{"podcast":{"title":"AllPaths Podcast","slug":"allpaths-podcast-7028681","podcast_index_feed_id":7028681,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/allpaths/","website_url":"https://allpathsfb.org","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/deec4420-b495-4e23-a8bf-63722a5915c2/APFB-Podcast-Cover-8-2025-SM.png","author":"AllPaths Family Building","episode_count":90,"summary":"Building a family can be a complicated, messy, lonely, and sometimes heartbreaking process, but you don't have to navigate this challenging journey alone. Join the AllPaths Family Building community as we talk with people who are currently trying to grow their family, those whose family building journey has come to an end, and experts in the fertility and family building space. Together we'll: *Hear family stories, providing real-life perspectives that highlight the many different paths a family building journey can take. *Explore different fertility treatments and family building options with experts in this space. *Get connected to a variety of supportive resources so you feel better equipped to tackle any challenges that may arise in your family building journey. *Learn about ongoing advocacy work that promotes access to fertility care and family building options - and you can get involved. No matter what you encounter on your journey - struggles while TTC, IUI, IVF, donor conception, surrogacy, adoption, pregnancy loss, pregnancy and parenting after, or remaining childless not by choice - the real-life insights from people who have traveled those paths can provide connection,…","last_synced_at":"2026-07-01T02:20:59.914112+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/allpaths-podcast-7028681"},"episode":{"title":"Grief Shared Is Grief Divided","slug":"grief-shared-is-grief-divided","published_at":"2026-03-17T13:15:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/allpaths-podcast-7028681/grief-shared-is-grief-divided","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/allpaths-podcast-7028681","url":"https://allpathsfb.org","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/77d201fe-6d95-4c10-9cfa-22b8cd45e37d.mp3","summary":"In this episode of the AllPaths Podcast, we are joined by Rachel Spekman, a therapist and career strategist from Massachusetts. Rachel shares her arduous three-year journey to motherhood, which involved multiple fertility treatments, multiple losses, and navigating the healthcare system as a same-sex, mixed-race couple. Eventually she had two successful frozen embryo transfers, leading to the birth of her seven-year-old son and three-year-old daughter. Rachel’s story highlights the emotional and physical toll of family building, the \"naive innocence\" often felt at the start of fertility treatments, and the importance of maintaining a sense of humor through the many \"hoops\" and administrative hurdles of the process. Rachel also touches upon the specific nuances of her family’s story, including the challenges of finding diverse donor pools and the unexpected joy of connecting with her children's \"diblings\" (donor siblings). Beyond her path to parenthood, Rachel discusses how these life-altering experiences served as a catalyst for a complete career transformation, prompted in part by a lack of support from her corporate employer when she experienced complications requiring bedrest during her first pregnancy which unfortunately ended in a loss. Today, Rachel uses her personal experiences with grief and professional pivoting to help others navigate major life transitions. She emphasizes the importance of building a \"board of advisors\" for emotional support, sharing how a curated support system of medical professionals, therapists, and community members helped her navigate isolation and grief and encouraging anyone going through an identity transformation to embrace the philosophy that \"grief shared is grief divided.\" Connect with Rachel at http://www.rachelspekman.com . TO…","meta_description":"In this episode of the AllPaths Podcast, we are joined by Rachel Spekman, a therapist and career strategist from Massachusetts. Rachel shares her arduous…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2374,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/allpaths-podcast-7028681/episodes/grief-shared-is-grief-divided/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/allpaths-podcast-7028681/grief-shared-is-grief-divided.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}