In episode 197 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Dr Karleen Gribble.
Karleen is an Adjunct Association Professor at Western Sydney University, where she specialises in Infant feeding, child trauma, foster care and adoption.
In this episode we discuss her academic journey and a case study she did on a woman who had detransitioned and experienced deep regret and trauma over a double mastectomy operation she had done during her transition.
After detransitioning, she became pregnant and gave birth but was unable to breastfeed her baby.
For Karleen’s mental health, we discuss the grief of losing her father when she was seven years old and how his death impacted her mental health and childhood.
We also discuss her decision to have children at a relatively young age compared to today’s society and her and her husband’s adoption of two children. We chart the journey she went on with them as a mother and how she developed these new relationships.
We also discuss a hugely difficult period when Karleen was asked to adopt her second child by child protection services, being told to give her back to the family who initially put her up and how that caused Karleen to have an ‘incomplete grief’ for her at that moment in time.
As always, #itsokaytovent
You can follow Karleen on social media below:
Support Us:
