Reader's Digest Australia Dec/Jan 2025

“ I KNOW THAT ESTRANGEMENT CAN COME IN MANY, MANY FORMS,” MEGHAN SAYS. “We’re very particular on who we let into our lives. They were pretty much the first outsiders we’ve hung out with.” When Meghan got pregnant with Owen, she was still using. “When I gave birth, we took him home to a homeless shelter because we had nowhere to go,” she says. Her biological mother didn’t offer help or a place to stay. It was the end of that relationship. “After going through what I’ve gone through, I know that estrangement can come in many, many forms,” she says, which is why she wasn’t worried when she learned about Karen’s biological daughters. And because Karen’s ex-husband is autistic, Karen had some insights into Meghan’s experiences with Owen, since he is autistic too. Pretty soon, Karen, Meghan, Owen and I head outside to meet the goats. Dave tells me how, two years ago, Lucy—their goat mascot and “best mom ever”—died. They were devastated to lose one of their original goats. Lucy had been the herd’s queen. The other goats relied on her to know when it was time to feed, what path to take through the pasture, when they should go into heat for breeding. After she died, the goats stood out screaming in the field as night fell. No one had told them how to get home. Without their mother, they were lost. All this time later, a queen hasn’t stepped up to take Lucy’s place. As we talk, a doe rams into a boy goat that has a swath of my linen pant leg in its mouth. That doe seems to be coming into her own, I note. Karen hugs MeLea, a surrogate daughter she met at church. 134   December 2025/January 2026 “Maybe she’ll be the new queen,” Dave says. Only time will tell if she has what it takes, and if the herd will accept her as their new mother. Several weeks after my trip to Min- nesota, Karen called to say that she was in touch with her youngest daughter again. The brain cancer her daughter survived as a child had returned. Kar- en’s voice shook; patients with this diagnosis tend to live five years, maybe less. She wanted to help her daughter through treatment, but her daughter only agreed to communicate by phone. Karen’s surrogate children and grandchildren tried to be there for her. Michelle brought her coffee at the farmers market. MeLea and Tanya took her to the county fair with the kids. They felt Karen’s pain. But it raised a question: Would they lose their new relationship if Karen’s “real” daughters reconnected with her? When Karen got the news of the diagnosis, she hired more workers for the farm so she could drop everything for her daughter. She waited for a call that never came; her daughter stopped responding. As months passed without contact, Karen was left with an open calendar. “I guess that will free up more time for the grandkids,” she told me, forcing brightness into her tone. By the fall of 2024, Karen had drifted apart from Meghan. Though Meghan seemed to want a real connection, Karen told me her husband “drops lots of hints about wanting handouts, and that was getting old.” Meanwhile, MeLea and Tanya argue regularly—in the way sisters do, about the kind of family wounds that go back lifetimes. “They both have called me crying,” Karen says. “MeLea says her mom would’ve fixed it.” And Karen wants to; she’s trying. At Thanksgiving, about a year after she first posted in Surrogate Grandpar- ents USA, Karen posted a different kind of photo, this one to the Rapha Farms feed. In it, she gathers around a banquet table with MeLea’s and Michelle’s fam- ilies. The adults hadmet before, but not the kids. Everyone is dressed comfort- ably in sweatshirts and jeans. MeLea’s youngest son splays half-asleep in his father’s arms, Michelle’s eldest son smiles and poses with his arm around Karen. They look like a family. Truly the Golden State The state of California has recorded the most championship wins over the last 20 years across its NBA, MLB, NHL and NFL teams. It also sent more athletes than any other state to the most recent Summer Olympic Games in Paris. GAMBLESPOT WIRED (JAN. 28, 2025), © 2025 CONDÉ NAST. readersdigest.com.au 135 National Interest reader ’ s digest