The second of two episodes sharing our stories as hosts...

Rebecca introduces Dannie-Lu:

"In this episode, it's our turn. We thought it was only fair to answer our own questions for ourselves. So in this episode, I speak to my co-host Dannie Lu. Dannie is a polymath, singer, songwriter, exec coach, inspire of women in both leadership and creativity.

And one of those people is me. Dannie has talked regularly about her own journey with social infertility and describes herself now as childless, not by choice and a part-time stepparent. We started this podcast because we were both looking for the many similarities in our experiences across the parenting divide, and we definitely found a few more in our conversation.

The empathy we can find through grief was new and interesting for me, and certainly helped me in my own journey with grief. This podcast deals with issues around coerced abortion and miscarriage, so please take care of yourself if those issues resonate with you, or you may decide to skip this one."

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The first of two episodes sharing our stories as hosts...

Dannie-Lu:
"We thought it'd only fair that we put ourselves in the hotspot too, and answer the same questions we expect our guests to answer. So in this episode, I speak to my cohost, Rebecca. Social entrepreneur with a focus on community and comedian about her experience of parenthood as someone who thought she would probably not be a parent because of sexuality and circumstance, but has ended up on some levels, having what is deemed quite a conventional setup.

She talks honestly about the challenges and expectations of parenthood, as well as some of the unexpected small and joyous moments of it. We explore how societal assumptions about parenthood have evolved. Sometimes haven't and what it means to navigate these spaces while trained. We explore how societal assumptions about parenthood have evolved and sometimes haven't, and what it means to navigate these spaces while staying true to yourself."

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Complicated Pod Website | Instagram | Facebook | Ko-Fi: Support Us

This episode we met Sam - her front page headline explaining how she'd quit work 'after another christmas picking up the slack' for parents was exactly that - a headline - and it was really fascinating to go behind that headline with Sam!

Her article, one of many things she's written, outlined the imbalance that exists in the workplace, favouring parents when it comes to benefits, flexibility and the informal annual leave hierarchy that can exist.

She is childless not by choice…but describes herself as having finally come to a place of acceptance of, and power over, the situation.

She has founded a non-mum network in a bid to build solidarity, and keep sharing and educating.

She's a self defined 'old school 90's raver' with a stint on Ibiza Uncovered under her belt, we had a great chat covering the unexpected community connections of both merch and dogs, how hard it is to name things and - another call for basic equality! When people wave their magic wand, it's amazing how often that comes up!

A warning that this episode covers detail of physical infertility, the experience of IVF and childess grief.

Links:

The Non Mum Network that Sam set up
https://thenonmumnetwork.co.uk/
Facebook group: The Non-Mum Network https://www.facebook.com/groups/752469014913024/?mibextid=uJjRxr Facebook page: The Non-Mum Network https://www.facebook.com/nonmumnetwork TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@thenonmumnetwork Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thenonmumnetwork/
Sam's Front Page and her take on it
https://www.instagram.com/p/C1kQ0ZdMAf2/

2022 statistical snapshot: 15% of women in the UK had not had a child before the age of 46 years.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/conceptionandfertilityrates/bulletins/childbearingforwomenbornindifferentyearsenglandandwales/2021and2022

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Complicated Pod Website | Instagram | Facebook | Ko-Fi: Support Us