Happy (early) Father's Day!

The Emerald Doulas know this can be a tricky set of holidays for some families. Whether you are grieving a parent, have a complicated relationship with your own parents, or don’t "fit" into these parenting holidays, it can be a challenging season. 

In hopes of breaking through some of that isolation, this seemed like a good time to talk about how we, at EmDo, gender support. We are delighted to offer spaces that fit all kind of families; those that have fathers in them, those that don’t, and those that are in the middle.

Are you a parenting beyond or between the pink and blue greeting card aisles?

We see you. We love you. We want you to be part of our community. 

In addition to using gender-neutral and inclusive language on all of our forms and in all of our classes, and a doula team who is competent and trained in supporting all families, we host a variety of free support groups for local parents:

New Parents Hangout: This group is for new parents, of any kind, to come get support. We noticed that a lot of early parenting groups are feeding based of for mother's only. So, we intentionally created a space where whole families could come. Where stay-at-home parents of all genders could come.

Where Bubbas, and Babas and Mamas and Mommies and Papas and Dads are all welcome. 

New Dad’s Group: New Dad’s Group meets once a month (Fourth Saturday each month at 2 p.m.) at PonySaurus Brewing and is our informal meet-up for All Things Dad.

This group is simply a hang out space and we love this brewery for their gender-inclusive restrooms, in which BOTH have a changing table (Parenting Win!). Just like with all of our gendered groups (and Ponysaurus’ restrooms): we invite you to attend the group that best fits your identity.

So that means that gender queer Dads, Bubbas, Adas, Babas, trans dads, and gay dads are all welcome to join us. 

New Mom’s Group: Once a month Emerald Doula and co-owner Ashley Collins leads Mom’s group (Third Saturday at 2 p.m. in our office). This is a more facilitated space to talk really specifically about the things that make motherhood, motherhood. This group is open to anyone who identifies as a Mom.

That means that transgender moms, gender non-binary parents who Mom identify, non-gestational moms, moms through adoption or surrogacy are all welcome here. If you are a Mom and connect with the monthly topic, we would love to see you there. 

LGBTQ parents group: This group is our once-a-month informal family hang out for LGBTQ parents, which meets the Third Sundays each month at 2 p.m. in our office.

And this month we will be specifically celebrating our parents who sometimes get left out of the Mother’s day/Father’s day conversation. Non-gestational parents of all kinds, Dad identified birthing people, Dads who use the title Mama.