August 23, 2026 — Episode #136

He never heard his father’s voice, saw his face, or spoke to him — not once. Decades later, T.C. Talley is the one mentoring other men through fatherhood.

After weeks of listeners asking when they’d hear the single-parenting series from a father’s point of view, Jerry and Becky welcome T.C. Talley, Director of Fatherhood Mentoring and Abstinence Education at Birth Choice, for the first of what will be a multi-week conversation. T.C. shares his remarkable story — growing up on the streets of Chicago without ever knowing his father, surviving two violent altercations in a single weekend as a teenager, and starting over in California at his cousin’s urging. He opens up about coming to faith through a friend’s invitation to church, being single-parenting his four children on joint custody after his first marriage ended, and the painful, ongoing estrangement he now has from his adult children. Jerry and Becky share statistics on single fathers in America and set the stage for a series that promises to be, as Jerry puts it, “the rest of the story.”

Topics discussed:

• Statistics on single fathers in the United States
• T.C. Talley’s introduction: his work mentoring fathers at Birth Choice
• Growing up without a father and the pain behind an absent parent’s silence
• A violent turning point in Chicago that led to a fresh start in California
• Coming to faith through a friend’s invitation to church
• Being a single father of four on joint custody after his first marriage ended
• Praying for estranged adult children rather than trying to control the outcome
• Preview of an ongoing multi-week series on single fatherhood

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August 16, 2026 — Episode #135

Divorce isn’t just the end of a marriage — it’s a grieving process for the person you thought you were. In her final week on this series, Lisa Reasons gets candid about what that grief actually looks like.

Jerry and Becky close out their multi-week series on single parenting with Lisa Reasons, sharing openly about her own path through divorce and healing. Lisa talks about finally finding a church with a real support system for divorced people, why rebuilding trust after betrayal is so much harder than it sounds, and how grief after divorce means mourning not just a marriage but an entire imagined future. Jerry shares a memorable story about a house full of college students and one young man’s tearful confession about his parents’ divorce — and the unexpected comfort he received from friends who’d been through the same thing. The conversation turns back to adoption as Lisa describes her role walking birth mothers through the process at Birth Choice, and the episode closes with an offer for listeners to request a free Bible packed with resources on family and single-parenting issues.

Topics discussed:

• Why people become single parents: divorce, death, deployment, or never having married
• Finding a church community with real support for divorced people
• Divorce as a grieving process — mourning the marriage, the person, and the future you expected
• Rebuilding trust after betrayal and understanding attachment styles
• Leaning on prayer and Scripture during seasons of numbness or hopelessness
• Why single parents should know their own worth before dating again
• A story of unexpected comfort among college students processing their parents’ divorces
• Lisa’s role guiding birth mothers through the adoption process at Birth Choice
• Offer of a free Bible with family and single-parenting resources

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August 9, 2026 — Episode #134

Nearly 24 million American families are headed by a single parent — and Lisa Reasons knows that world firsthand, both as a single mother of four and as the adoption agency director who now helps other families navigate it.

Continuing their series on single parenting, Jerry and Becky welcome back Lisa Reasons, director of the adoption agency at Birth Choice, to talk candidly about what it actually takes to heal and hold steady as a single parent. Lisa shares how prayer led her to Christian therapy, and unpacks EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) — including lesser-known variations like attachment-focused and pre-verbal EMDR, which address trauma from before a child could even speak. The conversation turns to the importance of seeking out a Christian counselor, the value of processing painful events from the past rather than pushing past them, and the loneliness Lisa felt when she was shunned by people in her own church after her divorce. Jerry and Becky share statistics on single-parent households and press the point that churches need real, visible support systems — not judgment — for the parents and kids living this reality. They close with a preview of next week’s continuation of the series, this time from a woman’s perspective.

Topics discussed:

• Statistics on single-parent households in America
• Finding and choosing a Christian therapist
• EMDR, attachment-focused EMDR, and pre-verbal EMDR for processing trauma
• Why processing the past matters instead of only moving forward
• Feeling shunned by a church community after divorce
• What churches can do to support single parents without judgment
• Helping children of single parents process what they’ve been through
• Preview of next week: single parenting from a woman’s viewpoint

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August 2, 2026 — Episode #133

Content note: this episode continues detailed discussion of a proposed movement to criminally charge women for abortion — including in cases of miscarriage — and includes statistics on teen suicide, gang involvement, and substance abuse linked to single-parent households.

In what they describe as her last week with them for now, Lisa Reasons returns to close out Jerry and Becky Drace’s series on abortion, adoption, and single parenting.

They continue unpacking the “abolitionist” movement, with Jerry and Becky wondering aloud whether it might actually originate from abortion pill manufacturers themselves, given the lack of informed consent or medical oversight women receive. They discuss how the movement’s logic could theoretically implicate women who’ve had miscarriages, and note that a proposed law along these lines was recently introduced and killed in Tennessee’s state legislature. The conversation turns toward grace and the church’s responsibility, with Jerry stating plainly that abortion is not the unpardonable sin and that God’s forgiveness supersedes the shame many women carry silently because their churches never address the issue. Lisa shares statistics from her adoption-agency work, including how many women who arrive “abortion-minded” change course toward life or adoption, and the biblical example of Moses’ mother placing him in the Nile before Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him. The episode closes with sobering statistics linking single-mother households to higher rates of teen suicide, gang involvement, and substance abuse, alongside a preview that next week’s series will shift focus to single fatherhood.

Topics discussed:

• The “abolitionist” movement and questions about who may be funding it
• Legislative attempts in Tennessee to criminalize abortion for the mother
• Why the movement’s logic could implicate women who’ve miscarried
• Abortion as not the “unpardonable sin,” and the church’s silence on the issue
• Statistics on women who enter counseling “abortion-minded” and choose life or adoption
• Moses’ mother and Pharaoh’s daughter as a biblical picture of adoption
• Statistics linking single-mother households to teen suicide, gang involvement, and substance abuse
• Preview of next week’s shift to single fatherhood

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July 26, 2026 — Episode #132

Content note: this episode includes detailed discussion of a proposed movement to criminally charge women for abortions — including in cases of miscarriage — as well as discussion of the abortion pill and its accessibility.

Lisa Reasons returns to continue Jerry and Becky Drace’s series on single parenting, this time tackling a controversial legal movement that would charge mothers with homicide over abortion.

They open by previewing next week’s topic — single fatherhood — after a listener from North Carolina asked why the series had only addressed single mothers, and share a statistic that 81% of single-parent households are headed by mothers versus 18% by fathers. Lisa then unpacks the “abolitionist” movement within the pro-life space, explaining how it seeks to criminally charge women who have abortions, and why she believes this approach — despite sounding pro-life — actually further victimizes women who were often misled by abortion providers with no informed consent or medical oversight. The conversation covers the legal double standard between abortion and adoption (where fathers must sign away parental rights for adoption but not for abortion), the risk that criminalization could wrongly implicate women who’ve had miscarriages, and the importance of churches removing shame and stigma around unplanned pregnancy so women feel safe pursuing adoption. Lisa also shares candidly about her own journey as a single mother of four, including the challenges of co-parenting, returning to graduate school, and the therapists and pastoral counselors who helped her heal. The episode closes with statistics on communication as the greatest co-parenting challenge and a promise to continue the series next week.

Topics discussed:

• Preview of next week’s topic: single fatherhood (81% of single parents are mothers, 18% are fathers)
• The abortion “abolitionist” movement and proposals to criminally charge mothers
• Legal double standards between abortion and adoption regarding fathers’ rights
• The abortion pill’s history, accessibility, and lack of medical oversight
• Removing shame and stigma around unplanned pregnancy in church communities
• Lisa Reasons’ personal story of single motherhood, co-parenting, and healing
• Statistics on co-parenting communication challenges
• The value of biblically grounded Christian counseling and therapy

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July 19, 2026 — Episode #131

Jerry and Becky Drace open a new series on single parenting, digging into how people become single parents in the first place and the surprising statistics behind it.

They walk through the three main paths to single parenthood — never marrying, divorce, and the death of a spouse — and share a statistic that the first divorce in the U.S. typically occurs around age 30. The conversation turns candid about why marriages fail, with Becky pointing to premarital counseling that skips hard compatibility questions, and Jerry sharing a story about a young man convinced he was “in love” based purely on physical symptoms. They cite data showing 40% of single-parent households are headed by a mother who is the sole breadwinner (compared to just 10% of two-parent homes), and discuss the added strain when an ex-spouse remarries and shifts financial priorities to a new family. The Draces also touch on grandparents and au pairs stepping in as caregivers, share a story about a waitress working multiple jobs as a single mom, and reference Psalm 10:14 and Psalm 146:9 on God’s care for the fatherless. They also take a moment to announce the show’s newly launched podcast, encouraging listeners to find the full back catalog and subscribe through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or the website. The episode closes with a preview: next week they’ll welcome a guest with personal experience as a single parent.

Topics discussed:

• Roughly 24 million U.S. families are headed by a single parent (34% of all families with children)
• Three main paths to single parenthood: never marrying, divorce, and the death of a spouse
• The typical age of first divorce and why “falling out of love” isn’t the real cause
• Premarital counseling and the compatibility questions couples skip
• Statistics on single mothers as sole breadwinners
• Grandparents and au pairs stepping in as caregivers
• Psalm 10:14 and Psalm 146:9 on God’s care for the fatherless
• Announcing the show’s new podcast and how to subscribe
• Preview: next week’s guest, a single parent sharing their story

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or directly via our podcast RSS feed. See the full episode archive for more.

July 12, 2026 — Episode #130

Content note: this episode discusses abortion and sexual coercion in detail, including a specific criminal case.

In the final episode of this five-week series, Lisa Reasons returns for a frank conversation about the abortion pill: how it works, who can obtain it, and its effects — including “abortion pill reversal.” The conversation includes real-world cases of coercion and abuse, and Birth Choice’s own research into how easily the pills can be obtained with no age or identity verification.

Jerry and Becky close out the series with a call for churches to address unplanned pregnancy and abortion with more compassion and less stigma.

Topics discussed:

• How the two-pill abortion regimen works, and how “abortion pill reversal” can intervene
• Birth Choice’s own test-ordering of the pills to demonstrate lack of age/ID verification
• A Louisiana case involving a father, his pregnant daughter, and the abortion pill
• The lack of medical oversight and informed consent compared to other medical procedures
• The “abolitionist” movement within the pro-life space, and Lisa’s critique of it
• A call for churches to create safe, non-judgmental support (“life share”) for women healing from abortion
• Series wrap-up: reflections on five weeks of conversation about adoption and life

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July 5, 2026 — Episode #129

This week’s conversation opens with a reading of Moses’ story in Exodus 2, then turns deeply personal as Lisa Reasons shares her own adoption story in detail.

Lisa and Becky discuss attachment disorder, bonding, and the training that helps adoptive parents build secure attachment with a child. The episode also touches on the surprising family connection between Lisa and Becky, discovered by chance at a funeral, and closes with a transition into next episode’s topic: the abortion pill.

Topics discussed:

• Reading and reflection on Exodus 2 (Moses’ adoption story)
• Lisa’s personal history: foster care placement, an infancy health scare, and being adopted at age two
• Attachment disorder and attachment styles (secure, avoidant, disorganized)
• TBRI (Trust-Based Relational Intervention), a researcher-developed framework
• How Lisa and Becky discovered they were distant cousins
• Transition into the abortion pill discussion (continued next week)

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June 28, 2026 — Episode #128

Week three with Lisa Reasons digs into how adoption actually works: the legal process, how long it takes, and the difference between private adoptions, for-profit agencies, and non-profit Christian agencies like Birth Choice.

Lisa and Becky recount the true story of a Memphis-area social worker whose mid-20th-century adoption practices still shape public perceptions of adoption agencies today. The conversation covers the sharp decline in international adoption over the past two decades, Birth Choice’s eligibility criteria for adoptive parents, and Tennessee’s “safe haven” baby laws, which allow a parent to safely surrender a newborn with no legal consequence.

Topics discussed:

• The legal definition and timeline of an adoption
• Private adoption vs. for-profit vs. non-profit agency adoption
• The true story of the Memphis “baby brokering” scandal (also covered in a popular historical novel)
• The ~95% decline in international adoptions over the past two decades
• Birth Choice’s eligibility criteria for adoptive parents
• Tennessee’s safe-haven surrender law (recently extended from 14 to 45 days) and safe-baby drop boxes
• A preview of the following week’s continued conversation

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June 21, 2026 — Episode #127

Lisa Reasons of Birth Choice returns for week two of the adoption series.

This episode turns to a candid discussion of the abortion pill — how accessible it’s become, and the existence of “abortion pill reversal” for women who change their minds. Jerry and Becky also explore how Birth Choice’s client advocates walk alongside women considering abortion, using the biblical story of Moses’ mother as a framework for talking about adoption without fear. The conversation turns to the often-overlooked role of birth fathers in the adoption process, the tens of thousands of children waiting in foster care, and why churches need to engage more directly with the hard realities of adoption and trauma.

Topics discussed:

• The abortion pill: how it works and how easily it can be obtained
• “Abortion pill reversal” and the medical work behind it
• How Birth Choice’s advocates present adoption using the story of Moses’ mother (and a parallel with Mary, mother of Jesus)
• The legal requirement for birth fathers to waive parental rights before an adoption can proceed
• Foster care statistics — roughly 125,000 children nationally awaiting adoption
• The extra layers of support older/waiting children need (trauma, attachment)
• A call for churches to take more ownership of adoption and foster care

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or directly via our podcast RSS feed. See the full episode archive for more.