The Astrology of Becoming a Parent

As we’ve been incubating Lora, our head of astrology, Michelle Grodnick, has been incubating another exciting creation: her first child! Michelle became pregnant right around the time she started working with Lora, and it’s incredible to see how all creations gestate: whether it’s a literal child, a creative project, or a revolutionary product. What’s cute about Lora and Michelle’s baby is that they’re both due in September 2026! I wonder if they’ll have the same birth chart…

Photo by: @photos_bylil

By Michelle Grodnick

As I am entering the newborn portal and beginning my maternity leave, I wanted to share some of my discoveries about astrology throughout my pregnancy. There are specific astrological elements that relate to parenthood and children, and it’s been interesting to live the transits in real time as it relates to becoming a parent myself.

Astrology placements that associate with parenthood, children, & family:

The Moon

The Moon is the Mother archetype, ruling things like how you nurture, how you were nurtured, how you were as a child, and what your primary caretaker was like. When the Moon transits specific parts of your chart, themes of nurture, care, deeper emotions, and parenting can become more prominent in that arena.

4th House

The 4th House in your birth chart represents your home, family, and ancestry. Planets in your birth chart in the 4th House can tell you a lot about your upbringing and family life when you were growing up. When a planet transits your 4th House, we see an added focus on family and your home.

5th House

The 5th House in your birth chart represents children, creative projects, hobbies, pleasure, and romance. For our purposes, we’ll focus on the children + creative aspect: in the 5th House, you are creating something, whether it is a physical child or creative project. When a planet transits your 5th House, we see an added focus on children and creation.

Ascendant

The ascendant (you may know this as your rising sign) rules your identity. So when planets transit your ascendant, we see shifts in your identity. Becoming a parent is obviously a massive change in identity and how you are perceived.

Midheaven

The midheaven is the start of the 10th House, and it rules your purpose, career, and what you give to the world. When planets transit your midheaven, we see shifts in your purpose. Becoming a parent changes your role in the world, and your general life purpose will shift.

The chart when I felt ready to become a parent:

I always knew I wanted to be a mom, but I wasn’t in a rush to make it happen. I knew it would happen for me eventually (I have several planets in the 4th house, and my natal Moon is on the Midheaven), but it wasn’t until this moment that I actually felt ready.

Of course “ready” means something different to everyone– for me, it wasn’t anything around money, career, or physical things. It was just a mindset shift. I felt like I opened up to whatever would happen once I embarked on the journey to parenthood. As a Capricorn stellium + Virgo rising, I love planning & controlling outcomes, so my feeling of “ready” had to do with surrender and a sense of calm. What “ready” is for you is totally unique to you.

If you want to discover this for yourself, I’d look at your prominent placements like your rising sign, moon sign, and any major planetary aspects like a stellium, opposition, or square. What you’re looking for is to balance this astrology in some way. For example, if you have a ton of water placements, maybe what you need is more grounding, stability, and the physical stuff. For me, it was the opposite with all my earth placements.

The chart of this moment was a Full Moon in Gemini, exactly on my Natal Moon placement! You can see here the Moon is at 13 degrees of Gemini and the Sun is at 13 degrees of Sagittarius. This Full Moon was also conjunct my Midheaven, and the Sun was conjunct my 4th house cusp (also called the IC). Purpose, family, and motherhood were all illuminated in this moment. It’s also interesting that this moment felt like a mindset shift for me, as Gemini is ruled by Mercury, which represents the mind + thought processing.

The chart when I found out I was pregnant:

This is obviously a very sensitive topic, and I want to stress that I did not use astrology to predict when I would actually become pregnant. Don’t drive yourself crazy– remember, the moon moves through the entire chart over the course of a month, so there are moments that are astrologically significant for parenthood that occur every single month.

For me, I knew this week would be significant for me regardless of my motherhood journey. It was a Mars Cazimi in Capricorn (Mars was in the heart of the sun), and I have that placement in my own Natal Chart. Repeat transits like that are something to look out for to know when something significant might happen. I thought maybe something big would happen with work or just something exciting in general. Venus was also Cazimi at the same time, so I just felt like it would be great energy. Looking back, it makes so much sense that this was the moment I found out I was pregnant:

You see the Mars + Venus Cazimi in Capricorn in my 4th house of family (also very close to my 5th house cusp) down at the bottom of the chart. Additionally, this day was also a Virgo Moon, which is my ascendant sign. So this one was a combination of the repeat Natal transit, 4th house/5th house emphasis, and Moon transiting my ascendant. It was a big moment!!

You’ll notice that throughout this whole time period, the Lunar Nodes were hovering around my ascendant + descendant axis. When the nodes hover around the astrology placements associated with parenthood, that is a major moment to watch out for too!

The chart around my due date:

Of course we have NO idea when this baby will actually be born, and as much as I’d like to predict it based on astrology, I’m really trying not to drive myself crazy. I will say that astrology is absolutely genetic, so there will certainly be strong astrology connections to both mine and my husband’s chart when she does decide to be born.

But what was amazing to see is the New Moon that is happening the week of my due date– it’s at 18 degrees of Virgo, exactly on my ascendant:

You see the Sun and the Moon sitting exactly on my ascendant above. A New Moon is a new beginning, and on my ascendant, it’s a new beginning for my identity as a parent. Whether or not she’s born on this day, this New Moon will certainly ring in the moment where it’s all getting very real!!

Overall, when it comes to parenthood, I love to use astrology as a tool for deeper self-discovery and less for prediction. Fertility, birth, pregnancy, and parenthood are extremely sensitive topics that can induce a ton of anxiety. For me, where astrology is best suited is for getting us through the tough moments, not to remove uncertainty but to more deeply understand ourselves in the moments we’re experiencing.

Lora Practitioner Update! If you’re interested in becoming a practitioner on Lora’s practitioner marketplace, please feel free to fill out this form here. Please note: if you applied within the last three months, we might not have received your application, so please fill this form out again. Thank you!

Apply to be a Spiritual Practitioner!

Every week we spotlight incredible spiritual practitioners, and we’re so excited to introduce you to the incredible astrologer, Tonya Melendez!

Lora: Tell us a bit about you and your practice.

Tonya: My practice of astrology and tarot are not only daily ritual but also spiritual practice. Embodiment of the stars is how I feel astrology is really about. Bringing in the feminine energy as Goddess/Queen vibes is my favorite part of As Above, So Below.

Lora: Tell us your thoughts on the astrology of 2026 and how it’s likely showing up in people’s everyday lives right now.

Tonya: Astrology today is not like the astrology I grew up with. As more people learn about it, it is the awakening stage of the age of Aquarius that we have been preparing for. Many think it’s just a dream, but we are emotionally, figuratively & literally seeing it happen. Amos, known as the Age of Enlightenment, the stars are part of the illusion breakdown in preparation for the illumination experience.

Lora: What’s a recurring life theme you see in your readings right now (love, career pivots, endings, rebirth, boundaries), and how do you help people work with it instead of resisting it?

Tonya: A recurring life theme I’m seeing now is rebirth. The changing times are causing many to rethink their lives. Constant coverage of the world through screens is showing up as anxiety, mental exhaustion, and stress, which is why more and more people are ready to transform their lives using tools like Astrology and Tarot, along with other wellness modalities.

With the surge of AI, remembering who we were before cell phones and social media, getting back to basics is one of the driving factors behind the sense of rebirth and is why Astrology is so popular now.

The stars are real and have influence on us and in our lives. I help people work with their chart instead of resisting it by sharing the cycles and seasons they have experienced, are currently experiencing, and what’s ahead. Providing this knowledge is so valuable because it allows clarity to be felt and understood. When people see that the stars are moving them through the cycle and season, it helps bring a more balanced perspective and energy, which dissolves the resistance into resonance.

Lora: When someone comes to you feeling stuck, where do you look first and why?

Tonya: When someone comes for a session feeling stuck, one of the parts of the chart I look at first is the Profection year and quadrant they are in. The Profection year provides a deeper understanding of what they may be experiencing because of the energy of the house their current age is in. The quadrant adds a more detailed explanation because it shows where they have been, possible examples of what’s happening, and what’s ahead.

I love to add the extra layer of Tarot for a visual representation of what is occurring. The cards help decipher the way it’s embodied and evolving.

Like the stars, we move in cycles and seasons. Doing this work is really powerful because it tells the personal journey; witnessing the perspective shift is so fulfilling as a practitioner.

Lora: When someone is trying to understand their career life or work/ purpose more deeply, where do you guide them to look first? What parts of the chart, energy, or inner patterns tend to reveal the most?

Tonya: In career, I look at the 3rd quadrant and nodes - there is money written in the charts as is their purpose. Looking to see if they are living in it, the shadow, or stuck in old patterns. As a spiritual counselor, we also look at the money stories, who they always wanted to be, and other factors.

Lora hosts free wellness, spirituality, and “woo woo” events IRL and virtually every month. Here’s a roundup of some upcoming events- we hope to see you there!

Thursday, August 27th: Join Akashic Records guide and spiritual coach, Drew Taylor Cohen, to explore how to identify and work with signs in your everyday life, especially during seasons of change or transition. In this interactive workshop, you’ll learn how to spot common types of signs that show up in daily life, understand what they might be pointing you towards, and use your own intuition to interpret the meaning of a sign you’ve personally experienced. RSVP here!

Tuesday, September 15th: In this virtual workshop, Human Design practitioner Tricia Tighe will introduce you to the foundations of Human Design and teach you how to begin reading your own chart. Whether you’re completely new to Human Design or have looked up your chart without knowing what any of it means, this workshop will help you understand the concepts that make the biggest difference in your everyday life. RSVP here!

The past 6 weeks of bringing in beta testers have been so incredible here at Lora. Building Lora goes beyond building another “daily horoscope app” that pops up in your notification center every day- it’s more than that. It’s providing people with a sense of self-discovery in an accessible way, something they can come back to every day regardless of what is going on in their lives.

With our weekly snapshot feature, you can see a full analysis of every week, according to your astrology. With our orbit feature, you can go deeper than just a one-liner about your compatibility. Ask anything about anyone in your circle, get insights into full synastry, and even understand how you and another person might be as partners, friends, business partners, and yes, even a situationship!

We’re excited to continue welcoming beta testers into the app, and we would love to welcome you as well! You can sign up through the link here and join the beta straight from there. We can’t wait to see all of your feedback as you try it out, and we hope Lora brings you peace, knowledge, and a sense of self in your day!

Start Beta Testing Lora!

And if you’re new to our little Lora universe, a few months ago, we started offering free birth chart readings daily in our Discord, The Constellation Lab. We do readings across astrology, oracle, tarot, astrocartography, and psychic mediumship as well!

Come hang out in our Discord and get your first free birth chart reading!

Get a Free Birth Chart Reading 🪐

See you next week, and until then, stay spiritual 🪐