Parenting

It's a small procedure, but a big question. Anita talks with a urologist about what medical advice to consider while making the circumcision decision (and where medicine doesn't have the answers). She also meets a rabbi and mother who offers alternatives to centuries-old circumcision rituals and hears from a circumcised father raising an uncircumcised son.

Anita has interrogated so many aspects of parenthood. But how about the decision to become a parent at all? She talks with three women about making their child-free decisions and meets a psychotherapist who's devoted her career to helping people find clarity in that choice.

Measures aimed at restricting kids’ access to gender-affirming care, confidentiality with school personnel raise hackles among health and mental health professionals.

Senate Republicans kicked off their first education committee meeting of the legislative session by approving a controversial bill that critics are calling North Carolina's "Don't Say Gay" bill.

Anita has been unpacking intergenerational trauma ... thanks, in part, to Hollywood. Seeing herself in movies like "Turning Red" and "Everything Everywhere All At Once" has helped her make sense of her own family's challenges. She talks with three women who've investigated how events in their own family histories have rippled through the generations to influence their bodies, parenting and culture.

Anita is well aware that bringing a new baby into the world is a lotttttt of work (even though she's never done it herself). But when she heard about friends and family members choosing surrogacy to build their families, she realized how little she knows about that process — and how many misconceptions exist. She talks to a three-time surrogate about why she chose this path. A father who has had a child via surrogacy details how his family navigated the process from a financial, legal and emotional perspective; and a sociologist zooms out to give the big picture of the surrogacy industry.

Once kids in the foster care system become legal adults, they’re often out on their own to find housing, jobs, and education. But they are also redefining healthy relationships in the aftermath of complicated relationships with parents and family life.

Anita turns the mic over to guest host Omisade Burney-Scott to explore the many ways folks are raising kids outside the nuclear family unit. First, Omi talks with one of her co-parents about their evolution from romantic partners to partners in parenting. Plus, she meets a woman who is part of a four-person parenting structure and hears from someone who is creating resources for folks in blended families.

Co-parenting looks different for every family. But at its core, co-parenting can encourage good communication and responsibility-sharing by putting focus on the common interest: the children.

In light of the ongoing national discussion around the health of trans kids, we wanted to revisit our conversation with parents raising gender-expansive kids from last summer.