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Kadine Christie’s birth story is one that has been told to her time and again. She was born in the mountain town of Spalding, Jamaica, in the presence of two women: her mother, Lorna, and a stranger, Lurline, who was going into labor in the same open ward.
Lorna and Lurline were the first generation to have the option of giving birth in a hospital. They sat on adjacent beds — separated by a curtain, connected by their fear of childbirth.
This is a story that feels like fiction, but is far from it. It has high stakes, unexpected connections and a surprising ending. Something astonishing — even magical — was given birth to in April 40 years ago. Tune in to learn why Kadine’s birth story is also her love story.
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Kadine (green shirt) with her daughter Zuri and godparents, Jeral and Lurline Christie. This was taken in June 2005 at her mother Lorna’s house in Florida. Kadine’s godparents became her in-laws in the fall of that same year.
Kadine ChristieA onesie with a smiley crab captured the attention of Sarah Reynolds Weston when she accompanied a pregnant friend shopping for baby clothes.
“She found out she was pregnant right around the time that I found that I couldn’t have children,” Sarah told Miya Lee, a co-host of the Modern Love podcast. “And I think I tried to comfort myself by supporting her through her pregnancy.”
Eight days after spotting the onesie, Sarah said, her “world turned upside down.”
“I really believe that we were all meant to be together, that we were linked,” she said about her son’s entrance into her life.
Hosted by: Daniel Jones and Miya Lee
Produced by: Julia Botero, with help from Hans Buetow, Daniel Guillemette and Elyssa Dudley
Edited by: Sara Sarasohn
Executive Producer: Wendy Dorr
Music by: Dan Powell
Mixed by: Corey Schreppel
Narrated by: Shayna Small
Special thanks: Nora Keller, Mahima Chablani, Julia Simon, Bonnie Wertheim, Anya Strzemien, Joanna Nikas, Choire Sicha, Lisa Tobin, Sam Dolnick and Ryan Wegner at Audm.
Thoughts? Email us at modernlovepodcast@nytimes.com.
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