{"podcast":{"title":"The Kids or Childfree Podcast","slug":"the-kids-or-childfree-podcast-6725428","podcast_index_feed_id":6725428,"rss_url":"https://feeds.libsyn.com/497933/rss","website_url":"https://www.kidsorchildfree.com/podcast","image_url":"https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/2/c/7/8/2c78ed175c360c8388c4a68c3ddbc4f2/FINAL_PODCAST_ART.png","author":"Keltie Maguire","episode_count":107,"summary":"Should I have kids? If you're on the fence about whether or not to have kids, this is your podcast. Each week, host and Clarity Coach, Keltie Maguire, will interview a wide-ranging host of different voices — from best-selling authors to outdoor adventurers to health experts — about their personal Kids or Childfree decision and the topics that run alongside this choice. From new and long-time moms to the currently ambivalent to those who are childfree by choice, you'll get to hear the answers to all the questions you can't seem to get straight answers on. What's it really like being a parent? What happens to childfree people when they get old? Do people who don't have kids regret it? Can you ever really be ready to have a child? And perhaps most importantly: How can I make my own Kids or Childfree decision?","last_synced_at":"2026-06-04T04:18:27.784400+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-kids-or-childfree-podcast-6725428"},"episode":{"title":"87. Melissa Guida-Richards on The Nuances of Adoption","slug":"87-melissa-guida-richards-on-the-nuances-of-adoption","published_at":"2025-12-03T14:50:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-kids-or-childfree-podcast-6725428/87-melissa-guida-richards-on-the-nuances-of-adoption","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-kids-or-childfree-podcast-6725428","url":"https://81cffad0-1139-4cb7-be39-26dc670a9d20.libsyn.com/87-melissa-guida-richards-on-the-nuances-of-adoption","audio_url":"https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/81cffad0-1139-4cb7-be39-26dc670a9d20/KM_-_EP_87_-_Podcast_Audio.mp3?dest-id=4261233","summary":"In this conversation, Keltie sits down with transracial adoptee, author, and advocate, Melissa Guida-Richards, for a conversation about adoption, and the considerations prospective adoptive parents need to make. They discuss: Melissa's personal experience as an adoptee, and why it's critical that we listen to and learn from adoptees. The key question prospective adoptive parents need to ask themselves before they adopt. The myth that adopting an infant offers that child — and its adoptive parents — a \"fresh start.\" Why adoption agencies who encourage people to adopt outside of their adoption preferences, can be problematic. The different kinds of adoption, and the respective practical and ethical considerations that must be made. (0:35) Meet Melissa, her kids or childfree decision, & her experience being adopted (10:54) Questions& considerations before adopting (18:41) Identifying adoption preferences, adoption & race (32:10) Adoption after infertility (40:17) Types of adoption As mentioned in the show: Find Melissa on Instagram at @adoptee_thoughts Her website is www.adopteethoughts.com Purchase Melissa's book and it's accompanying workbook, What White Parents Should Know About Transracial Adoption: adopteethoughts.com/books For adoption resources, check out adoptionsupport.org (C.A.S.E) and adopteementorship.org . About Melissa: Melissa Guida-Richards is a transracial adoptee, author, and advocate whose work explores child welfare, adoption influencers ethics and reform. She is the author of What White Parents Should Know About Transracial Adoption and she's had her writing and interviews featured on national platforms including NBC, Good Day LA and Tamron Hall. She is currently working on her next book with her agent, Kat Kerr, from Donald Maass Literary Agency. You…","meta_description":"In this conversation, Keltie sits down with transracial adoptee, author, and advocate, Melissa Guida-Richards, for a conversation about adoption, and the…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3785,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-kids-or-childfree-podcast-6725428/episodes/87-melissa-guida-richards-on-the-nuances-of-adoption/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-kids-or-childfree-podcast-6725428/87-melissa-guida-richards-on-the-nuances-of-adoption.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}