In this heartfelt episode, our guest Elise Ruiz-Hom, a Portland-based new mom, shares the powerful story of her and her wife Lydia’s years-long journey to parenthood. Raised in a multicultural, biracial family in Hawai'i, Elise reflects on how her identity has shaped her worldview—especially as a white-passing Asian woman navigating life on the mainland.

She takes us through their emotional fertility journey: from Lydia’s eight failed IUIs and three rounds of IVF—including traumatic procedures and heartbreaking losses—to Elise’s smoother journey to pregnancy after just two IUIs. With raw honesty, Elise opens up about grief, guilt, and healing, the importance of cultural roots in building their family, and how their son Chaves finally brought their dream to life. This is a story about building a family with intention, love, and deep resilience, navigating both the healthcare system and cultural roots as two LGBTQ mothers.

Resources:

Postpartum Support International Queer & Trans Parent Support Group

Connect with Elise:

Instagram: @juxtapose53

Note: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers' own. This podcast is not a replacement for therapy or professional/medical advice. If you need more support or advice, please reach out to your own medical professional who can answer your questions with your individual medical history and background in context.

Please take a moment to RATE and REVIEW our show if you enjoy the episodes we bring to you! It helps others to find our show when you do. Thanks so much! =)

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Among our AAPI community, it can feel like not enough people talk about the neurodivergent population and how it can impact their families and communities because of a heavy stigma–a stigma that echoes the one around talking about mental health. Our guest for this episode is Clarissa Chui, LCSW, a second generation Chinese American therapist, who works as care coordinator with families who have children diagnosed on the spectrum--specifically autism spectrum.

We talk about how her own postpartum journey led her to work with other parents who need more support with their children. Clarissa breaks down what it means to be neurodivergent and something she says is, "Neurodivergence is a description not a diagnosis." We explore how AAPI folks might potentially receive the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with more resistance. We discuss what is needed on a macro level to support parents of neurodivergent children and Clariassa shares a few resources that parents can look into now too. We also talk about how people can support friends with kids of neurodivergent children.

Overall, we hope this episode can be a resource for parents of neurodivergent kids or people who want to support their friends who may be parents of neurodivergent children. We know it can feel lonely in this journey, but you are deserving of support and you are never alone.

Resources (CA):

• Regional Center
• UC Davis Mind Institute
• UCLA Center for Autism Research and Treatment (CART)
• Disability Rights California

Nationwide Resources:

• Autism Speaks
• National Autism Center
• National Autism Resources
• Book: The Science of Making Friends
• Central Reach Podcast:
• How to Tell Your Child About Their Autism Diagnosis - Child Mind Institute
• Parents Helping Parents

Find More of Clarissa:
Psychology Today profile

Note: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers' own. This podcast is not a replacement for therapy or professional/medical advice. If you need more support or advice, please reach out to your own medical professional who can answer your questions with your individual medical history and background in context.

Please take a moment to RATE and REVIEW our show if you enjoy the episodes we bring to you! It helps others to find our show when you do. Thanks so much! =)

Lastly, check us out on Patreon for more exclusives and to support us more! patreon.com/healingthetigresspodcast

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Of all the perinatal mental health disorders, postpartum psychosis is considered a medical emergency and absolutely requires treatment. It affects 1 to 2 in 1000 mothers and is often misunderstood.

On this episode, our guest is Jigyna Patel, a South Asian mom of 3 girls from Houston, Texas. Her perinatal story spans over 10 years, including many different layers: the cultural stigma South Asians mom feel, the struggles of having a surprise twin pregnancy, being undiagnosed with postpartum psychosis, and having fertility issues while having PCOS.

After her severe experience with 3 different perinatal mental health disorders (PMHDs), it has become her passion to spread awareness and knowledge of maternal mental health. Jigyna developed postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, and postpartum psychosis in 2014 and then postpartum depression and anxiety again in 2019 with her twins.

We talk with Jigyna about how her traumatic birth and lack of sleep may have contributed to her PMHDs the first time around. She shares how she started to lose speech, stop seeing color, and hallucinate but she never knew these were symptoms of psychosis. Jigyna didn't know how to explain these symptoms to providers out of fear and the stigma in South Asian culture around mental health struggles.

This episode dives into how Jigyna finally learned she had postpartum psychosis (years later) and how she recovered and received treatment. We discuss cultural barriers that she had to overcome and what work still needs to be done to support moms with postpartum psychosis, especially being a person of color. We hope this episode will help others feel seen if this experience resonates with you or for providers to learn more about the experience of postpartum psychosis, especially from the perspective of an AAPI mom.

Find more of Jigyna:
Instagram: instagram.com/jigyna525
Email: jpatelpsihouston@gmail.com

Jigyna has a degree from the University of Houston with a bachelors in Communications. Her career background is in Public Relations and Event Planning. She holds several different volunteer roles within in PSI such as the Houston & Hindu support coordinator, a peer in the peer mentor program, and a member of the postpartum psychosis taskforce. Recently, she joined the Texas Chapter as a board member for 2025 as well became a project manager for The Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health. Jigyna is also sharing her story through digital platforms such as The Moth and Storycenter and has been a speaker at the annual PSI conference in 2023 and 2024 on her lived experience with postpartum psychosis.

Note: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers' own. This podcast is not a replacement for therapy or professional/medical advice. If you need more support or advice, please reach out to your own medical professional who can answer your questions with your individual medical history and background in context.

Please take a moment to RATE and REVIEW our show if you enjoy the episodes we bring to you! It helps others to find our show when you do. Thanks so much! =)

Lastly, check us out on Patreon for more exclusives and to support us more! patreon.com/healingthetigresspodcast

Support the show