Joseph Osmundson spent years joking about having a baby with his best friend. But one day, she told Joe she was serious about it. Joe was elated. Growing up, he had always wanted to be a father, but he didn’t realize how deep that yearning was until the moment their joke became a concrete plan.
At the time, Joe had a boyfriend he loved and his best friend was partnered with a woman. It took time, effort, and countless meetings to decide how to conceive and co-parent in a way that would accommodate everyone involved. What the group did not anticipate was how complex their feelings would become once their plan was underway, or that Joe would have to define what parenting meant to him all over again.
Joseph Osmundson’s book, “Spawning Season: An Experiment in Queer Parenting” is out now.
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Credits
“Modern Love” is hosted by Anna Martin and produced by Reva Goldberg, Elisa Gutierrez, Davis Land, and Sara Curtis. The show is edited by Lynn Levy and Davis Land. The show is mixed by Daniel Ramirez and recorded by Maddy Masiello and Nick Pitman. It features original music by Pat McCusker, Elisheba Ittoop, Dan Powell, Marion Lozano, Carole Sabouraud, Aman Sahota, Chelsea Daniel, Sophia Lanman, Rowan Niemisto and Diane Wong. Our theme music is by Dan Powell.
Special thanks to Daniel Jones, Miya Lee, Larissa Anderson, Dahlia Haddad, Lisa Tobin, Isabella Anderson, Reyna Desai, Jordan Cohen, Victoria Kim, Nina Lassam and Julia Simon.
Links to transcripts of episodes generally appear on these pages within a week.
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