I know World Childless Week was last week

Hopefully, you heard my chat with Yvonne Jon and I’m continuing to talk a bit more on this topic as it certainly needs to be better understood from wider society. My two guests in this episode as they both bring two fascinating perspectives and have both written books bringing together a multitude of women’s voices.

Lesley Pyne

First, you will hear my chat with  Lesley, author of ‘Finding Joy Beyond Childlessness: Inspiring Stories to Guide You to a Fulfilling Life.’

Lesley believes

It is possible to have a fulfilling life as a childless woman. In her book ‘Finding Joy Beyond Childlessness: Inspiring Stories To Guide You To A Fulfilling Life’ she uses her own life experience as a childless woman, those of 19 others, and her skills as a coach and NLP Master Practitioner to guide readers gently through the pain they’re feeling and out the other side to find their joy again. Lesley spent the first 50plus years of her life putting everything she didn’t want to feel in a box, including her grief following multiple failed fertility treatments and the loss of both parents. In the process of writing this book, she dug deeply into the subjects she writes about including, grief, letting go, connecting you your body, self-acceptance and writing.

She writes openly about her challenges and how she has emerged as a different person, able to say confidently ‘I absolutely love my life, the adventures I’m having and I’m excited about what will happen next.’

Find out more about Lesley here  Follow her on Twitter ,  Facebook and Instagram

Lois Tonkin

Lois Tonkin

My second guest Lois Tonkin talked about her new book “Motherhood Missed: Stories of loss and living from circumstantially childless women” and her work as a bereavement counselor. Lois trained as a teacher, counselor, and researcher.  She has a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. In working with grief issues her focus is a psychosocial approach that considers both an individual’s personal responses to their life circumstances, and the social conditions that underlie them.

During our chat, Lois explained how people often feel it isn’t really grief when dealing with childlessness and she spoke to many women who felt like they were grieving but they weren’t sure they could call it that. As a result, women weren’t accessing support or being gentle with themselves. Lois gives a fascinating insight into her work and the conversations she has had with the women she has been helping. 

Find out more about Lois here  and you can follow her on Twitter

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