84 Childlessness - The Conversation: With Jody Day

Childlessness can be a black cloud for people approaching menopause and you'll notice it has been missing from this podcast.  There's a reason for that.   It's because, up until now, I had no idea how to talk about it (and I'm childless!)  So can you imagine how people WITH children must feel? We skirt around the edges or worse still unconsciously insult and shame childless people with 'bingos' like 'oh well, you could always adopt'.  Not many of us have the vocabulary to talk about childlessness empathetically, because we have been marinaded in something called Pronatalism (which you will learn about in today's episode). Jody Day is an insightful philosopher and the founder of Gateway Women, a global community of over 2 million, supporting involuntary childless women through their grief.  In this episode we cover:➡️ Being childless at Christmas➡️ Childlessness and childfree as a spectrum ➡️ Disenfranchised grief➡️ The healing power of grief➡️ Having a language to describe your experience➡️ Unconscious bias towards parenting (pronatalism)➡️ Dismantling the stereotypes of childlessness women (Cruella De Ville)➡️ Yearning for motherhood as a last ditch attempt to feel normal➡️ Reclaiming the childless life (or not)➡️ The fetishization of motherhood➡️ The cultural fear of childless women (the deviant)➡️ Ageing without childrenWhether you are childless, childfree or a mother, you will get something profoundly different in this episode. I really hope you dive into the rabbit hole with us - it's life changing.Jody's Links:https://gateway-women.com/https://www.instagram.com/gatewaywomen/https://www.facebook.com/GatewayWomenUKSupport the show