Sarah Sentilles - Stranger Care: Loving What isn’t Ours

BRAVE JOURNEYS with TAMMI FARADAY

In the depths of Sarah Sentilles' heart, was a primal longing to become a mother. This yearning was buried beneath the desires & pressures of others. Sarah’s husband, Eric, believed the world was already brimming with children in need of loving homes. Everyone else, it seemed, whispered doubts into Sarah's ears. Parenthood, they said, would be the end of her cherished life.

But the yearning within her refused to be silenced. It threatened to fracture her marriage, until Sarah & Eric made a monumental decision that would forever alter the course of their lives: to foster a child with the hope of adoption.

False starts and dashed dreams tested their resilience. But a phone call finally arrived, carrying with it the news of a fragile three-day-old baby girl, desperately needing a foster family. Sarah and Eric rushed to the hospital as a couple and returned home as parents to a beautiful stranger.

But the foster system, with its singular objective of reuniting children with their biological parents, served as a constant reminder of the bittersweet reality that awaited them. Shaken but undeterred by the looming heartbreak, Sarah and Eric, poured love, stability, and safety into the child they ached to call their own.

Sarah's extraordinary book, "Stranger Care: A Memoir of Loving What isn't Ours," will shatter your heart, challenge your moral compass, and rekindle your faith in the inherent goodness that resides within each of us, even in the face of shattered dreams.

But this isn’t merely a tale of fiercely loving someone else's child.

When a writer lays bare their vulnerabilities and exposes their own frailties, eschewing self-serving narratives - as Sarah has done - you know you’ve uncovered a rare gem.

Prepare yourself for an unforgettable episode of "BRAVE JOURNEYS."; one that deconstructs the very essence of motherhood, & explores the profound truth that every child who enters our lives is, at first, a stranger waiting to be discovered.

This is a story of belonging & loss as well as audacious, selfless love.

BUT BEFORE YOU GO…

Find out more about Sarah here

Follow Sarah on Insta here

Follow Sarah on Facebook here

Buy Sarah’s exquisite memoir, "Stranger Care: A Memoir of Loving What isn't Ours" here

Find out more about Tam here

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Join the conversation and chat about the episode here

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CREDITS:

Creator, Host & Executive Producer: Tammi Faraday

With thanks to my special guest: Sarah Sentilles
Audio Editor: Melissa May

With very special thanks to George Weinberg and Ursula Ferguson

BRAVE JOURNEYS acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we record this podcast on, the Yaluk-ut Weelam Clan of the Boon Wurrungwho are part of the Kulin Nation. We pay our respect to their Elders, both past, present and emerging and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.