Surviving Birth Trauma, Choosing Adoption (with Catherine Garrett)

She was resting with an epidural when her heart started racing. By the time her husband returned with the nurse, she was in full cardiac arrest. In this episode of Adoption Utah, host Donna Pope sits down with Catherine Garrett, founder of the Birth Trauma Stories podcast, after a 1% chance of survival reshaped her family.

Nine Days, Seven Surgeries

An amniotic fluid embolism triggered cardiac arrest, a stroke, and nine days on ECMO life support in a coma. Catherine came home a month later to a toddler and a newborn, facing chronic disability, pain, and fatigue that persist more than six years later.

Half Her Siblings Are Adopted

Catherine's parents fostered and adopted two boys through the Florida foster care system. That legacy runs deep. After a hysterectomy took biological children off the table, adoption shifted from family history to a future she prays about and a door she keeps open.

Grief, Gratitude, Same Hand

Her husband navigated months of caregiver fatigue. Her older daughter said she felt alone as a child with a disabled mom. Through couples therapy, community, and faith, this family learned that hard things and beautiful things can live in the same chapter.

An Adoption Utah story about surviving a 1% chance, rebuilding a family around disability, and the adoption legacy that keeps one mom's heart open for more. Listen now on your favorite platforms and share with anyone navigating birth trauma, foster care, or the decision to open their home to a child.

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