Adoption, Disability, and the Truth No One Talks About

What if the very thing you feared most became the source of your deepest joy?

In this raw and unfiltered episode, Amanda Ellard—mother, author, and fierce advocate—opens up about the life-altering journey of raising a child with Down syndrome. She doesn’t sugarcoat it. The grief is real. The trauma is real. But so is the joy—piercing, profound, and often found in the most unexpected places.

Amanda speaks to the quiet battles adoptive parents face: the emotional exhaustion, the fear of failure, the invisible weight of parenting children with trauma. She challenges the narrative that love is always easy—revealing how trust must be earned, how vulnerability is non-negotiable, and how therapy and self-care are not luxuries but lifelines.

This episode is a rallying cry: Every child—especially those the world too often overlooks—is worthy of celebration, belonging, and relentless advocacy. And perhaps the greatest transformation isn’t just in the child... but in us.