Dealing with Grief Archives

Jody Day interviewed by Civilla Morgan on the Childless Not By Choice Podcast [August 2024]

August 22, 2024 Jody Day 0

You can listen here or search ‘Childless Not By Choice’ on your preferred podcast platform. I’m proud to be a returning guest on Civilla Morgan’s ‘Childless Not By Choice‘ podcast. Our last discussion was in 2018 (episode 90) and so much has changed in both our lives (and our world) since then. Some of the things we touch on in this episode 166: Being involved in the care of our olders and, after their deaths, the feeling of being both childless AND parentless. About how getting older doesn’t necessarily lead to emotional maturation (and how integrating loss, such as childlessness, […]

[Father’s Day Guest Blog] ‘Time for Men to Speak Up’ by Robert Nurden

June 13, 2024 Jody Day 0

A guest blog for Father’s Day 2024 by Robert Nurden, author of I Always Wanted to Be a Dad: Men without Children I was recently interviewed by BBC Radio 5 about my book I Always Wanted To Be A Dad: Men without Children and what it was like being a childless man. It went quite well and afterwards, I posted a short message about it on Facebook. I chose three childless Facebook groups – Childless not by Choice, Childless over 50 and Ageing without Children (AWOC). I received great support – a total of 198 likes and lots of lovely […]

[WATCH NOW] Fireside Wisdom with Childless Elderwomen on ‘Courageous Conversations’ (Recorded 19 June 2024)

June 3, 2024 Jody Day 0

For the June 2024 Solstice, Jody Day, founder of Gateway Women brought together a panel of #NomoCrones (nomo=not-mother + crone is not an insult!) to explore the topic of ‘Courageous Conversations’. As all women grow up (and exist within) a patriarchal culture that valorizes female silence and compliance, this is no small task. Although some of us may have grown up in families and cultures that role-modelled and supported some freedom around speaking up for your needs, correcting misunderstandings and seeking to redress injustices, we are often encouraged by the overculture to become more compliant as move through puberty and […]

To the Childless Woman at Christmas – I See You

December 25, 2023 Jody Day 18

I originally published this post in Christmas 2020, when many of us across the globe were under pandemic-related restrictions. However, although that may have changed, much of the experience of being childless at Christmas hasn’t… Many of us are hanging out in the round-the-world round-the-clock live chat in our private online community – come and join us there for empathic company and some random and often frivolous chat to distract you! However you are spending your holidays this year, I send you a warm hug. Hugs, Jody x I see you sitting at home muting the rolling TV ads of […]

WATCH NOW: Fireside Wisdom with Childless Elderwomen. What does it mean to be a ‘Radical Old Woman?’ [Recorded 21 June 2023]

June 22, 2023 Jody Day 0

Sign up to Jody’s mailing list for future sessions here. CAPTIONS ARE AUTO-GENERATED AND NOT ALWAYS ACCURATE! In this session of ‘Fireside Wisdom with Childless Elderwomen’, Jody Day (founder of Gateway Women) and her #NomoCrone panel (Nomo=not mother + crone is not an insult!) discuss what it means to each of us to be and become ‘Radical Old Women’. What does the word radical actually mean? Recorded on the June 2023 Solstice; a powerful fulcrum moment in the year, whether you are in the Northern or Southern hemisphere, this was a conversation by turns powerful, tender, shocking and surprising. Featuring: […]

‘Calm After the Storm’ and other treasures to support your childless heart on Mother’s Day

May 9, 2023 Jody Day 0

Here we go again – like Groundhog Day, it’s Mother’s Day again this weekend – this time for Europe, Canada, the US, Australia, and New Zealand, amongst others. Although, thanks to the [cough] genius of social media, those of us in the UK & Ireland get to experience it all over again! * Snark aside, for those of you who are feeling that creeping ‘uh oh’ feeling as Mother’s Day gets closer, I really hope that some of the events and resources below feel nourishing for you. And if it’s not ‘your turn’ for Mother’s Day this month, please know […]

Poster affixed to telegraph pole: "lost mojo"

Surviving the Childless Weekend Blues

April 10, 2023 Jody Day 0

There, it’s said. Weekends can be absolute hell as a single, childless woman. “They creep up on you,” said one friend recently. Many of us are so busy with work commitments and after-work activities Monday-to-Friday that we can’t wait for the peace and quiet of the weekend in order to recover. And then, when we wake up on Saturday morning to an empty bed, an empty house and an empty weekend, it doesn’t feel relaxing; it feels hideously oppressive. Alternatively, we pack our weekend schedule to the gunnels with activities and appointments only to feel burnt out and resentful and […]

Fireside Wisdom with Childless Elderwomen on ‘Mothers & Daughters’

March 21, 2023 Jody Day 0

In this session of ‘Fireside Wisdom with Childless Elderwomen’, Jody Day (founder of Gateway Women) and her #NomoCrone panel (Nomo=not mother + crone is not an insult!) discuss the sometimes challenging topic of mothers & daughters – a tricky relationship for many of us, and with a unique flavour if you are childless not by choice. Recorded on the March 2023 Equinox; a time of turning away and turning towards, depending on which hemisphere you live in; and falling the day after Mother’s Day in the UK & Ireland, this felt like a poignant moment in the wheel of the […]

Getting through Mother’s Day as a Childless Woman

March 18, 2023 Jody Day 0

UK and Ireland have their version of ‘Mothers Day’ (it’s called ‘Mothering Sunday’) on March 19th 2023. With International Mother’s Day coming up in May, we hope this helps you too. Both of the recording below were offered from our hearts in the hope that by sharing the strategies that we’ve each developed over the years, we can help you to naviage the complex emotions and triggering situations of this very multi-layered holiday with more ease. As this is one of the most difficult days of the year for many childless not by choice women, over the years we have […]

[Audio + Transcript] This Mythic Life: The Hagitude Sessions – Episode 5: Dr Sharon Blackie interviews Jody Day [19 September 2022]

September 30, 2022 Jody Day 0

This Mythic Life: The Hagitude Sessions – episode 5 [19 September 2022]. Dr Sharon Blackie, the author of ‘Hagitude: Reimagining the Second Half of Life‘ interviews Jody Day, founder of Gateway Women and one of the women interviewed in her book. Click here to listen to the full episode or search ‘This Mythic Life’ wherever you get your podcasts. And find out more about Hagitude – the book, the program and the podcast at: www.hagitude.org FULL TRANSCRIPT BELOW Intro 00:19 I’m Dr. Sharon Blackie and I’d like to welcome you to my podcast This Mythic Life. Like all of […]

[Audio + Transcript] The Menstruality Podcast – Episode 54: Finding Hope and Meaning When You’re Childless-not-by-choice with Jody Day [15 September 2022]

September 22, 2022 Jody Day 0

The Menstruality Podcast – Episode 54: Finding Hope and Meaning When You’re Childless-not-by-choice (Jody Day) 15 September 2022. Sophie Jane Hardy from RedSchool.net interviews Jody Day, founder of Gateway Women. Click here to listen to episode or search ‘Menstruality’ wherever you get your podcasts. Full written transcript below. ABSTRACT Jody’s personal journey through grief, denial, hopelessness to real acceptance of her life as a childless woman. The creation of Gateway Women and Jody’s mission to make the world understand childless women, and help women who are childless-not-by-choice to understand themselves. The ‘bingos’ that childless women hear all the time. Preparing yourself to answer […]

‘Spinsterhood Reimagined’ – Jody Day interviewed by Lucy Meggeson [May 2022]

June 5, 2022 Jody Day 0

Lucy Meggeson is a British writer and broadcast producer (who really should have been on this side of the microphone before as she has a lovely voice!) and is on a mission to reclaim the word ‘spinster’. She has no children and although she now feels ‘childfree’, making peace with that was not without pain, as she shares with me in this interview. We also talk about the work it takes to construct a new idenity as a woman without children in our pronatalist society, and how this can be as transformative as becoming a mother yet remains unrecognised by […]

[Watch now] ‘Why Your Story matters’ – a free GW Masterclass with Australian author Sian Prior, hosted by Judy Graham & Sarah Roberts

April 15, 2022 Karin Enfield de Vries 0

Childlessness can feel like a dance between opposites – hope and despair, grief and renewal, freedom and longing. In her new memoir, Childless: A story of freedom and longing, Australian author Sian Prior takes us beyond words to the place where we grieve our losses and re-learn ourselves and the world as childless women. Hosted by GW’s licensed Australian facilitators, therapists Judy Graham and Sarah Roberts, this free Gateway Women Masterclass explored the healing power of storytelling and the unfolding nature of what it is to live a childless life. It was a powerful, nurturing and expansive conversation between three […]

[March 2022] “Social Infertility & the transformative process of grief with Gateway Women Founder, Jody Day” – Geeta Pendse’s 1 in 5 Podcast [audio + transcript]

March 17, 2022 Jody Day 0

Geeta Pendse is a British journalist and TV presenter and her podcast features stories and topics relating to both childless and childfree women. You can listen to Jody’s episode 7 here or search ‘1 in 5 – Leading a Life Without Children’ wherever you get your podcasts. You can connect with Geeta on Twitter @geetapendse and Instagram @geetapendse. Do also check out episode 1 with Gateway Women facilitator, author and activist for childless women of colour, Yvonne John. FULL TRANSCRIPT BELOW Geeta: Hello, welcome to the 1 in 5 podcast, a space to explore all sides of leading a life […]

‘Childless’: a new radio documentary. Download the podcast and/or watch the live Q&A with the Director, Hilary Fennell [Recording now available]

January 23, 2022 Jody Day 0

TO LISTEN TO THE DOCUMENTARY AS A PODCAST: On the Newstalk.com website: ‘Documentary on Newstalk’: episode ‘Childless’ Apple Podcasts: ‘Documentary on Newstalk’: episode ‘Childless’ Spotify Podcasts: ‘Documentary on Newstalk’: episode ‘Childless’ Hilary Fennell’s website: www.hilaryfennell.com “It’s hard to imagine that there remains a subject so taboo that although shared by one in five women over 45, it is never discussed. That subject is being childless, but not by choice.” Hilary Fennell, programme maker and journalist is one of a growing number of such women in Ireland. In this documentary she explores what it means to be childless in a child-centred […]

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