Born For This Stories

What if the thing you're told is "just skin" is actually your child's immune system crying out for help? In this powerful episode of Born For This Stories , Johanna and Peter sit down with Dr. Kim Tran, a pregnancy and pediatric chiropractor and functional medicine provider, to share her family's journey through severe infant eczema. What began after a "beautiful, picture perfect home birth" quick...

Some stories don't resolve quickly. Some live in the space between crisis and hope. Day after day. Month after month. In the emotional conclusion to this two-part series, Johanna and Peter continue their conversation with Suzie, whose son Zayn continues to battle hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) and a complex web of GI complications, strokes, feeding struggles, and life-altering medical deci...

Some parents walk into a diagnosis. Others are thrown into it without warning. In this powerful two-part story, Johanna and Peter sit down with Susie, mom of three and mother to Zayn — her brave "heart warrior" born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). Part 1 walks listeners through the moment everything changed: an unsettling 18-week ultrasound, a devastating phone call during their gende...

Some stories take your breath away, not because they're tragic, but because they are so full of life that you can feel every heartbeat of them. In this episode, Johanna and Peter sit down with Dr. Susan, a chiropractor and mom whose family story unfolded in the most unexpected way. After years of infertility and finally adopting their daughter Emme, Susan found out she was pregnant just 13 days la...

What if one of the most powerful healing tools for your medically complex child has been around for 50 years, and no one ever told you about it? In this illuminating episode, Johanna and Peter sit down with Dr. Alison Evans, chiropractor, educator, and founder of Fringe, a company reshaping how families understand and use red light therapy. With 25 years in natural healthcare, Alison breaks down t...

What happens when your first ultrasound becomes the moment everything changes? In this heartfelt episode, Johanna and Peter sit down with Broghan, a pediatric nurse and mom of three whose oldest son, Theo, was diagnosed in utero with bilateral clubfoot during the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic. What followed was a NICU stay, weeks of early-morning castings, and a terrifying post-surgical complica...

Season 2 begins with a story that will stay with you. Today, Johanna and Peter sit down with Dylan, a first-time mom whose daughter, Freya, was born with a congenital limb difference called longitudinal radial deficiency —a rare condition where the forearm bones don't fully develop. From the shock of her diagnosis at the 20-week ultrasound to finding healing through therapy, family support, and th...

"We created the thing we felt would have helped us, and now it's grown into something bigger than us." Today, we close the chapter on  Season One — and open the door to something even bigger. In this heartfelt finale, Johanna and Peter sit down together to reflect on how Born For This Stories began, the families it's reached around the world, and the moments that changed everything. From the early...

Today, we hear a different perspective — one rarely shared. In this deeply moving episode of Born For This Stories , Johanna and Peter sit down with Dr. Tarek, a physiotherapist, osteopathic specialist, and founder of the Thrive Beyond the Diagnosis Foundation . Born with a rare and severe form of epispadias that evolved into hypospadias after multiple surgeries, Dr. Tarek opens up about surviving...

What would you say to the version of yourself who just got the diagnosis? In this deeply personal solo episode, Johanna shares a letter she wishes she could have handed to herself the day her son was born and everything changed. Speaking directly to the parent lying awake tonight wondering if they failed their child, Johanna offers words of comfort, truth, and strength for the days that feel impos...

When a doctor says, "It's a simple fix," most parents want to believe them. But what happens when it isn't? In this powerful episode of Born For This Stories , Johanna and Peter speak with Caroline, a UK-born lawyer and mom of four now living in Pennsylvania, whose son Jude was diagnosed with hypospadias at birth. What she was told would be a "minor surgery" turned into three operations over the c...

Have you ever gotten a second opinion that was the complete opposite of what you were initially told? Imagine that, plus you've just given birth, and your baby's future is hanging in the balance. That was the reality of today's guest. In this powerful episode, Johanna and Peter sit down with Kylie, a mom from South Carolina whose son Aiden was born at just 31 weeks and weighing under three pounds....

A story of unexpected diagnosis followed by years of waiting and choices no parent feels prepared to make. In this episode of Born For This Stories , Johanna and Peter sit down with Sarah, a mom from Canada whose son was diagnosed with severe hypospadias at birth. From being told "it's an easy fix" to learning it would require multiple surgeries, Sarah shares the raw truth of navigating children's...

The surgery might be over, but the hardest part often begins once you get home. In this episode of Born For This Stories , Johanna and Peter share the raw truth about pediatric surgery recovery - the sleepless nights, the emotional whiplash, and the gut-wrenching moments parents are rarely warned about. From the first 48 hours post-op to juggling pain management, catheters, regressions, and linger...

What questions should you really ask before choosing a surgeon for your child? In this powerful continuation of our conversation with Dr. Nicol Corbin Bush and Dr. Warren Snodgrass, two of the world's leading pediatric urologists, we go deeper into what parents need to know about hypospadias repair. From asking about surgical success rates and reviewing before-and-after photos, to understanding wh...

What happens when you have the opportunity to interview the surgeon who changed the future of not only your own child's life, but thousands of others?  In this special episode, Johanna and Peter speak with Dr. Warren Snodgrass and Dr. Nicol Corbin Bush — leading pediatric urologists specializing in hypospadias repair, co-directors of the Hypospadias Specialty Center, and Founders of Operation Happ...

A diagnosis rarely impacts just one person. It can ripple through an entire family and take a toll on everyone. In this episode, Johanna and Peter open up about one of the unseen sides of medical parenting that many face: the impact on siblings. From juggling travel for surgeries to trying to keep routines normal, they share the highs and lows of raising one child with medical needs while protecti...

Born for This Stories started with one diagnosis, but this movement is about so much more. In this heartfelt episode, Johanna and Peter pull back the curtain on the why behind the podcast. What began as a story about their son's rare condition has quickly evolved into a mission to support all parents navigating unexpected diagnoses, medical systems, and the silent grief no one prepares you for. Wh...

Handing your baby over to a surgical team is not in the parenting handbooks. In this powerful episode, Johanna and Peter take you inside one of the hardest days of their lives — the day of their son's first surgery. From managing a fasting six-month-old, to sitting in the waiting room desperately trying not to think the worst, to holding him again once he woke up from anesthesia, this is a glimpse...

What happens when your holistic lifestyle collides with a medical reality you can't ignore? In this vulnerable episode, parents Johanna and Peter share what it was like to step into a world they had spent years intentionally avoiding. After a lifetime of natural remedies, chiropractic care, and avoiding unnecessary interventions, their son's diagnosis forced them to make impossible choices and fin...

When Johanna and Peter's son was born, they were immediately met with the unexpected: a rare congenital diagnosis they had never heard of. This is the raw, vulnerable story of what came next. From a home birth to navigating dismissive doctors, terrifying decisions, and finding their voice as holistic-minded parents, this episode lays the foundation for the entire Born for This Stories movement. Wh...

This is Born For This Stories — the podcast for parents who never thought they'd be medical advocates, but became experts by necessity. Each week, we share raw, real stories from families navigating rare diagnoses, surgeries, and healing — blending holistic hope with practical insight. You're not alone. Whether you're in the hospital, researching at 3 a.m., or just trying to hold it together, you...