Episodes
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On this episode Sanjay is joined by Mike and Paul Campbell-Jennings, gay dads to Roman through adoption. Mike and Paul met by chance on the street and decided to build their family through the adoption process. We talk about the highs and lows of the process, the different paths through adoption and how they have managed to juggle the various aspects of their lives throughout.
The Proud Parent Club is the inclusive LGBTQ+ parenting podcast and community hosted by Sanjay Sood-Smith, gay dad through surrogacy with his husband Doug, a.k.a. The Travelling Gays. Subscribe for reminders of each LGBT parenting podcast out weekly and follow us on Instagram. Whether you are an LGBT parent or lesbian, gay, bi or trans future parent there will be something for you.
The Travelling Gays: @thetravellinggays | www.instagram.com/thetravellinggays
The Proud Parent Club: @theproudparentclub | www.instagram.com/theproudparentclub | www.theproudparentclub.com -
This week Sanj is joined by Laura-Rose Thorogood, founder of LGBT Mummies organisation and mum of three with her wife. LGBT Mummies purpose is to support LGBT+ women & people globally on the path to motherhood or parenthood.
They provide guidance on the different family creation pathways through their website, social channels & support groups. We chat about building community for LGBT families, recent legislation successes and why they don't go far enough to include everyone in our community.
The Proud Parent Club is the inclusive LGBTQ+ parenting podcast and community hosted by Sanjay Sood-Smith, gay dad through surrogacy with his husband Doug, a.k.a. The Travelling Gays. Subscribe for reminders of each LGBT parenting podcast out weekly and follow us on Instagram. Whether you are an LGBT parent or lesbian, gay, bi or trans future parent there will be something for you.
LGBT Mummies: @lgbt_mummies | www.lgbtmummies.com
The Travelling Gays: @thetravellinggays | www.instagram.com/thetravellinggays
The Proud Parent Club: @theproudparentclub | www.instagram.com/theproudparentclub | www.theproudparentclub.com -
Episodes manquant?
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This week Sanjay chats to Stuart and Francis Armfield-Haugen, gay dads through surrogacy to their son Rio. They started their journey to becoming parents through surrogacy in the USA which is where they made their embryos. Then their friend Sam offered to be their surrogate and they ended up doing their journey between the USA and the UK. We talk about their approach to parenting, their outlook on life, the best things about being dads and the challenges they had with the UK parental order process.
The Proud Parent Club is the inclusive LGBTQ+ parenting podcast and community hosted by Sanjay Sood-Smith, gay dad through surrogacy with his husband Doug, a.k.a. The Travelling Gays. Subscribe for reminders of each LGBT parenting podcast out weekly and follow us on Instagram. Whether you are an LGBT parent or lesbian, gay, bi or trans future parent there will be something for you.
Stuart and Francis: @stuartandfrancis on TikTok | @stueyarmfield and @francishaugen on Instagram
The Travelling Gays: @thetravellinggays | www.instagram.com/thetravellinggays
The Proud Parent Club: @theproudparentclub | www.instagram.com/theproudparentclub | www.theproudparentclub.com -
On this week's episode Sanjay chats to wives Jules and Kath who are mums to two children by IVF, each carrying once. We chat about their experiences of IVF, how they chose a sperm donor, being pregnant in a pandemic, micro-agressions as two mums, having a baby in lockdown and the impact that had on their mental health.
Jules (she/her) and Kath (she/her) have been married for 10 years, they married in 2016 and became parents for the first time in 2019 via IVF with Kath giving birth by planned C-section to daughter Jude. In 2021 they welcomed their second child, Franklin, also conceived via IVF. Jules gave birth to Franklin following induced labour and an eventual emergency C-section.
The Proud Parent Club is the inclusive LGBTQ+ parenting podcast and community hosted by Sanjay Sood-Smith, gay dad through surrogacy with his husband Doug, a.k.a. The Travelling Gays. Subscribe for reminders of each LGBT parenting podcast out weekly and follow us on Instagram. Whether you are an LGBT parent or lesbian, gay, bi or trans future parent there will be something for you.
The Travelling Gays: @thetravellinggays | www.instagram.com/thetravellinggays
The Proud Parent Club: @theproudparentclub | www.instagram.com/theproudparentclub | www.theproudparentclub.com -
This week Sanjay is joined by his husband Doug the other half of @thetravellinggays! We talk all about our journey to becoming gay dads through surrogacy and our life as parents by answering questions crowdsourced from Instagram. We cover the process, the different roles we played, navigating surrogacy in a pandemic, how we chose our daughter's name, our vision for our family and the steps we are taking towards that.
The Proud Parent Club is the inclusive LGBTQ+ parenting podcast and community hosted by Sanjay Sood-Smith, gay dad through surrogacy with his husband Doug, a.k.a. The Travelling Gays. Subscribe for reminders of each LGBT parenting podcast out weekly and follow us on Instagram. Whether you are an LGBT parent or lesbian, gay, bi or trans future parent there will be something for you.
The Travelling Gays: @thetravellinggays | www.instagram.com/thetravellinggays
The Proud Parent Club: @theproudparentclub | www.instagram.com/theproudparentclub | www.theproudparentclub.com -
This week Sanjay is joined by Terrell and Jarius Joseph, gay dads to Ashton and Aria, creators and LGBTQ+ advocates who share their lives to spread positivity and give much needed representation. We chat about raising 'twins' who aren't really twins, representation of gay black men as parents in long-lasting monogamous relationships, what it means to raise good humans and their work at understanding each other's perspectives and how to approach conversations with people who may see the world differently to the way they do.
The Proud Parent Club is the inclusive LGBTQ+ parenting podcast and community hosted by Sanjay Sood-Smith, gay dad through surrogacy with his husband Doug, a.k.a. The Travelling Gays. Subscribe for reminders of each LGBT parenting podcast out weekly and follow us on Instagram. Whether you are an LGBT parent or lesbian, gay, bi or trans future parent there will be something for you.
Terrell & Jarius: @terrellandjarius | www.instagram.com/terrellandjarius | www.terrellandjarius.com
The Travelling Gays: @thetravellinggays | www.instagram.com/thetravellinggays
The Proud Parent Club: @theproudparentclub | www.instagram.com/theproudparentclub | www.theproudparentclub.com -
This week Sanjay is joined by Lisa Parkins, Lisa is a journalist and YouTube vlogger also known as Teddy Has Two Mams, she can also be found posting pictures of messy kids on Instagram. Her words not mine! We chat about her life as parent to two young children, dealing with awkward conversations and coming out as a parent, the different reaction gay dads get vs gay mums, talking to children about Pride and how to ensure they have diverse role models and representation in their lives.
The Proud Parent Club is the inclusive LGBTQ+ parenting podcast and community hosted by Sanjay Sood-Smith, gay dad through surrogacy with his husband Doug, a.k.a. The Travelling Gays. Subscribe for reminders of each LGBT parenting podcast out weekly and follow us on Instagram. Whether you are an LGBT parent or lesbian, gay, bi or trans future parent there will be something for you.
Teddy Has Two Mams: @teddyhastwomams | www.instagram.com/teddyhastwomams
The Travelling Gays: @thetravellinggays | www.instagram.com/thetravellinggays
The Proud Parent Club: @theproudparentclub | www.instagram.com/theproudparentclub | www.theproudparentclub.comlgbt parent, lgbtq parent, lgbtq, lbgtq parenting, lgbt parenting, parenting, ivf, adoption, surrogacy, lesbian, gay, bi, trans, parents, lgbt family
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This week on The Proud Parent Club Sanjay is joined by award winning author and animator Olly Pike. Olly is the 'Chief Executive Unicorn' of Pop N Olly who create educational LGBTQ+ inclusive books, videos and resources for children, parents, carers and teachers.
Olly and Sanjay talk about LGBTQ+ Inclusive Education, how it is never too early to talk to children about different identities and families, finding creative ways to explore complex topics with children, the current environment for LGBTQ+ people and the inspirations behind some of his books including Prince Henry.
The Proud Parent Club is the inclusive LGBTQ+ parenting podcast and community hosted by Sanjay Sood-Smith, gay dad through surrogacy with his husband Doug, a.k.a. The Travelling Gays. Subscribe for reminders of each LGBT parenting podcast out weekly and follow us on Instagram. Whether you are an LGBT parent or lesbian, gay, bi or trans future parent there will be something for you.
Pop'n'Olly: www.popnolly.com | @popnollyuk | www.instagram.com/popnollyuk
Olly Pike: @ollypike | www.instagram.com/ollypike
The Travelling Gays: @thetravellinggays | www.instagram.com/thetravellinggays
The Proud Parent Club: @theproudparentclub | www.instagram.com/theproudparentclub | www.theproudparentclub.com -
This week on the The Proud Parent Club, Sanjay is joined by wives Whitney and Megan Bacon-Evans, also known on their social media as What Wegan Did Next. They hit the headlines last year for taking their NHS trust to court due to the discrimination faced by same-sex couples going through fertility treatment. They have been at the front of campaigning for fertility equality which ultimately led to big changes that were recently announced by the UK government in the women's health strategy.
We discuss how they met through MySpace, their challenges growing up and in particular Whitney's experiences being a lesbian in America’s deep south. We chat about femme representation, why they moved from IUI to a clinical setting and their vision for their LGBT family and what type of mums they think they will be
Whitney and Megan use their platforms across social media to document their lives as wives, showcase fashion and travel and talk about LGBTQ+ issues. More recently they have been documenting their journey to become lesbian parents and have become campaigners for fertility equality.
The Proud Parent Club is the inclusive LGBTQ+ parenting podcast and community hosted by Sanjay Sood-Smith, gay dad through surrogacy with his husband Doug, a.k.a. The Travelling Gays. Subscribe for reminders of each LGBT parenting podcast out weekly and follow on Instagram.
What Wegan Did Next: @WhatWeganDidNext | www.instagram.com/whatwegandidnext
The Travelling Gays: @thetravellinggays | www.instagram.com/thetravellinggays
The Proud Parent Club: @theproudparentclub | www.instagram.com/theproudparentclub | www.theproudparentclub.com -
This episode Sanjay is joined by Lew, one half of the husband duo better known as Two Dads in London. They share through their instagram the unfiltered everyday life of a two dad family and their experiences of become gay dads through adoption. They are also releasing a book, My Family and Other Families, released 1st September.
Sanjay and Lew discuss the adoption process for LGBT parents and the positives and challenges that come with it. They talk about why parenting adopted children is different to becoming an LGBTQ+ parent through other routes, Lew and Rich's parenting style, the story of how they met and why the adoption process is challenging, but necessary.
The Proud Parent Club is the inclusive LGBTQ+ parenting podcast and community hosted by Sanjay Sood-Smith, gay dad through surrogacy with his husband Doug, a.k.a. The Travelling Gays. Subscribe for reminders of each LGBT parenting podcast out weekly and follow on Instagram.
My Family and Other Families: Buy the book on Amazon here
https://www.amazon.co.uk/My-Family-Other-Families-Differences/dp/024156350X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1LKOGDARHJL8R&keywords=my+family+and+other+families&qid=1661174344&sprefix=my+family%2Caps%2C96&sr=8-1
Two Dads in London: @twodadsinlondon | www.instagram.com/twodadsinlondon
The Travelling Gays: @thetravellinggays | www.instagram.com/thetravellinggays
The Proud Parent Club: @theproudparentclub | www.instagram.com/theproudparentclub | www.theproudparentclub.com -
Joining Sanjay this week is Abby of @abbysrollercoasterlife. She is married to her wife Jamie and they have two daughters. Abby joined the US military in the times of “don’t ask don’t tell” and it was there that she was able to uncover her queerness.
We talk about their life as LGBT parents, how Abby and her wife Jamie met, life being LGBTQ in the military, the intersection between being queer and black, the positive representation that Abby hopes to give in the world even when it isn’t always easy and how her own upbringing influences who she is as a parent.
The Proud Parent Club is the inclusive LGBTQ+ parenting podcast and community hosted by Sanjay Sood-Smith, gay dad through surrogacy with his husband Doug, a.k.a. The Travelling Gays. Subscribe for reminders of each LGBT parenting podcast out weekly and follow on Instagram.
Abby’s Rollercoaster Life: @abbysrollercoasterlife | www.instagram.com/abbysrollercoasterlife
The Travelling Gays: @thetravellinggays | www.instagram.com/thetravellinggays
The Proud Parent Club: @theproudparentclub | www.instagram.com/theproudparentclub | www.theproudparentclub.com -
Ayla and Wren Holdom have been together over 20 years and welcomed their daughter into the world in 2020. Their path to parenthood took place over a number of years and was planned well in advance so that they had the best chance of creating their family through IVF following Ayla's transition. We discuss their experience of going through the fertility process as two women, the current attitudes to trans people in day-to-day life and the media, the joys of parenthood and their hopes for the future.
Ayla is a helicopter pilot for the National Police Air Service after spending 13 years as a search a rescue pilot in the RAF. She is also a patron for the charity Mermaids and is a trustee of LGBT charity Stonewall. Wren is an ITU Anaesthetist, she holds a degree in Marine Biology and is also an artist in a variety of mediums including mixed media and sculpture.
The Proud Parent Club is the inclusive LGBTQ+ parenting podcast and community hosted by Sanjay Sood-Smith, gay dad through surrogacy with his husband Doug, a.k.a. The Travelling Gays. Subscribe for reminders of each podcast out weekly and follow in Instagram.
The Travelling Gays: @thetravellinggays | www.instagram.com/thetravellinggays
The Proud Parent Club: @theproudparentclub | www.instagram.com/theproudparentclub | www.theproudparentclub.com -
Reece and Thomas Tatam, also known as The Tatam Family, became gay dads through surrogacy before they were 25. They met when they were 18 years old and started saving for a wedding and having a baby straight away. After exploring different routes to become LGBT parents, including adoption and surrogacy in different countries, they decided on surrogacy in the UK. We discuss their path to becoming LGBTQ parents to son Hugo, which wasn't straightforward and there were a number of setbacks along the way. We also talk about the challenges faced as a gay parent, the very strange questions they got asked by a social worker when obtaining a parental order and their plans for raising their son as part of a same-sex parent family.
The Proud Parent Club is the inclusive LGBTQ+ parenting podcast and community hosted by Sanjay Sood-Smith, gay dad through surrogacy with his husband Doug a.k.a The Travelling Gays. Subscribe for reminders of each podcast out weekly and follow on Instagram.
You can follow Reece and Thomas - The Tatam Family on Instagram: @thetatamfamily | www.instagram.com/thetatamfamily
The Travelling Gays: @thetravellinggays | www.instagram.com/thetravellinggays
The Proud Parent Club: @theproudparentclub | www.instagram.com/theproudparentclub | www.theproudparentclub.com -
Joining host Sanjay Sood-Smith in the first episode of The Proud Parent Club podcast is Nancy Kelley, CEO of Stonewall, Europe's largest LGBTQ+ organisation. Stonewall stands for lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer, questioning and ace (LGBTQ+) people everywhere and imagine a world where all LGBTQ+ people are free to be themselves and can live their lives to the full.
In this episode we discuss the current social, legal and political landscape for LGBTQ+ parents and LGBTQ+ people wanting to become parents through a variety of routes including adoption, fostering, surrogacy and IVF. Nancy explains Stonewall's IVF For All campaign and her own experiences of going through the adoption process and the barriers and challenges that LGBTQ+ people face when starting a family. We also talk about her own personal journey including some hilarious parenting anecdotes.
Stonewall have been a vital part of the LGBTQ+ movement and their campaigns have helped to achieve much of the legislative change that has happened in the UK including the abolition of Section 28, introduction of equal marriage and same-sex couples being free to adopt children.
Find out more about Stonewall and their work at www.stonewall.org.uk
Follow The Proud Parent Club for exclusive content and sneak previews of future shows at www.instagram.com/theproudparentclub -
Hi my name’s Sanjay Sood-Smith and I’m about to start a brand new podcast called The Proud Parent Club. My husband Doug and I recently became parents through surrogacy and before we started our journey spent a lot of time researching the different ways that LGBTQ+ people become parents and also trying to work out what to actually do when the baby arrives.
There are so many fascinating pathways that LGBTQ+ people take to becoming parents that I wanted to create a space to share them, and that’s why I’ve started this podcast. Every week I’ll be talking to different guests about all sorts of things from their paths to parenthood, their experiences of being parents, the highs, the lows, the challenges and the wisdom they have learnt along the way.
I want to find out about a wide range of experiences from across the community and provide an insight into LGBTQ+ parenting. Whether you are already a parent, soon to be one or just thinking about the process there will be something here for you. On the first episode I’ll be joined by Nancy Kelly, CEO of LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall where we will be talking about the current landscape for LGTBQ parents and also getting some insight into her life with her partner Jen as mums through adoption.So make sure you subscribe to The Proud Parent Club Podcast, with me, Sanjay Sood-Smith, launching on the 1st August.
