Artwork for Dear Daughter
Society & Culture

Dear Daughter

BBC World Service

Extraordinary letters written from parents to their children with Namulanta Kombo. Sharing amazing real-life experiences, parenting advice, family stories and life lessons.

Dear Daughter is an award-winning podcast from the BBC World Service about love, life, family, and raising children. It is the brainchild of Namulanta Kombo, a mother on a quest to create a ‘handbook to life’ for her daughter, through the advice of parents from all over the world.

Each episode, a guest reads a letter they’ve written to their children (or their future children, or the children they never had) with the advice, life lessons, and personal stories they’d like to pass on.

Expect unbelievable true stories, inspirational advice for parents, and moving accounts of families, relationships and raising children.

Share your letter! What do you want to say to your kids? Or the next generation? Do you have thoughts on motherhood, fatherhood, or parenthood to share? Whether you are a mum or mom, dad or papa, grandparent, uncle, aunt, daughter, son or just want to write a letter, send us a Whatsapp message on +44 800 030 4404 or visit bbcworldservice.com/deardaughter.

You can read our privacy notice here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3ZFHNV8v7qgTm1zbKbkwsvR/dear-daughter-privacy-notice

  • 87 episodes
  • Updated June 5

Episodes87

  • May 29 · 18 min

    Adoption day

    Fleur on adopting her daughter, and why marking her adoption day matters

  • May 15 · 21 min

    Mother and son champions

    A mother and son made history competing together for Mexico at the Winter Olympics

  • May 8 · 18 min

    Lessons from childhood

    Bullied as a child, Yeiwah returns to Sierra Leone to raise her daughter with confidence

  • May 1 · 20 min

    Donor conceived

    Emma and her mother, Ida, share their donor conception story

  • April 24 · 22 min

    A tractor load of love

    To support her daughter’s dream, Corne crossed South Africa on a tractor

  • April 17 · 21 min

    A different birth day

    Lejla shares her painful origins and a letter to her birth mother

  • April 10 · 18 min

    A mother of many

    A Singapore foster mother reflects on 23 years of caring for children

  • April 3 · 18 min

    Reaching milestones

    Bella embraces parenthood as her daughter reaches milestones in her own time

  • March 27 · 18 min

    What makes a man?

    Fiona from Kenya reflects on raising her son and the kind of man she hopes he’ll become

  • March 20 · 18 min

    Keeping traditions

    Tamaki reflects on her daughter’s coming-of-age ceremony and keeping traditions alive

  • March 6 · 18 min

    Being a girl dad

    Ajit from India talks about how tough it is for his daughters in a male dominated society

  • February 27 · 19 min

    The gift of life

    Brenda’s daughter donated a kidney so that her mother could receive a transplant

  • February 20 · 2 min

    Dear Daughter is back!

    A collection of letters to daughters everywhere with Namulanta Kombo

  • Jul 4, 2025 · 25 min

    Leaving for college

    Shelley hides a letter in her daughter’s suitcase as she heads for college

  • Jun 27, 2025 · 26 min

    Grieving you

    Paola writes a letter to her daughter, who died aged 15

  • Jun 20, 2025 · 27 min

    Don’t fear menopause

    Annice wants to empower her daughter to take control of her hormone health

  • Jun 13, 2025 · 25 min

    The nappy braai

    Azola’s friends throw him a baby shower – featuring an adult nappy