logo
episode-header-image
Jul 2023
52m 16s

A better life

MARKETPLACE
About this episode

When Susan was a teenager, she set out to find answers about her birth parents. As an adoptee, she longed to know where she came from. When she eventually reunited with her birth parents as a teenager, she thought she’d finally feel at peace. She couldn’t have known that many years later, she’d find herself in a very similar position, only this time longing for her own child. We follow Susan’s deeply personal story, taking a look at the interplay of money and adoption, and how history can have a way of repeating itself.


Get even more Uncomfortable by subscribing to our newsletter.

Up next
Jan 29
What it costs to pass down a language
Author and journalist Aymann Ismail wants his kids to grow up with a real connection to their Egyptian roots, including speaking Arabic. For his family, that means committing to a private Islamic school -- and figuring out how to afford tuition.Reema sits down with Aymann as he w ... Show More
31m 8s
Jan 22
Help! My coworker wants a copy of my house key!
Ever wrestled with an unusual work problem and didn’t know where to turn? In our recurring advice column, “Work Drama,” we try to find answers to your sticky work situations. This week, Reema is joined by culture writer and podcaster, Sarah Hagi (host of “Scamfluencers”) to unpac ... Show More
23m 46s
Jan 15
Surviving job hunting hell
Job hunting has a way of testing your limits. It can be hard not to question yourself (or spiral) when the process stretches on far longer than you imagined. Reema is joined by career coach Phoebe Gavin and writer Rachel Meade Smith to talk about the emotional side of the job hun ... Show More
36m 20s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2023
A better life
When Susan was a teenager, she set out to find answers about her birth parents. As an adoptee, she longed to know where she came from. When she eventually reunited with her birth parents as a teenager, she thought she’d finally feel at peace. She couldn’t have known that many yea ... Show More
54m 16s
May 2022
Why was I adopted? Women looking for birth stories
<p>What's it like being adopted into a country far away from your birth and into a family that looks very different to you? International and transracial adoptions both come with challenges for children and parents. Beatriz de la Pava talks to two women born in Colombia and South ... Show More
31m 56s
Nov 2021
Elle regrette d'avoir eu des enfants, Sylvie raconte son "mal de mère"
<p>Quand Sylvie accouche de son premier enfant, à 34 ans, elle a l’espoir de fonder une famille stable et épanouie, différente de celle dans laquelle elle a grandi avec une mère violente.&nbsp;Mais très vite, elle peine à développer un lien fusionnel avec son fils. Le bain, les b ... Show More
16m 19s
Feb 2019
58 - Adoption - Part I, with Shelby Dickinson
In this week’s episode of Voices of Your Village we dove into the first part of our adoption series and answered your questions about the logistics of adoption, open and closed adoptions, and the legal and financial aspects of adoption. I had the opportunity to chat with adoptive ... Show More
1h 22m
Mar 2019
Family Secrets
“I've been kind of a student of family secrets all my life,” writer Dani Shapiro says. All of her novels have centered around family secrets, and her memoirs have explored secrets in her own family history, some of which she didn’t know existed—until she took a DNA test on a whim ... Show More
51m 37s
May 2020
Giving birth to a wiser self, by Elizabeth Lesser
<p>One icy morning on a Vermont farm, Elizabeth Lesser is witness to a miraculous thing: the birth of a bleary, bleating baby lamb. Years later, as a midwife, she is still filled with this sense of awe and wonder at every birth. It’s through that process of coaching new life into ... Show More
31m 45s
Mar 2023
All in the Family
From the moment Katie Fusco learned that she was an adopted child, she longed to understand where she came from and why she was put up for adoption in the first place. At age 18, just as she was about to graduate high school and head off to college, Katie decided to make contact ... Show More
27m 53s
Jun 2020
We Win
Shazi and Joe met while Shazi was building her company, the organic baby brand Happy Family Organics. Their storybook romance completely changed when their first child Zane was diagnosed with regressive autism. Shazi and Joe were forced to re-examine everything about their lives ... Show More
35m 23s
Nov 2020
Girl Planet
<p>For the first 40 years of her life, Jennifer Finney Boylan figured the price of living her truth would be much too steep; by opening up about who she really was, she assumed she’d lose everything, including the love of her life. But over time, it became clear that hiding who s ... Show More
43m 20s