Permission was born out of everything that broke me open and every version of me I’ve outgrown. This is a journey for us. I'm not here to teach you, instead I'm here to give all of us Permission to rewrite our story.
MORGANS CHOICE: What It’s Really Like Coming Out as a Lesbian After Motherhood with Thalishka Fuentes
Becoming a mother at 17 changed the timeline Thalishka Fuentes thought her life would follow.
But her story didn’t stop there.
From losing her mom young and rebuilding her life after Hurricane Maria to embracing her identity as a lesbian, falling in love with a woman, and creating a blended family that doesn’t fit neatly into traditional expectations, Thalishka has learned that the life meant for you might look completely different from the one you were taught to expect.
In this episode of Permission, Morgan sits down with Thalishka for an honest conversation about motherhood, grief, queer identity, WLW relationships, family, and what it looks like to stop living for other people’s understanding and start choosing yourself.
You’ll hear about:
• Becoming a teen mom at 17 and watching her original life plan completely shift
• Losing her mom young and how grief continues to shape the way she loves and mothers
• Coming into her identity as a lesbian and the conversation she had with her daughters
• Being the first openly queer woman in her family and watching younger family members feel safer coming out after her
• The stigma women can experience when they have children with men before entering WLW relationships
• Why Thalishka doesn’t feel the need to explain or justify her family
• Moving to Texas with her daughters to build a life with her partner, Val
• Letting go of traditional gender roles inside a relationship between two women
• What healthy, authentic love looks like to her now
• Raising daughters who know they’re allowed to be completely themselves
• Learning to put down the pressure of always being “the strong one”
This is an episode about realizing you don’t owe anyone a version of your life that makes sense to them.
About discovering your sexuality later, choosing a woman after previously dating men, raising children inside a blended queer family, and understanding that none of it requires an explanation.
It’s also about allowing love to look different than what you were taught it was supposed to look like.
Key takeaways:
• There is no deadline for understanding or embracing your sexuality• You don’t have to justify your identity because your past relationships looked different• WLW relationships don’t need to recreate traditional gender roles• Choosing yourself can be one of the most powerful decisions you make• Your children can be part of your journey toward living more authentically• Family is defined by the people who consistently show up with love and safety• Being strong doesn’t mean you have to live in survival mode forever• Your hardest chapters don’t get to define the rest of your story
I hope this conversation reminds you that you are allowed to build a life that feels like yours, even when it doesn’t look like the one you originally imagined.
You’re allowed to discover new parts of yourself.
You’re allowed to love who you love without making it easier for other people to understand.
You’re allowed to create your own definition of family.
And you’re allowed to choose a life where you don’t just survive, but actually get to be yourself.
Because Permission isn’t about becoming the version of you everyone else understands.
It’s about giving yourself permission to live as the woman you actually are.
WLW Collective Events: Attend an event (https://thewlwcollective.com/?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAcGRvZgJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA85MzY2MTk3NDMzOTI0NTkAAae-z0s2EIfik8r0H5sY1O5dpEfOy4CFJ5LCxAPxtpLo_hlRLCBM8hB2ZFlTGQ_aem_BQlDpbCaXKAXptztLuP45A)
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Connect with Thalishka:Instagram: @thalishka_fuentes
9 Sept 2026
Permission To Own My Story
There are versions of ourselves we’d rather pretend never existed.
The girl who stayed too long. The girl who accepted less than she deserved. The girl who confused attention for love. The girl who made decisions we would never make today.
But healing isn’t about erasing her. It’s about finally understanding her.
In this episode of Permission, Morgan opens up about learning to look at her past without shame and why becoming the woman you’re meant to be requires making peace with every version of yourself who helped get you here.
You’ll hear about:
• Why cringing at your past can actually be evidence of growth
• Learning to have compassion for the choices you made with the tools you had
• Morgan’s experience sharing parts of her story that once brought up shame
• Why growth doesn’t require pretending you’ve always been self-aware
• How to stop judging your younger self through the lens of who you are today
• The difference between reinventing yourself and rejecting yourself
• Why there is no true reinvention without integration
• Learning to own the messy versions of yourself instead of trying to erase them
This is an episode about realizing that the woman you used to be wasn’t stupid.
She was becoming.
About understanding that every relationship, mistake, lesson, and season carried something forward. Even the versions of yourself you’re tempted to disown played a role in creating the woman you are today.
Key takeaways:
• You didn’t have today’s tools, boundaries, or discernment back then
• Growth means being able to recognize what you would do differently now
• Shame doesn’t have to be the price you pay for your past mistakes
• Self-compassion allows you to integrate rather than reject your past
• Reinvention without integration is another form of avoidance
• Some of your messiest seasons may have taught you your most important lessons
I hope this conversation reminds you to stop speaking about your past self like she ruined your life.
Maybe she was doing the best she could with what she knew.
Maybe she was learning in real time.
Maybe she led you exactly where you are today.
And maybe one day, the woman you’re becoming will look back at who you are right now with that same love.
Because Permission isn’t about erasing who you were to become someone new.
It’s about owning every version of yourself that helped you become her.
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Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.9 / 5
17 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
11 ratings
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