Advertise on podcast: Happy and Childless

Ruth Corden co hosts the podcast Finding the Funny which in just over 2 years has had 1 million downloads. Ruth is childless not by choice and has struggled for years with PCOS and endometriosis and through those years so desperately wanted to have a family. In this episode we discuss Ruth's decision to finally stop trying and to move forward in life being intentional about finding joy. We also discuss being childless not by choice outside of the IVF journey and how the grief will always be with us but that our lives can be filled with joy and happiness if we accept where we are.  "Childlessness is like the label in the cardigan. Sometimes it itches, sometimes it digs in and sometimes it doesn't" We discuss how our purpose in life goes beyond parental status and that what we have to offer to others and the world around us is incredibly valuable. Kick Start to Happy and Childless is now available and will start on 5th Feb Sign up Now    

Sam Walsh is the founder of The Non Mum Network and has recently been on the front page of the Daily Mail and on Woman's Hour discussing the challenges of being childless in the workplace. In this episode we discuss the challenges faced being childless in the workplace and we talk about how we can raise awareness, educate and help those who are earlier on in their journey of being childless not by choice. We discuss how it is not the case of non parents vs parents but that we should work together to create a happy and harmonious working environment. Sam is fiercely passionate about sharing our stories and creating a voice for childless not by choice people both in the workplace and society as a whole.            

In this episode we discuss how we both are feeling on the run up to Christmas and how we have coped over the years with holidays in general being childless not by choice. It certainly is a challenging and triggering time for so many for so many different reasons. We talk about the challenges but focus on how we have created our own magic again in life and Christmas!

This is the last episode of the 3 part series on grief with Karin Enfield de Vries. We discuss our lives now having transitioned through the worst of our grief and how we navigate the challenges that life throws our way and how we utilise all that we have learned through years of acceptancec, personal growth and healing. Karen talks so beautifully about how we must "tend to our gardens" and how when the storms hit and change the landscape we can recognise this as time for regrowth, inspired change and beautiful beginnings. Registration for "Kick Start to Happy and Childless" is now open Sign up now

In this second episode of the 3 part series on Grief, Karin Enfield de Vries and myself discuss acceptance of our childless not by choice situation. Both of our stories are very different but there is so much commonality in our emotions, journey to acceptance and future outlook. We explore the next stage in the journey and ask if we can or need to reach acceptance in order to move forward. Karin was diagnosed with cancer in 2011 and underwent a radical hysterectomy which threw Karin into being permanently childless not by choice. She uses her own experience to counsel others navigating this very difficult journey. Her words, energy and authenticity are truly heart warming.

Karin Enfield De Vries is a grief and loss counsellor offering her services through her business, Pure Transformations. She is also a well being coach and is passionate about supporting the childness not by choice community. Karin has not only had to overcome the loss of being a parent but in 2011 she was diagnosed with cancer and had to undergo a hysterectomy. Through all of this adversity, her strength and drive to overcome her biggest challenges and learn to love life again is truly inspirational. This episode is the first in a mini series with Karin, covering the various stages of grief and sharing our own stories in addition to proven strategies which we both have used to transition from a place of profound grief to one where we are both enjoying life despite not having the life we had imagined.  

Rianna Hijkema is a a multi-passionate serial entrepreneur who has started a consulting practise and co founded a coaching company. She has been living a nomadic life for 12 years and all she owns fits into her back pack. She struggled for 6 years juggling her nomadic lifestyle with fertility and decided enough was enough 12 months ago when she acknowledged her situation and made a decision to become the happy person she innately was. Rianna shares tips and techniques which she has used and still uses to tap into positive feelings, not focusing on positive thoughts but by doing things that make you happy and creating positive feelings you can ultimately create happy thoughts. We discuss how we stopped looking outside of us for the answers and we started to listen to the answers which we held within

Steph is the Founder of World Childless Week which aims to raise awareness of the childless not by choice community and enable every childless person to share their story with confidence. In this episode, we discuss childlessness from the perspective of being further along in the childless journey having accepted and worked through the worst of their grief. We talk about how we felt at the start of our journeys and compare that with now, recognising the progress we have both made despite not having what we truly wanted. We hope this conversation can give hope to others at different stages of this journey

Tanya Hubbard is a registered therapeutic counsellor and coach specialising in supporting childless not by choice men and women. In this episode we delve into the role that acceptance plays within our childless journey. On surface level acceptance is spoken about from a position of just accepting not having children but on a much deeper level acceptance spans across so many areas of our lives. We discuss accepting that we did enough with the information we were given in addition to accepting that, wherever we are in life now, we are worthy and whole as we are and very interestingly acceptance that the mixed emotions felt throughout the journey of life exist regardless of being childless or not and that it is how we perceive the situations, at the cause of these emotions, which determine our ability to cope and thrive. This conversation is very much filled with insights into the coping mechanisms used to help us reach a happier place and a very honest view of our experience of a childless life.

Coping with childlessness and numerous unsuccessful IVF attempts takes enormous courage and strength. Add this to swimming the English Channel and climbing Mount Everest and you have the most incredible Jessica Hepburn. We discuss how so many aspects of life and nature are completely out of our control which has lead to a form of acceptance that this is the case. We openly discuss the very different backgrounds to childlessness which we have from 11 failed IVF attempts for Jessica to walking away from IVF and then it being too late which is my story. We talk about the different lives we have and could have had but also the acceptance of the lives we currently lead. The commonality is that we both have the same touch stones in our journey which we can share even when our stories are so unique. This is the beauty of the childless community - the diversity of our stories yet the familiarity of the challenges involved.

80% of childless people are childless by circumstance. In this episode we address ambivalence and the role this plays in so many of our lives. Katie, like myself, is childless by circumstance and as a therapist she works tirelessly to bring childlessness "into the room" recognising the need for more awareness around both therapists and clients who are childless and who may not feel they are able to fully bring this into their therapy experience. This episode was so therapeutic and Katie offered so much wisdom surrounding how we view our childless lives and how we can use self compassion and a change in perspective to further enhance our healing

Living through a global pandemic being childless and single has it's own unique challenges. Sarah Bagg is a qualified life coach and a passionate artist. Her blog Life, Love and Me shares Sarah's experience of egg freezing, coping with being childless and how she has managed to move forward and embrace life. In this episode we really dig deep into the challenges of ending a relationship in the midst of a ticking body clock, facing life as single and childless. We also discuss tips and techniques which we both have utilised to regain control and move forward in life.