Welcome to season 3! Today, we discuss the upcoming Season 3 and I share an important life update. In many ways, the start of Stork’d and my own family building journey have run parallel to each other. I share my journey behind choosing to become a single mom through sperm donation and how Stork’d began from my own exploration of different family building experiences. I share about single parenting, community, self-care, and how this is just the beginning of my story. I’m so excited for you to listen to Season 3 and I’m thrilled to share the special and unique stories we have lined up with our amazing guests.     In This Episode:    [00:40] Starting Stork’d and building a family [03:49] The otherside: Being a new mom [05:24] The challenge of self care [07:00] How this podcast can validate your family building choices [08:20] Finding your purpose and applying it to your family building journey [11:50] Relationship to community evolving  [15:00] The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, a book by Charlie Mackesy [17:19] A turning point and crossroads in life right now [19:41] Season 3 sneak peek   Takeaways:    Julia reflects back on the timeline of starting Stork’d and her parallel journey of becoming a mom. Stork’d began from Julia’s investigatory personality and her desire to build a family. As she began asking friends and family about their family building stories, she started to record their conversations. After becoming a new mom, Julia is learning that practicing self care is a challenge, and something that will be discussed in Season 3. At the core of family building decisions, is identifying your values and who you are at a core level. Julia’s family building journey started with a lot of introspection through therapy, life coaches, a purpose coach, various healing sessions, acupuncture, Reiki and a lot of difficult conversations with family and friends. Her fertility journey was just as complicated and included multiple doctors, two surgeries, selecting a sperm donor, trying at home insemination and ultimately having an IUI in a medical facility. Julia shares a sneak peek of what’s to come in Season 3 episodes.   Disclaimer:   The podcasts available on this website have been produced for informational, educational and entertainment purposes only. The stories and experiences contained within reflect the experiences and opinions of the guest and may contain content found to be triggering by listeners. Listeners should take care to avoid program content which may not be suited to them. The contents of any podcast do not constitute medical or professional advice, do not reflect the opinions of the podcast or its host and do not create any type of  professional relationship between the audience and presenters.  No person listening to and/or viewing any podcast from this website should act or refrain from acting on the basis of the content of a podcast without first seeking appropriate professional advice and/or counseling, nor shall the information be used as a substitute for professional advice and/or counseling. Stork'd Podcast expressly disclaims any and all liability relating to any actions taken or not taken based on any or all contents of this site.