental health disorders. We talk about preparing to be a single mom while being an entrepreneur, picking sperm and egg donors, having a surrogate as a Catholic, and overcoming the obstacles that have held her back. This is a very insightful and inspiring discussion, you won't want to miss it!

For show notes & more visit: www.storkdpodcast.com/podcast

This episode is about shaping and reshaping our families. Sometimes the paths that we forge result from external constraints. For Cristin Marona, that constraint was posed by the global COVID 19 Pandemic. As a result of the pandemic, Cristin's first major decision as a new mom was to move to the United States, leaving her husband in Africa for an undefined period. As a public health professional, Cristin shares how her maternal instincts and risk assessment led her to leave their Tanzanian home, and the population she serves, to ensure better health care for her baby. Cristin returns to the place she grew up, Savannah, Georgia and parents her newborn from her childhood bedroom.

Cristin shares her relationship with her mother before and after having a baby, and how her mother steps in to co-parent and help with the overwhelm of raising a baby without her husband. Plus, we talk about parenting remotely, how Cristin approaches blending cultures with her husband, and her vision for raising a global citizen.

For show notes & more visit: www.storkdpodcast.com/podcast

After having two kids with her first husband, Molly realized she wasn't in a fulfilling relationship. In this episode, we discuss the process of self-reflection that led her to this realization, how she stepped away from her first marriage and met her current husband, and the dynamics of their large, six child blended family. She discusses dealing with the guilt around the impacts of divorce on her children, her flexible co-parenting arrangement and continued friendship with her ex-husband, and the ways in which she has incorporated more fun and magic into the blending process.

Molly shares that blending families is a work in progress and is always changing. There is no perfect way to blend families and co-parent, yet Molly makes it work and loves the life she's created. She shares why you shouldn't be afraid to "take the detour" and how her kids are more resilient as a result of being part of a blending family. Tune in to hear her inspiring story and insight into the lessons she's learned on her journey.

For show notes and more visit: www.storkdpodcast.com/podcast

Julia has been exploring new ways of building a family since her last relationship ended when she was 34. Grieving the loss of a relationship and the loss of the path she expected for herself drove her into a period of healing and self-discovery. She started asking anyone and everyone about how they came to make the decisions they did regarding family life and she reflected on whether that resonated with her or not. She was in awe of the various ways in which someone can create a family, many of which aren't explicitly shared with the world.

There aren't many ways to hear those stories, so Julia found those stories and created a mechanism that would enable her to share them. This episode introduces the inspiration behind Stork'd and the intentions for it, posing the question that's begging to be answered: What is family?

For show notes & more visit: https://www.storkdpodcast.com/podcast

Julia Karol Introduces Season 1 of Stork'd: What is family?