Joining Sanjay this week is Abby of @abbysrollercoasterlife.  She is married to her wife Jamie and they have two daughters.  Abby joined the US military in the times of “don’t ask don’t tell” and it was there that she was able to uncover her queerness.

We talk about their life as LGBT parents, how Abby and her wife Jamie met, life being LGBTQ in the military, the intersection between being queer and black, the positive representation that Abby hopes to give  in the world even when it isn’t always easy and how her own upbringing influences who she is as a parent.

The Proud Parent Club is the inclusive LGBTQ+ parenting podcast and community hosted by Sanjay Sood-Smith, gay dad through surrogacy with his husband Doug, a.k.a. The Travelling Gays.  Subscribe for reminders of each LGBT parenting podcast out weekly and follow on Instagram.

Abby’s Rollercoaster Life: @abbysrollercoasterlife | www.instagram.com/abbysrollercoasterlife

The Travelling Gays: @thetravellinggays | www.instagram.com/thetravellinggays

The Proud Parent Club: @theproudparentclub | www.instagram.com/theproudparentclub | www.theproudparentclub.com

Ayla and Wren Holdom have been together over 20 years and welcomed their daughter into the world in 2020. Their path to parenthood took place over a number of years and was planned well in advance so that they had the best chance of creating their family through IVF following Ayla's transition. We discuss their experience of going through the fertility process as two women, the current attitudes to trans people in day-to-day life and the media, the joys of parenthood and their hopes for the future.

Ayla is a helicopter pilot for the National Police Air Service after spending 13 years as a search a rescue pilot in the RAF.  She is also a patron for the charity Mermaids and is a trustee of LGBT charity Stonewall.  Wren is an ITU Anaesthetist, she holds a degree in Marine Biology and is also an artist in a variety of mediums including mixed media and sculpture.

The Proud Parent Club is the inclusive LGBTQ+ parenting podcast and community hosted by Sanjay Sood-Smith, gay dad through surrogacy with his husband Doug, a.k.a. The Travelling Gays.  Subscribe for reminders of each podcast out weekly and follow in Instagram.

The Travelling Gays: @thetravellinggays | www.instagram.com/thetravellinggays

The Proud Parent Club: @theproudparentclub | www.instagram.com/theproudparentclub | www.theproudparentclub.com

Reece and Thomas Tatam, also known as The Tatam Family, became gay dads through surrogacy before they were 25.  They met when they were 18 years old and started saving for a wedding and having a baby straight away.  After exploring different routes to become LGBT parents, including adoption and surrogacy in different countries, they decided on surrogacy in the UK.  We discuss their path to becoming LGBTQ parents to son Hugo, which wasn't straightforward and there were a number of setbacks along the way.  We also talk about the challenges faced as a gay parent, the very strange questions they got asked by a social worker when obtaining a parental order and their plans for raising their son as part of a same-sex parent family.

The Proud Parent Club is the inclusive LGBTQ+ parenting podcast and community hosted by Sanjay Sood-Smith, gay dad through surrogacy with his husband Doug a.k.a The Travelling Gays.  Subscribe for reminders of each podcast out weekly and follow on Instagram.

You can follow Reece and Thomas - The Tatam Family on Instagram: @thetatamfamily | www.instagram.com/thetatamfamily
The Travelling Gays: @thetravellinggays | www.instagram.com/thetravellinggays
The Proud Parent Club: @theproudparentclub | www.instagram.com/theproudparentclub | www.theproudparentclub.com

Joining host Sanjay Sood-Smith in the first episode of The Proud Parent Club podcast is Nancy Kelley, CEO of Stonewall, Europe's largest LGBTQ+ organisation.  Stonewall stands for lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer, questioning and ace (LGBTQ+) people everywhere and imagine a world where all LGBTQ+ people are free to be themselves and  can live their lives to the full.

In this episode we discuss the current social, legal and political landscape for LGBTQ+ parents and LGBTQ+ people wanting to become parents through a variety of routes including adoption, fostering, surrogacy and IVF.  Nancy explains Stonewall's IVF For All campaign and her own experiences of going through the adoption process and the barriers and challenges that LGBTQ+ people face when starting a family.  We also talk about her own personal journey including some hilarious parenting anecdotes.

Stonewall have been a vital part of the LGBTQ+ movement and their campaigns have helped to achieve much of the legislative change that has happened in the UK including the abolition of Section 28, introduction of equal marriage and same-sex couples being free to adopt children.

Find out more about Stonewall and their work at www.stonewall.org.uk

Follow The Proud Parent Club for exclusive content and sneak previews of future shows at www.instagram.com/theproudparentclub 

Hi my name’s Sanjay Sood-Smith and I’m about to start a brand new podcast called The Proud Parent Club.  My husband Doug and I recently became parents through surrogacy and before we started our journey spent a lot of time researching the different ways that LGBTQ+ people become parents and also trying to work out what to actually do when the baby arrives.  

There are so many fascinating pathways that LGBTQ+ people take to becoming parents that I wanted to create a space to share them, and that’s why I’ve started this podcast.   Every week I’ll be talking to different guests about all sorts of things from their paths to parenthood, their experiences of being parents, the highs, the lows, the challenges and the wisdom they have learnt along the way.  

I want to find out about a wide range of experiences from across the community and provide an insight into LGBTQ+ parenting.  Whether you are already a parent, soon to be one or just thinking about the process there will be something here for you.  On the first episode I’ll be joined by Nancy Kelly, CEO of LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall where we will be talking about the current landscape for LGTBQ parents and also getting some insight into her life with her partner Jen as mums through adoption. 

So make sure you subscribe to The Proud Parent Club Podcast, with me, Sanjay Sood-Smith, launching on the 1st August.