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Karen Swallow Prior on Birds, Bees, and Babies

How should the church address infertility and childlessness? 

In this special episode filmed as a livestream for Christianity Today subscribers, Russell Moore sits down with Karen Swallow Prior to talk about her recent CT Magazine article, “The Birds and the Bees, Babies and Me.” 

Drawing from her own experience, Prior reflects on the deeply personal nature of infertility—not just as a medical or social issue, but as a spiritual and communal one. But this conversation is not only about loss, it’s also about rethinking fruitfulness, calling, and blessing. 

In answering questions taken live from viewers, Prior points to the unexpected ways God shapes lives outside of cultural expectations, while Moore considers how churches can become places that recognize spiritual motherhood and fatherhood beyond biology. 

Along the way, they wrestle honestly with the tension of unanswered prayers, offering a vision of community that bears burdens together rather than explaining them away.


⁠⁠Watch this episode on YouTube⁠⁠


Resources mentioned in this episode:


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Only when we see how lost we are, we can find our way again. Only when we bury what’s dead can we experience life again. Only when we lose our religion can we be amazed by grace again.

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About Russell Moore

Russell Moore is Editor at Large and columnist at Christianity Today and is the author of Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America (Penguin Random House).

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