"When a Child is Born, A Parent is Born Too"

Dear Working Parents,

I try hard to give credit where credit is due. So first, I'll acknowledge that I didn't discovered the amazing Birth of a Parent podcast on my own. Arielle Mir, wise coach, friend, and magnificent podcast curator, spotted this one. She was raving about its premise and immediately connected me to its host, who happened to be her grad school classmate. Props to the dot-connectors...the human web-builders, who make life on this amazing planet more meaningful with each introduction.

Now on to today's topic: Birth of a Parent. After one episode, I was hooked. The idea of this podcast is to share in an accessible way the science around all the ways parenthood is a major developmental life stage. The ways it shapes our brains and bodies. And how it can make us some of the fastest learners on the planet.

The podcast's host, Michael Feigelson, CEO of the Van Leer Foundation, was gracious enough to sit down with me and Jason on the Parents at Work Podcast to tell us about his work. We ventured into areas we expected - the specific skills we gain through parenthood, for example. But we also went to surprising places - like whether parenthood can make us funnier!

I hope you'll listen to our conversation with Michael as a wonderful introduction both to the Van Leer Foundation and to the conversation Michael and his team are nurturing to rebrand parenthood: The Birth of a Parent: How Caregiving Changes the Brain.

You can also watch or listen to our conversation with Michael over on YouTube. (And could you follow us there too, pretty please, to help us pass our next goal of a whopping 30 YouTube subscribers 😂! Thank you!!)

Fortunately, there's been a great deal of research on infant growth and development over the past few decades. And I'm so happy to see more and more research on parent growth and development now. As Birth of a Parent says in every episode, "When a child is born, a parent is born too."

P.S. Please join me in celebrating a major podcast milestone this week: This episode with Michael marks the 75th episode of the Parents at Work Podcast! Only about 5% of all podcasts make it to 75, and we're proud to be going strong and picking up steam! 🥳

​Talking to Our Kids About IVF & ART​

October 15, 12–1pm Eastern: You Are a Work of ART and Petri Dish Princess - Join me in conversation with Ali Prato, journalist, IVF mom, host of the award-winning Infertile AF podcast, and author of the Work of ART children’s book series. Ali’s newest book, Petri Dish Princess, tells the extraordinary true story of Elizabeth Carr, the first baby born via IVF in the United States, while giving today’s IVF children a joyful, age-appropriate way to understand and celebrate their own beginnings.

In our conversation, we’ll explore the story behind Petri Dish Princess and how Ali and Elizabeth came together to bring this important piece of IVF history to a new generation. We’ll talk about how parents can have positive, age-appropriate conversations with children about IVF and assisted reproduction, and how books can help give families the language and confidence to begin those conversations. We’ll also discuss why representation matters for the growing number of families created through IVF and other forms of assisted reproductive technology, and how seeing their stories reflected in books can help children feel proud of the many wonderful ways families are made. Register here.