{"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":"\"The Mind is a Muscle\"","slug":"the-mind-is-a-muscle","published_at":"2026-05-05T13:30:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/allpaths-podcast-7028681/the-mind-is-a-muscle","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/allpaths-podcast-7028681","url":"https://allpathsfb.org","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/eeaa8b47-3a98-4a86-a863-2d0437845166.mp3","summary":"In this episode of the AllPaths podcast, hosts Emily and Liane sit down with Cynthia, a licensed social worker and seasoned health and wellness coach, who first connected with our organization over twenty years ago as a peer support group attendee. After enduring years of infertility and recurrent pregnancy loss, Cynthia finally welcomed her daughter through IVF. Following a later, life-threatening pregnancy that necessitated an emergency hysterectomy, she and her husband turned to gestational surrogacy to have their son. Cynthia describes this as an \"incredibly powerful experience\" that resulted not only in the birth of her child but also in a cherished, lifelong friendship with their carrier. This unique relationship endures and Cynthia shares how the conversations with her children about their origin stories have evolved over the years. She reflects on the evolution of support networks in the family building space, noting that while she once navigated these challenges in relative isolation, she now advocates for openness and community resources. Cynthia’s professional expertise in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and resilience coaching has also changed her perspective on the emotional toll of infertility. She reflects on the intense anxiety of \"giving up complete control\" during the surrogacy process and how she wishes she had possessed her current toolkit of meditation and self-care strategies two decades ago. Now a group leader for AllPaths, Cynthia now helps create the community she once found so helpful and teaches the coping strategies that she wishes she had possessed during her own journey in our Mindfulness Group . TOPICS COVERED IN THIS EPISODE: family building, infertility support, recurrent pregnancy loss, gestational surrogacy, pregnancy loss,…","meta_description":"In this episode of the AllPaths podcast, hosts Emily and Liane sit down with Cynthia, a licensed social worker and seasoned health and wellness coach, who…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2281,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/allpaths-podcast-7028681/episodes/the-mind-is-a-muscle/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/the-mind-is-a-muscle.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}