
The Proud Parent Club
The Proud Parent Club is the inclusive podcast and community for LGBTQ+ parents and future LGBT parents. Sanjay Sood-Smith (he/him) is joined by different guests each week to discuss all aspects of family building and LGBT parenting for lesbian, gay, bi, trans and queer people. Sanjay and his husband Doug (a.k.a The Travelling Gays on Instagram) became parents through through surrogacy and before starting their journey spent a lot of time researching the different ways that LGBTQ+ people become parents and these will be explored by talking to experts and people from across the LGBTQ+ community who have taken different routes to becoming parents including adoption, surrogacy in different countries, co-parenting, IUI, IVF, reciprocal IVF, solo-parenting and having children before coming out. The Proud Parent Club will also explore what happens when a child arrives arrives, the experiences of being parents, the highs, the lows, the challenges of being an LGBT parent and shared wisdom of how these are overcome. The experiences of LGBT parenting are unique and no topic is off limits to help us find our way - whether you are already a parent, soon to be one or just thinking about the process there will be something here for you.
Episodes
15 episodes
E14: Adopting our baby through concurrent planning: Mike and Paul Campbell-Jennings
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 hig...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 14
•
35:05

E13: Building community for LGBT families and ensuring everyone is included in the battle for equality: Laura-Rose, LGBT Mummies
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 p...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 13
•
36:04

E12: Our friend offered to be our surrogate in the UK but our embryos were in the USA: Stuart & Francis
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 thei...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 12
•
50:57

E11: Having a newborn in a pandemic, choosing a sperm donor and managing mental health as a parent: Jules and Kath
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 t...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 11
•
45:49

E10: Talking to my husband about our journey to being gay dads through surrogacy: The Travelling Gays
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...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 10
•
32:12

E9: Raising our kids and shifting attitudes as gay dads belonging to two minority groups: Terrell & Jarius
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'...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 9
•
47:26

E8: Handling awkward conversations as an LGBTQ+ parent: Lisa Parkins, Teddy Has Two Mams
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 ...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 8
•
37:23

E7: Inclusive LGBTQ+ storytelling and talking to kids about diversity and identity: Olly Pike of Pop'n'Olly
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, ...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 7
•
29:53

E6: Campaigning for fertility equality for same-sex couples and starting our motherhood journey: What Wegan Did Next
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 disc...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 6
•
51:39

E5: Gay dads through adoption and normalising same-sex parenting: Two Dads in London
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 ado...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 5
•
38:41

E4: Raising my kids with my wife as a bi mum of two in the US military: Abby's Rollercoaster Life
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 unco...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 4
•
34:45

E3: Creating our two mum family with one cis mum and one trans mum: Ayla and Wren Holdom
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...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 3
•
41:38

E2: Gay dads through surrogacy in our early 20's: The Tatam Family
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 explo...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 2
•
41:38

E1: CEO of Stonewall Nancy Kelley on LGBTQ+ parenting
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 ...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 1
•
44:51

Trailer - Series launching 1st August
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 ...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 1
•
2:36
