More about Sonja:

Sonja is a dreamer & doer, author of the cookbook Pretty Simple Cooking, named one of the “best vegetarian cookbooks” by Epicurious. A professional writer and recipe developer, her vegetable forward recipes are inspired by seasonal produce and adventures traveling the globe everywhere from Mexico to the Mediterranean. Fueled by her passion for connecting people with recipes and information on how to learn to cook, she and her husband Alex founded the popular food blog A Couple Cooks, where they advocate for a healthy approach to cooking, celebrate creativity and connection, and champion the power of gatherings to bring us together. She also hosts the A Couple Cooks Podcast, featuring interviews with leading authors, chefs, entrepreneurs, and food personalities. Sonja has developed recipes and hosted and produced videos for a long list of national brands including ALDI, Stonyfield, and Kroger. Featured everywhere from the TODAY Show to Oprah to Bon Appetit, Sonja seeks to inspire adventurous eating to make the world a better place one bite at a time.

Sonja is passionate about community, unity, and empowering women entrepreneurs. She speaks at events empowering women in business and is co-founder of Indy Women in Food, an organization to support women working in the food industry in Indianapolis. You’ll find her also geeking out about mentorship, creativity, sustainability, food access, and social justice.

Mama to an adventurous and food loving toddler Larson, Sonja lives in the Meridian Kessler neighborhood with her husband Alex. Her obsessions include craft coffee, farmer’s markets, B Corps, rosé, the Mediterranean, good conversation, and making the world a better place. Her favorite phrase is, Pitch me your good idea, and let’s make it happen. 

Website: www.acouplecooks.com

Instagram: @acouplecooks

Facebook: @aCoupleCooks

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When Sonja Overhiser was diagnosed with a rare hereditary form of leukemia in her mid-twenties, she and her husband Alex had to rethink their plans for starting a family. The drug Sonja was taking to control her cancer would be too dangerous to take during pregnancy. So she and Alex had to decide whether she would come off the drug so that they could have a baby, or whether they would try to form a family in a different way. 

As someone with a rare genetic disease myself, I was interested in how Sonja navigated those difficult questions about how much risk she’s willing to take with her health to be able to conceive a child. 

In this episode Sonja and I talk about the different paths to motherhood and the choices we make to create our family.