When L.A.-based postpartum doula and lactation educator Maria Pasquarelli heard comedian and actor Molly Hawkey’s podcast “SpermCast,” she realized how many people in her own orbit had unique stories on how they formed their families. And so, she turned to her longtime friend, Ann-Sophie Morrissette, an L.A. native and communications consultant, to co-host a podcast of their own.
“Our Families Ourselves” launched in January with Hawkey as their first guest. The podcasters discussed the highs and lows of navigating sperm donors, miscarriages and solo parenting.
Morrissette, who lives with her wife and two kids in Northeast L.A., always wanted to create a podcast to help people who are trying to start a family. “A podcast like this would have been a comfort to me, and brought some levity, when we were starting our family,” she says. And Pasquarelli, who just gave birth to her third child, was frustrated with seeing mainly one version of family defined in the mainstream. “I really wanted to find a way to celebrate and highlight the many ways that families are formed — and that people identify as a family,” she says.
PHOTO COURTESY MARIA PASQUARELLI AND ANN-SOPHIE MORRISSETTE
As first-time podcasters, the friends are still learning how to navigate a self-produced podcast. But that hasn’t stopped them from putting out new episodes each week, featuring touching, hilarious and in-depth conversations with individuals and couples who have created their families in myriad ways. From adoption to in vitro fertilization (IVF) to child-free by choice, listeners hear stories about the pain, joy and humor that can be found in both starting a family and parenting.
Episode 3 features Atlanta-based actor Bill Murphey, who shares his journey into single parenthood as a foster parent, then an adoptive parent. Episode 9 features Morrissette’s friend and mentor Mark Caffee, who tells the story of reconnecting with his biological parents 50 years after being adopted. And episode 10 is all about the roles aunts and women who aren’t parents play in children’s lives.
Pasquarelli and Morrissette hope to shine a light on more nontraditional or challenging journeys towards parenthood, including hearing from experts and authors on adoption, fertility, reproductive rights and divorce. “If anyone out there has a story they want to share, please reach out,” says Pasquarelli. “We’d love to hear from you.”
The entire first season of “Our Families Ourselves” is available now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
