Acclaimed journalist T. J. Raphael details the secretive maternity home on the campus of Liberty University, where vulnerable teen mothers feel pressured to surrender their babies in exchange for scholarships– a shocking practice still happening today and shaping the future of the anti-abortion movement
Liberty Lost debuts on Wondery+ June 9, and everywhere you get your podcasts June 23
Today, Wondery announces Liberty Lost, a compelling new investigative podcast hosted by acclaimed audio journalist T.J. Raphael, which exposes a decades-old maternity home for unwed teenage mothers at the country’s most powerful Christian university and the unbelievable stories held within its walls. Across six episodes, Raphael reveals the dystopian reality behind a secretive institution on campus at Liberty University, where pregnant teens feel pressured and coerced into giving up their babies for adoption. The series will debut on Wondery+ on June 9, and everywhere else you get your podcasts on June 23, ahead of the third anniversary of Roe v. Wade being overturned.
In a hidden corner of Liberty University, pregnant teens are kept inside the Liberty Godparent Home, asked to atone for the sin of premarital sex, and feel coerced into surrendering their babies to affluent Christian families. If they complete the Godparent Home’s program, they’re eligible for a full-ride scholarship to Liberty. Through intimate interviews with four women who lived in the Godparent Home between 1991 and 2008, Raphael deftly details this startling true story and how it has become a blueprint for pro-life groups in post-Roe America. At its core, this series raises a deeper question: who gets to decide who is worthy of becoming, or remaining, a parent? Liberty Lost is the first piece of deep dive reporting on the Godparent Home and its practices, even though it was founded in 1982 and continues to operate today.
With 15 years of experience in audio journalism, Raphael has earned praise for expertly guiding podcast listeners through complex stories about urgent reproductive rights issues. Her previous audio documentary series, including Cover Up: The Pill Plot, which investigated how the abortion pill was brought to America, and BioHacked: Family Secrets, which explored assisted reproductive technology and was named one of Apple’s Most Loved Podcasts of 2022, explore the hidden or nefarious forces that shape the reproductive lives of women in America.
Liberty Lost is a Wondery production.
