The Natural Womanhood Podcast – Détails, épisodes et analyse

An estimated 44% of girls don't know what's happening when they start their first period. And when it happens, many of those girls are fearful that they are sick—even dying—and suffer in silence, too embarrassed to admit what's happening or ask any questions about it.

Fear, confusion, lies: This is the sad reality of puberty for far too many young American girls today. But it doesn't have to be that way for your daughter. In today's episode of The Natural Womanhood Podcast, Grace Emily Stark discusses not only the importance of teaching our daughters about their periods (well before they start!), but about the entirety of their cycles, with ovulation as the focal point. And for moms who have no idea where to begin when it comes to having these conversations with their daughters, that's where Natural Womanhood's Period Genius program comes in (formerly known as Mothers of PreTeens).

For this episode, Grace is joined by Christina Valenzuela, creator of Pearl & Thistle, an online suite of menstrual cycle, body literacy, and NFP education for all ages and stages. Together, Grace and Christina (moms of daughters themselves!) discuss the how and why moms are best-suited for giving their daughters the empowering body literacy they both need and crave—even if they don't know it, yet.   

The Natural Womanhood Podcast brings together experts in the field of fertility awareness for candid, informative, and friendly conversations about authentic women’s health. The podcast is hosted by Natural Womanhood’s Editor-in-Chief, Grace Emily Stark. Grace is an award-winning journalist, a certified instructor of the Sympto-Thermal Method of fertility awareness, and she holds a M.A. in Bioethics and Health Policy.

Natural Womanhood exists because all women can learn to claim their natural fertility as beautiful, powerful, and healthy. Learn more about Natural Womanhood, here.

Show notes / links:

Want to purchase Natural Womanhood's Period Genius program for you and your daughter (or gift it to someone who needs it)? We're now offering it at $87 for 12-month access! ($125 for lifetime access). Click here for more details. 

Use the coupon code PARENTS15 to get a 15% off discount on Pearl & Thistle's CYCLE PREP: First Period Course for Girls (cycleprep.com)

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For years, Jennifer Lahl has been one of the lone voices screaming into the void about the ethical dangers of assisted reproductive technology (ART), including egg and sperm donation, and surrogacy. She specializes in sharing the stories of those people the billion dollar ART industry likes to hide, like those of the children conceived by anonymous donor gametes longing to know their genetic parents, or surrogates and babies abandoned by commissioning couples. More recently, she's been working to promote the voices of another silenced group: detransitioners, whom the transgender movement likes to pretend do not exist.

I had the privilege of sitting down with Jennifer for this episode of The Natural Womanhood Podcast to hear her thoughts on what all of these issues have in common, and whether she believes—as we do, at Natural Womanhood—that authentic body literacy might hold one of the keys to ending the practice of surrogacy, gamete donation, and perhaps even toppling the entire façade of transgender "medicine."

The Natural Womanhood Podcast brings together experts in the field of fertility awareness for candid, informative, and friendly conversations about authentic women’s health. The podcast is hosted by Natural Womanhood’s Editor-in-Chief, Grace Emily Stark. Grace is an award-winning journalist, a certified instructor of the Sympto-Thermal Method of fertility awareness, and she holds a M.A. in Bioethics and Health Policy.

Natural Womanhood exists because all women can learn to claim their natural fertility as beautiful, powerful, and healthy. Learn more about Natural Womanhood, here.

Show notes / links:

Order Jennifer's new book (co-written with Kallie Fell), The Detransition Diaries, here.
Follow the great work of The Center for Bioethics and Culture, here.

Follow Jennifer on Twitter @JenniferLahl

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Want to support The Natural Womanhood Podcast and the rest of our work? Make your tax-deductible donation, here.

Support the show

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating on Apple podcasts!

Find us on the web at naturalwomanhood.org and be sure to sign up for our newsletter so you never miss an article, video interview, or podcast episode.

Follow us on X @naturwomanhood
Follow us on Instagram @naturalwomanhood

Want to support The Natural Womanhood Podcast and the rest of our work? Make your tax-deductible donation, here.

When it comes to adolescent sex education programs, do we have to choose between "abstinence-only" or "comprehensive?" Dr. Sarah Denny doesn't think so. In this episode of The Natural Womanhood Podcast, Grace and Cassie interview Dr. Denny about her beautiful and innovative vision of a "third way" for sex education—one which gives teens a full picture of both the biology and dignity of human reproduction. 

The Natural Womanhood Podcast brings together experts in the field of fertility awareness for candid, informative, and friendly conversations about authentic women’s health. The podcast is hosted by Grace Emily Stark and Cassondra Moriarty. Grace is an award-winning journalist, a certified instructor of the Sympto-Thermal Method of fertility awareness, and she holds a M.A. in Bioethics and Health Policy. Cassie is a certified instructor of FEMM, an IBCLC lactation consultant, and DONA postpartum Doula.

Learn more about Grace and her work here, and learn more about Cassie and her work here. 

Like what you’re hearing and want more? Click to support the show!

Support the show

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating on Apple podcasts!

Find us on the web at naturalwomanhood.org and be sure to sign up for our newsletter so you never miss an article, video interview, or podcast episode.

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Want to support The Natural Womanhood Podcast and the rest of our work? Make your tax-deductible donation, here.

In this episode of The Natural Womanhood Podcast (Season 2 / Episode 6), Grace and Cassie interview Dr. Matthew Loftus, a family doctor who currently lives (with his wife and four children!) and practices medicine in Kenya. As you might have guessed from the title, this is "the episode where we talk about porn," and we approached Dr. Loftus as a guest speaker on this topic after reading his excellent article on overcoming porn addiction in Plough. While this topic might seem a bit off-the-beaten-path from what we typically talk about on The Natural Womanhood Podcast and on the Natural Womanhood website, we decided that pornography and its effects were well worth dedicating an episode to. It's an unfortunate reality that the way many of us view sex and our bodies (and others' bodies) has been shaped and colored in some way by the ubiquity of porn. And, as we talk about in this episode, where pornography completely decontextualizes sex, fertility awareness can help us recontextualize sex (for adults and teens) in a way that's needed now more than ever. See? Not so off the mark after all! (We are proud of this episode and hope you'll find our conversation as edifying as we did, however, we do want to caution listeners that this episode discusses sex and pornography addiction, so discretion is advised.)  

The Natural Womanhood podcast is hosted by Grace Emily Stark and Cassondra Moriarty. Grace is an award-winning journalist, a certified instructor of the Sympto-Thermal Method of fertility awareness, and she holds a M.A. in Bioethics and Health Policy. Cassie is a certified instructor of FEMM, an IBCLC lactation consultant, and DONA postpartum Doula. 

The Natural Womanhood Podcast brings together experts in the field of fertility awareness for candid, informative, and friendly conversations about authentic women’s health. The podcast is hosted by Grace Emily Stark and Cassondra Moriarty. Grace is an award-winning journalist, a certified instructor of the Sympto-Thermal Method of fertility awareness, and she holds a M.A. in Bioethics and Health Policy. Cassie is a certified instructor of FEMM, an IBCLC lactation consultant, and DONA postpartum Doula.

Learn more about Grace and her work here, and learn more about Cassie and her work here. 

Like what you’re hearing and want more? Click to support the show!

Support the show

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating on Apple podcasts!

Find us on the web at naturalwomanhood.org and be sure to sign up for our newsletter so you never miss an article, video interview, or podcast episode.

Follow us on X @naturwomanhood
Follow us on Instagram @naturalwomanhood

Want to support The Natural Womanhood Podcast and the rest of our work? Make your tax-deductible donation, here.

In this episode (Season 2 / Episode 5), Grace and Cassie interview Tiffany and Kelly of Beautiful One Midwifery, a practice based out of Encinitas, CA. In this wide-ranging interview, we discuss the key differences of midwifery care vs. obstetrical care when it comes to pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum—learning a lot about the power of women's bodies in the process. "Your body is not broken," says the Beautiful One Midwifery website, "it is simply begging you to take it out of the system that neglects and dismisses you as a whole person in need of a holistic approach to health." It's a statement that encapsulates the Natural Womanhood approach to women's health, which is why we were so thrilled to be able to interview these wonderful women and hear more about the fascinating work of midwifery. Whether you're a strong proponent of hospital births or home births, there's plenty to take away from this informative episode about the awe-inspiring work of growing and birthing babies.   

The Natural Womanhood podcast is hosted by Grace Emily Stark and Cassondra Moriarty. Grace is an award-winning journalist, a certified instructor of the Sympto-Thermal Method of fertility awareness, and she holds a M.A. in Bioethics and Health Policy. Cassie is a certified instructor of FEMM, an IBCLC lactation consultant, and DONA postpartum Doula. 

The Natural Womanhood Podcast brings together experts in the field of fertility awareness for candid, informative, and friendly conversations about authentic women’s health. The podcast is hosted by Grace Emily Stark and Cassondra Moriarty. Grace is an award-winning journalist, a certified instructor of the Sympto-Thermal Method of fertility awareness, and she holds a M.A. in Bioethics and Health Policy. Cassie is a certified instructor of FEMM, an IBCLC lactation consultant, and DONA postpartum Doula.

Learn more about Grace and her work here, and learn more about Cassie and her work here. 

Like what you’re hearing and want more? Click to support the show!

Support the show

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating on Apple podcasts!

Find us on the web at naturalwomanhood.org and be sure to sign up for our newsletter so you never miss an article, video interview, or podcast episode.

Follow us on X @naturwomanhood
Follow us on Instagram @naturalwomanhood

Want to support The Natural Womanhood Podcast and the rest of our work? Make your tax-deductible donation, here.

In this episode (Season 2 / Episode 4), Grace and Cassie interview Julia McElhenny on the benefits of fertility awareness methods (FAMs) for single women. Julia is the assistant video editor for a non-profit media studio in Austin, TX called the Emergent Order Foundation, and she actually edited the first season of The Natural Womanhood Podcast for us—oh, and she happens to be Grace's little sister! Most importantly (for the purposes of this episode) Julia has been charting her cycles with a FAM since she was a teenager, which she (and her doctor) have used to diagnose and holistically treat both endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) over the past several years. While FAMs and methods of natural family planning (NFP) are often talked about in the context of family planning, Julia is here to tell us all about the benefits of using a FAM as a single woman (spoiler alert: there are quite a few!). If you're not in a relationship and have ever wondered what fertility awareness could possibly have to offer you (especially if you're on birth control for whatever reason, and are looking for something different), this episode is for you. 

The Natural Womanhood podcast is hosted by Grace Emily Stark and Cassondra Moriarty. Grace is an award-winning journalist, a certified instructor of the Sympto-Thermal Method of fertility awareness, and she holds a M.A. in Bioethics and Health Policy. Cassie is a certified instructor of FEMM, an IBCLC lactation consultant, and DONA postpartum Doula. 

The Natural Womanhood Podcast brings together experts in the field of fertility awareness for candid, informative, and friendly conversations about authentic women’s health. The podcast is hosted by Grace Emily Stark and Cassondra Moriarty. Grace is an award-winning journalist, a certified instructor of the Sympto-Thermal Method of fertility awareness, and she holds a M.A. in Bioethics and Health Policy. Cassie is a certified instructor of FEMM, an IBCLC lactation consultant, and DONA postpartum Doula.

Learn more about Grace and her work here, and learn more about Cassie and her work here. 

Like what you’re hearing and want more? Click to support the show!

Support the show

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating on Apple podcasts!

Find us on the web at naturalwomanhood.org and be sure to sign up for our newsletter so you never miss an article, video interview, or podcast episode.

Follow us on X @naturwomanhood
Follow us on Instagram @naturalwomanhood

Want to support The Natural Womanhood Podcast and the rest of our work? Make your tax-deductible donation, here.

In this episode (Season 2 / Episode 3), Grace and Cassie interview functional nutritionist and registered dietician Victoria Coglianese of Wonderfully Made Nutrition. We discuss not only what good nutrition looks like for women suffering from PCOS, but also how to be mindful of the ways we nourish our bodies as women. Women are not just small men, and our nutritional needs differ in some very important ways, which Victoria breaks down for us in the fascinating, highly-informative episode. We hope you learn as much as we did from listening to her!

The Natural Womanhood podcast is hosted by Grace Emily Stark and Cassondra Moriarty. Grace is an award-winning journalist, a certified instructor of the Sympto-Thermal Method of fertility awareness, and she holds a M.A. in Bioethics and Health Policy. Cassie is a certified instructor of FEMM, an IBCLC lactation consultant, and DONA postpartum Doula. 

The Natural Womanhood Podcast brings together experts in the field of fertility awareness for candid, informative, and friendly conversations about authentic women’s health. The podcast is hosted by Grace Emily Stark and Cassondra Moriarty. Grace is an award-winning journalist, a certified instructor of the Sympto-Thermal Method of fertility awareness, and she holds a M.A. in Bioethics and Health Policy. Cassie is a certified instructor of FEMM, an IBCLC lactation consultant, and DONA postpartum Doula.

Learn more about Grace and her work here, and learn more about Cassie and her work here. 

Like what you’re hearing and want more? Click to support the show!

Support the show

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating on Apple podcasts!

Find us on the web at naturalwomanhood.org and be sure to sign up for our newsletter so you never miss an article, video interview, or podcast episode.

Follow us on X @naturwomanhood
Follow us on Instagram @naturalwomanhood

Want to support The Natural Womanhood Podcast and the rest of our work? Make your tax-deductible donation, here.

In this episode (Season 2 / Episode 2), Grace interviews Leah Jacobson, author of Wholistic Feminism: Healing the Identity Crisis Caused by the Women's Movement, and founder and CEO of The Guiding Star Project. Grace and Leah have a fascinating conversation that discusses the implications of the women's movement, from its origins, to its effects on modern women's health and well-being, and how organizations like Natural Womanhood are paving the way for a more authentic vision of women's health.   

The Natural Womanhood podcast is hosted by Grace Emily Stark and Cassondra Moriarty. Grace is an award-winning journalist, a certified instructor of the Sympto-Thermal Method of fertility awareness, and she holds a M.A. in Bioethics and Health Policy. Cassie is a certified instructor of FEMM, an IBCLC lactation consultant, and DONA postpartum Doula. 

The Natural Womanhood Podcast brings together experts in the field of fertility awareness for candid, informative, and friendly conversations about authentic women’s health. The podcast is hosted by Grace Emily Stark and Cassondra Moriarty. Grace is an award-winning journalist, a certified instructor of the Sympto-Thermal Method of fertility awareness, and she holds a M.A. in Bioethics and Health Policy. Cassie is a certified instructor of FEMM, an IBCLC lactation consultant, and DONA postpartum Doula.

Learn more about Grace and her work here, and learn more about Cassie and her work here. 

Like what you’re hearing and want more? Click to support the show!

Support the show

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating on Apple podcasts!

Find us on the web at naturalwomanhood.org and be sure to sign up for our newsletter so you never miss an article, video interview, or podcast episode.

Follow us on X @naturwomanhood
Follow us on Instagram @naturalwomanhood

Want to support The Natural Womanhood Podcast and the rest of our work? Make your tax-deductible donation, here.

Welcome back to The Natural Womanhood Podcast! In this episode (Season 2 / Episode 1), we're discussing all things postpartum. Cassie and Grace recorded this episode after both recently having new babies (their second and third, respectively), and in it, they reflect on what they've learned through each new postpartum experience--about themselves, their bodies, and their relationships. You don't want to miss this candid episode, especially if you're a brand-new mom (or know one!).  

The Natural Womanhood Podcast brings together experts in the field of fertility awareness for candid, informative, and friendly conversations about authentic women’s health. The podcast is hosted by Grace Emily Stark and Cassondra Moriarty. Grace is an award-winning journalist, a certified instructor of the Sympto-Thermal Method of fertility awareness, and she holds a M.A. in Bioethics and Health Policy. Cassie is a certified instructor of FEMM, an IBCLC lactation consultant, and DONA postpartum Doula.

Learn more about Grace and her work here, and learn more about Cassie and her work here. Support the show (https://paypal.me/naturalwomanhood?locale.x=en_US)

Support the show

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating on Apple podcasts!

Find us on the web at naturalwomanhood.org and be sure to sign up for our newsletter so you never miss an article, video interview, or podcast episode.

Follow us on X @naturwomanhood
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Want to support The Natural Womanhood Podcast and the rest of our work? Make your tax-deductible donation, here.

Dr. Lauren Rubal, M.D. is a board-certified OB/GYN and Reproductive Endocrinologist (REI). She was also once one of the top full-scope REI providers for the Kaiser Health Network, which meant that she frequently provided in vitro fertilization (IVF) services to patients struggling with infertility, and provided birth control to women struggling with menstrual issues like endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). But after several years of this kind of practice, Dr. Lauren began to feel a pull towards practicing another way—a way that would holistically restore a woman's health or a couples' fertility, so that they could cycle and/or conceive naturally.

So, a few years ago, Dr. Lauren took a leap of faith and started her own boutique practice in Newport Beach, CA, where she now only offers restorative reproductive medicine. A one-two punch of expertise in both conventional gynecological and fertility medicine, and holistic and restorative practices, Dr. Lauren is also an exceedingly lovely person whom her patients love—and whom we were absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to interview for our very final episode of Season 1 of The Natural Womanhood Podcast!

We sincerely hope you enjoy this episode, and want to thank you for listening to the inaugural season of The Natural Womanhood Podcast. We had a blast, and are eagerly planning new content for next season. If you have any ideas, please shoot them our way! Until then, be well, and know that we can't wait to see you again next year for Season 2.

The Natural Womanhood Podcast brings together experts in the field of fertility awareness for candid, informative, and friendly conversations about authentic women’s health. The podcast is hosted by Grace Emily Stark and Cassondra Moriarty. Grace is an award-winning journalist, a certified instructor of the Sympto-Thermal Method of fertility awareness, and she holds a M.A. in Bioethics and Health Policy. Cassie is a certified instructor of FEMM, an IBCLC lactation consultant, and DONA postpartum Doula.

The Natural Womanhood Podcast is a production of Natural Womanhood, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving women's health literacy through the promotion of evidence-based fertility awareness methods (FAMs) of natural family planning. Natural Womanhood exists to help women discover safe, side effect-free natural birth control options, empower them to work with their bodies instead of against them, and to inform them about harmful birth control side effects.

Learn more about Grace and her work here, and learn more about Cassie and her work here.

Support the show

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating on Apple podcasts!

Find us on the web at naturalwomanhood.org and be sure to sign up for our newsletter so you never miss an article, video interview, or podcast episode.

Follow us on X @naturwomanhood
Follow us on Instagram @naturalwomanhood

Want to support The Natural Womanhood Podcast and the rest of our work? Make your tax-deductible donation, here.