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Meet Becca and Joanna, your two co-hosts for Our Bodies Our Voices podcast. The two met at a dinner party and immediately bonded over their mutual interest in all things women’s health. Both in their mid-thirties they are at different points in their fertility and family planning journeys, but both making big decisions as they navigate ways to preserve their options for families in the future. Over the course of the early episodes, they explore topics of hopes, losses, financial considerations related to fertility treatments, marriage and dating, race, and more.

In this episode Joanna and Becca chat with Dr. Chitra Akileswaran, a Board certified Obstetrician Gynecologist. we chat with Chitra about how COVID-19 is impacting family planning, considerations for those who are looking to become pregnant, are pregnant, or are planning for a birth in the midst of COVID-19. Chitra also shares her personal journey towards becoming a mother and speaks about some of the misconceptions people have as they think about starting a family.

In this episode, we talk with two friends of Joanna, Lindsey and Amy. Lindsay and Amy share their experience of journeying towards parenthood as a same sex couple. They share details of how they approached their IVF process as well as how they are navigating Amy’s third trimester of pregnancy and planning for their birth amid COVID-19.

In this episode Joanna interviews her co-host, Becca and her husband Lee. Together they discuss their relationship and how they worked through different goals related to timing of having a child and ultimately reached agreement about when to start trying to build a family. Becca and Lee experienced a pregnancy loss in fall 2019 and discussed that experience and how they wish more people talked about these things as they can feel so isolating and discuss the role of ritual in moving forward after loss.

Our guest in this episode is Dr. Madeleine Katz. Madeleine is a psychologist who specializes in maternal mental health. We chat with Dr. Katz about the many impacts on mental health that occur through the family building journey. We dive into some of the challenges with access to mental health care and other critical resources for individuals with mental health challenges. We also learn about choice moms and how Dr. Katz helps build community and support women who are considering having a child on their own.

Our guests for this episode are Chelsae and Eric, two friends of Joanna who were expecting their first child in August. We chat with Chelsae and Eric about their relationship, how they got comfortable with trying to have a child, and how they have dealt with pregnancy and COVID-19. We appreciate their candid thoughts on fears related to career and freedom after having a child and how they have started to shift their focus as they await the arrival of their child. They also provide an insight into all the extra considerations involved in a pregnancy and planning for birth amid COVID-19.

Our guests for this episode are Andy and Vic, two friends of Joanna who were expecting their first child this summer during the COVID-19 crisis. We discuss how Andy and Vic reflected on their cultures, their upbringing, and the values that are important for them as they start their own family. They share their process of preparing mentally to start a family and how they have embraced therapy as one tool in their journey towards parenthood.

In this episode Becca has a chance to interview Joanna, her co-host. We cover lots of topics including Joanna’s decision to freeze eggs, planning and budgeting to do so, her considerations around accessing healthcare as a black woman, dating in the age of COVID-19, and much more. I am grateful for Joanna’s vulnerability in sharing her journey and experiences.