JUDY GRAHAM is a licensed Gateway Women workshop facilitator. She collaborates with Jody Day and Karin Enfield de Vries of Gateway Women to bring Gateway Women’s Reignite Weekends to Australian women. She is the founder of WomenHood Counselling in Australia where she provides counselling support especially for women who are childless-not-by-choice.  As a childless-not-by-choice woman herself, she integrates her childless experience with over twenty years of working in health, education and counselling to support and inspire other childless women. Judy lives on Queensland’s Gold Coast where she grew up and lay down her roots. She works with women across Australia (thank you Zoom!) and is part of a growing network building awareness and support around the unique issues for women who are childless-not-by-choice.  Judy is delighted to be connecting with you in this Reignite Workshop and looks forward to guiding you through the program designed by Jody to help you heal your heart and embrace your future. You can contact Judy directly at: judygraham@gateway-women.com

• Unpick the assumptions that the culture has about motherhood (and non-motherhood) and let go of what doesn’t ‘fit’ you;
• Look at where you are holding onto unhelpful ideas and shame about the life choices you’ve made (and the non-choices too) which have led you to ‘ending up’ without the family you hoped for;
• Explore and express unresolved grief about your childlessness – grief which our culture neither acknowledges, understands nor allows (and consequently, neither do we, sometimes);
• Reexamine the dreams and goals you had for your life before you became convinced that having a baby was the only thing that mattered;
• Reignite your passion for your life and start thinking what your ‘Plan B’ might be for a meaningful and fulfilling life without children;
• Meet your new tribe – the wonderful, powerful, wise and funny Nomos (not-mothers). There are more of us than you realise and we’re not the bunch of ‘weeping weirdoes’ you might fear! In fact, we’re a pretty amazing and courageous bunch of women.

More details and to book:

• Public Health Issues due to Coronavirus: Should the workshop need to be cancelled for public health reasons, we will refund 100% of the course fee or, should you prefer, transfer your fee to the rescheduled date. We are unable to refund any travel or accommodation costs, so please make sure any bookings you make are fully refundable.
• Dates: Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th June, 2022
• Times: 9.00am – 5pm (both days)
• Total Cost: AUD $ 575,- (approx. GBP £ 325) bookable with a deposit of AUD $ 218 (approx. GBP £125).  Please note this special price saving of AUD $120,- to celebrate return of face-to-face events in Australia!
• Booking: A deposit of  AUD $ 218,- (approx. GBP £125) is required to book your place on the course. All currencies are accepted and converted automatically. Go to the bottom of the page to book. After your booking is received, our facilitators will be in touch to confirm your place and will then invoice you for the remaining fee. We suggest you don’t book accommodation or airfares until you receive confirmation of your place on the course.
• Payment Plans: We are happy to discuss extended payment plans, at no extra cost to you, if that makes it possible for you to attend. Please contact Sarah if you would like to explore this option by emailing her at SarahRoberts@gateway-women.com We are sorry but we are unable to offer reduced-price places because of the significant costs involved in offering this weekend. If you are looking for low-cost support around your childlessness, we recommend that you work through the exercises in Jody’s book (you can do so alongside others in the reading group for her book in the Gateway Women Online Community) and also explore the many free GW Masterclasses, events and ‘Gateway Gatherings‘ that Gateway Women organizes. Be sure to be on our mailing list to hear about those and/or follow Gateway Women either on Facebook,  Instagram or Twitter.
• Questions: If you have any questions prior to booking (or afterwards) please contact Judy directly at JudyGraham@gateway-women.com

To book, please go right to the bottom of this page.

• Lunch & Breaks: Lunch will be at roughly 1-2pm both days and is not provided but there are plenty of lunch options nearby and you can also take a refreshing stroll by the lake which is right near the venue. We’ll also take a morning and afternoon break of 15 mins, where tea/coffee/light snack will be provided.
• Where:  A wellness studio at Varsity Lakes 4217, Gold Coast.  Venue details will be provided once your booking is confirmed. There is a bus stop in the street, with a direct link from Varsity Lakes train station. Click here for map of the area.
• Accommodation:  The Chancellor Apartments are right across the road from the venue in the peaceful Lakes village. If you want to be more beachside, there are a range of options in nearby suburbs of Broadbeach and Miami, about a 10 min Uber ride away. You can also find very affordable and local options on Airbnb. Wherever you book, please check your booking is refundable in the event of Covid or course cancellation. 
• How Many Women: In order to create an intimate and safe atmosphere, the workshop is restricted to 10 women only.
• Who is the Reignite Weekend for? Women of any age or sexuality, partnered or solo, who wanted to have children and for some reason, it didn’t work out. If you’re keen to move forward and create a meaningful and fulfilling life without children, it’s for you. If you are childfree by choice or still hopeful of creating a biological or adoptive family, this won’t be a good fit for you. Childless stepmothers are very welcome. If you’re not sure if it’s right for you, we’d be happy to discuss that with you before you book – just contact one of the facilitators they will be happy to arrange a time for a quick chat on the phone.
• What is the cancellation policy? Your fee is non-refundable. However, you can transfer (once only) to a different Reignite Weekend if needed, and if you give us at least 2 weeks’ notice. Should you decide that you are NOT going to attend (or transfer) please let us know so that we can offer your place to someone else, as there will be a waiting list for places on this weekend. We are unable to refund any travel or accommodation costs, so please make sure any bookings you make are fully refundable.
• Any other questions please contact JudyGraham@gateway-women.com or SarahRoberts@gateway-women.com

Some feedback from women who've taken part in previous Reignite Weekends:

I was determined to get to a Reignite weekend eventually, and finally did. It was MARVELLOUS.  The faciliators did an amazing job, creating such a lovely space energetically and emotionally.  The exercises were profound, and I found the two days to be so beautifully designed to help move us through the key issues surrounding childlessness.  I am so grateful that you were inspired years ago to create GW and these weekends! (Millie, 59, USA)

I was very daunted (as I’m sure everyone is) about the workshop itself, but adding in the money and the distance it was definitely taking a chance and a risk for me, and it more than paid off. The facilitators were so lovely and welcoming and really helped to create what felt like a very safe, warm and loving environment. They gave us the time we needed to speak and really be heard and responded with such empathy. Being childless is something most of us can’t speak to our nearest and dearest about because nobody “gets it” so it was very refreshing to be in a room where everybody was in the same boat (albeit different circumstances). It was the first time I had ever been amongst a group of women where I didn’t feel alien-like or inferior. I even told the ladies how surreal it was to be there in a room with them knowing we all have this factor of our lives in common (Nicola, 34, Australia).

It was a stimulating weekend. The facilitators were welcoming, empathic & ran the event with care – they are great role models too. I have taken away many positive vibes and ideas (Caroline, 60, UK).

I attended this weekend with some ‘butterflies’ but it’s ended up being one of the best things I could have done. I’m more equipped than before I attended the event for moving on and getting to grips with my plan B. Best thing though was meeting the other Gateway Women and seeing I’m not alone… (Faye, 41, USA)

Anyway, I did want to say a massive thank you to the great facilitators for the workshop and I got a lot out of it (realizing this more as time goes on and I reflect back). I was in touch with them before the weekend and they really did provide loads of much needed reassurance about attending the weekend, which helped to ensure I went and didn’t back out at the last minute! It was really powerful hearing everyone’s’ journey and finally realising that I wasn’t alone in the way I felt about being childless. The first day was really emotional, although I recognise needed to be done in order to let things out, address buried thoughts and understand about the whole grief thing which was very enlightening. I found the second day much more refreshing and helped provide some positivity to work on – I had hoped for a magic solution, but the workshop made me realise it’s just small changes in mindset that can make the biggest difference. We’ve since had 2 Meetups which I’ve found quite liberating really and hopefully can work on establishing some new friendships (Susan, 45, UK).

The weekend definitely exceeded my expectations and the strength I received from being in the company of such strong, yet similarly hurting women, is amazing. The realisation that I’m not alone and have real people to talk to who understand how difficult it is some days to navigate such a strongly biased society which thinks motherhood is the norm is huge. But it has also given me a friendship base of fascinating women that have stories to tell that don’t involve having a child, and opinions on life who I want to spend time with and get to know better. The other thing to mention is that the facilitators were brilliant. We were all so nervous about going and all had reasons not to turn up but did make it through the door and were welcomed with such positivity and calmness. It was a tough weekend having to face up to so many decisions made in the past or thinking about what the future might hold, but to survive and start living again I need to face these things. The weekend has given me a starting point and motivation to start finding my way and a support group to call upon. Thank you for starting this and giving hope back to us all (Simone, 49, UK).

I can’t describe the massively positive effect finding GW and attending a Reignite Weekend has had on my outlook, my life, my relationships, my ability to smile at babies and their mums again! (Kate, 43, UK).

Since the weekend, I found I was able to explain my feelings in a different way to my husband, and he was full of questions and very interested and enthusiastic about what the Gateway Women community is doing for women and the impact it can have for a social change. He then told me that what I’d learned and experienced at the Reignite Weekend had enabled him to better understand my childlessness, something that had been quite a mystery to him for many years – that our pain is not just about our deep feelings of grief (which really is quite enough!!!) but also about all the other stuff from society that gets loaded on top of it that we have to deal with. This realisation has proved to be so precious to me – and to my husband! Let me also say that the faciliators were also unbelievably kind, gentle, intelligent, brilliant and wonderful (Hilda, 45, Germany).