In this solo episode of the Kids or Childfree Podcast, Keltie shares four key beliefs that she had to shift in order to embrace her childfree choice.

You'll hear her discuss:

• The myth of the lightbulb moment.
  
  
• Why she needed to debunk the idea of there being a right and wrong choice.
  
  
• Why it was key to remember that there is more than one path to a happy life.
  
  
• Why she had to see life as something she chose - rather than it being something that happened to her.

__

Check out our free resources here, or at kidsorchildfree.com/free-resources

And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review The Kids or Childfree Podcast if you love what you’re hearing!

You can leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, or a rating on Spotify.

Find us online at www.kidsorchildfree.com.

Instagram: www.instagram.com/kidsorchildfree

In this conversation, Keltie is speaking with mom, essayist, and author, Elissa Strauss, about her book 'When You Care: The Unexpected Magic of Caring for Others'.

Hear her and Keltie discuss:

• Elissa's personal experience with motherhood, including the parts she was most afraid of.
  
  
• The complexities of caregiving, particularly in the context of motherhood.
  
  
• How to navigate the challenge of maintaining self-identity while parenting.
  
  
• How social media is shaping perceptions of motherhood — and the messiness of real-world care.
  
  
• Why we need a broader understanding of care that transcends traditional roles and highlights the transformative potential of caregiving experiences.
  
  
• The magic of caring for others — and how we can experience this, no matter what we ultimately choose.
  
  

As mentioned in the show:

Elissa is online at www.elissastrauss.com

Pick up a copy of When You Care: simonandschuster.com/books/When-You-Care/Elissa-Strauss/9781982169275

Read Elissa's Substack at elissa.substack.com/

The piece Elissa's husband wrote about the impact of not breastfeeding their kids is here: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/23/opinion/sunday/formula-breastfeeding-fatherhood.html

Tune into the How the Wise One Grows episode featuring Elissa: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5IHtrBPfmBMO55I7Mz9sKm

Tune into the How the Wise One Grows episode featuring Keltie: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1Iw67drKUnzd1q1WjuzhUW?si=wCPBHC4vRa2Uwc-CGLO9dQ

Find Elissa on social media:

@elissaavery on IG

facebook.com/elissa.strauss.7

linkedin.com/in/elissa-strauss-742720112/

About Elissa:

Elissa Strauss is the author of When You Care: The Unexpected Magic of Caring for Others. She is a journalist, essayist, and opinion writer, and contributes to publications like the New York Times, The Atlantic, Glamour, and elsewhere.

__


Get details on our upcoming Kids or Childfree Support Series here: kidsorchildfree.com/kids-or-childfree-support-series

Check out our free resources here, or at kidsorchildfree.com/free-resources

And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review The Kids or Childfree Podcast if you love what you’re hearing!

You can leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, or a rating on Spotify.

Find us online at www.kidsorchildfree.com.

Instagram: www.instagram.com/kidsorchildfree

In this conversation, fertility expert, Dr. Amanda Adeleye, MD, is sharing the fertility knowledge you need to feel empowered in your Kids or Childfree decision.

This includes...

• Common fertility myths and misconceptions
  
  
• The role of age in fertility, including when your fertility starts to decline
  
  
• How likely it really is to become pregnant in your mid-30's, at 40, and beyond
  
  
• Fertility preservation options — including egg and embryo freezing – and who they're suited for
  
  
• Why understanding personal goals is crucial in making informed family planning decisions
  
  

As mentioned on the show:

Find Amanda online at ccrmivf.com/locations/us/il/chicago/amanda-adeleye-md/

She's on Instagram at instagram.com/amanda.j.adeleye_md

Get details on free health education platform, Roon, at roon.com

Roon is also on Instagram at instagram.com/roonwomenshealth

Find Amanda on Roon at roon.com/expert/DrAmandaAdeleye


About Amanda:

Dr. Amanda Adeleye, MD, is a reproductive endocrinologist and infertility (REI) specialist. She provides fertility services including IUI, IVF and fertility preservation at the newly opened fertility clinic, CCRM Chicago, where she is the founding partner and Medical Director. She received her Medical Degree from Columbia University, completed her residency at New York Presbyterian - Columbia University, and did her fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Adeleye is committed to improving the educational resources available to all patients to inform them on their fertility journey. As part of this work, she helped to create Roon, a free, trusted health platform founded by doctors to replace unreliable internet searches with expert medical guidance.

_

Get details on our upcoming Kids or Childfree Support Series here: kidsorchildfree.com/kids-or-childfree-support-series

Check out our free resources here, or at kidsorchildfree.com/free-resources

And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review The Kids or Childfree Podcast if you love what you’re hearing!

You can leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, or a rating on Spotify.

Find us online at www.kidsorchildfree.com.

Instagram: www.instagram.com/kidsorchildfree

In this conversation, Keltie Maguire speaks with shawdeez, Ph.D. (he/they), a queer and trans parent, about their journey to parenthood and the transformative experiences that awaited them on the other side of having a child.

shawndeez shares...

• The impact of societal gender norms, both on shawndeez's feelings about parenthood and in how these norms can influence anyone making this decision. (1:27)
• shawndeez's experience navigating the IVF process as a transmasculine person. (11:38)
• The importance of creating a gender-open environment for children that fosters freedom and exploration. (45:54)
• The spiritual awakening that can accompany parenthood, and insights into shawndeez's own spiritual journey through parenthood. (18:15)
• The significance of connecting with nature, and the pursuit of joy and bliss in parenting. (49:54)
• Self-worth and the need to challenge traditional narratives around family and identity.

As mentioned in the show:

Find shawndeez online at:
shawndeez.com

Find shawndeez on Instagram:
instagram.com/drshawndeez/


About shawndeez:

shawndeez, Ph.D. (he/they) received their doctorate in UCLA’s Department of Gender Studies. While at UCLA, they created and led courses on Trans Magic, Queer & Trans Muslim Feminisms, and QTPoC Resistances while simultaneously serving on the Trans Wellness Team, a collective of medical doctors and mental health providers working to provide gender-affirming healthcare to trans students across the UC system. shawndeez’s dissertation research explored how queer, trans, and nonbinary individuals engage with the spiritual as a form of resilience, healing, and possibility. They are now a full time public speaker, spiritual guide, and workshop facilitator, offering spiritually-conscious spaces for queer/trans people to lean into their joys. (I can tweak if needed, let me know).

_

Get details on 1-on-1 coaching here: kidsorchildfree.com/coaching

Check out our free resources here, or at kidsorchildfree.com/free-resources

And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review The Kids or Childfree Podcast if you love what you’re hearing!

You can leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, or a rating on Spotify.

Find us online at www.kidsorchildfree.com.

Instagram: www.instagram.com/kidsorchildfree

In this episode, Keltie speaks with yogi, movement coach, model, and retreat facilitator, Charlotte Holmes, about her journey as a childfree individual and the role self-discovery plays in the Kids or Childfree choice.

You'll hear about:

• Charlotte's early decision to remain childfree, and why she's never wavered, despite being confronted with challenging aspects of her choice.
  
  
• Why she decided to to donate her eggs and how she thinks and feels about this choice.
  
  
• The power in cultivating the most important relationship you'll ever have in life – the relationship with yourself.
  
  
• The significance of finding meaning beyond traditional roles.
  
  
• Why motherhood can take many forms beyond traditional parenting.
  
  
• Why finding meaning in life doesn't require having children.

As mentioned in the show:

Find Charlotte online at www.insightout.yoga

On Instagram at:
instagram.com/misscharholmes

instagram.com/insightout.yoga

Join one of Charlotte's upcoming yoga retreats: www.insightout.yoga/retreat


About Charlotte:

Here's how Charlotte describes herself:

"I have spent 15 years in the wellness space as a movement coach, personal trainer, retreat facilitator, yoga and meditation teacher, fitness model and brand ambassador. My career started as a PT & group fitness instructor and my love of movement and mindfulness led me to Rishikesh, India to study yoga further. I have spent the last 10 years traveling back and forth to India for various trainings and immersions. Now, with over 2000 hours of yoga teacher training experience, I fuse together the rich and diverse practices of the deep Himalayas to bring you movement, mantra, meditation and more. The last few years have seen big life shifts after heartbreak and betrayal when my husband and best friend had an affair. I am now divorced and engaged to the love of my life, living half of the year in India; teaching at a prestigious yoga school in the foothills of the Himalayas and the other half touring Europe with my love sharing yoga, meditation, music and kirtan at retreats, festivals and immersions. Aside that we run an online yoga membership called Insight Out Yoga which provides a sacred sanctuary for all of your spiritual practices including yoga asana, meditation, mantra and breath work. This year i will embark on my 3rd round of egg donation - which as an IVF baby myself has been a beautiful, humbling and necessary journey for me to undertake. My ex husband and I knew on date 1 that neither of us wanted children - but this relationship has meant navigating through the decision not to have children in a new way."



__

Join an upcoming Kids or Childfree workshop here: kidsorchildfree.com/workshop

Check out our free resources here, or at kidsorchildfree.com/free-resources

And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review The Kids or Childfree Podcast if you love what you’re hearing!

You can leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, or a rating on Spotify.

Find us online at www.kidsorchildfree.com.

Instagram: www.instagram.com/kidsorchildfree

In the conversation, Keltie is joined by writer and author, Heidi Reimer, to discuss the complexities and ambivalence of motherhood, and Heidi's unique journey to becoming a mom.

You'll hear them discuss:

• How Heidi went from never wanting kids to adopting a child and becoming pregnant at the same time
  
• Heidi's novel, The Mother Act, and how it allowed her to explore her darkest fantasies about abandoning motherhood
• How Heidi's conservative Christian upbringing influenced her views on womanhood and motherhood
  
  
• Why motherhood - and especially early motherhood - felt like a trap, and how she feels today, now that her children are nearly grown
  
  
• The importance of discussing and sharing honestly about motherhood - rather than romanticizing it

As mentioned in the show:

Heidi is online at www.heidireimer.com

Read Heidi's book, The Mother Act

Find Heidi on Instagram at instagram.com/heidi.c.reimer

Her substack is heidireimer.substack.com


About Heidi:

Heidi Reimer is an essayist, novelist, writing coach, and the author of The Mother Act. Her writing interrogates the lives of women, usually those bent on breaking free of what they’re given to create what they yearn for. Heidi has published in Chatelaine, The New Quarterly, Literary Mama, and the anthologies The M Word: Conversations About Motherhood and Body & Soul: Stories for Skeptics and Seekers. She is from Northern Ontario, Canada, and currently writes in a small town on the St. Lawrence River.

__

Book your Clarity Booster here: kidsorchildfree.com/claritybooster

Check out our free resources here, or at kidsorchildfree.com/free-resources

And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review The Kids or Childfree Podcast if you love what you’re hearing!

You can leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, or a rating on Spotify.

Find us online at www.kidsorchildfree.com.

Instagram: www.instagram.com/kidsorchildfree

This week's episode is with podcaster, coach, and author, Lucy Meggeson, on how to thrive as a single woman without kids.

You'll hear Keltie and Lucy discuss...

• Lucy's journey to embracing her identity as a single, childfree woman. (12:49)
• Societal perceptions of being single and childless, and why these are so often wrong. (19:21)
• The need for intentional living and finding fulfillment beyond traditional roles. (37:07)
• The joys of being single and childfree and the importance of celebrating this life path. (48:19)
• The importance of mindset in personal growth and the journey to embracing a single and childfree life. (1:03:31)

As mentioned in the show:

Lucy's website: www.lucymeggeson.com

Find Lucy on Instagram at @thrivesolowithlucymeggeson

Listen to Thrive Solo with Lucy Meggeson on Spotify and Apple Podcasts

Purchase Lucy's new book, Thrive Solo / Shiny Happy Singles, here: lucymeggeson.com/book

About Lucy:

Lucy Meggeson worked in production at BBC Radio 2 for several years before becoming the host and producer of her own podcast, Thrive Solo (formerly Spinsterhood Reimagined) — a podcast that celebrates all things single, childfree, and personal growth. She's a regular on Jo Good's BBC Radio London show and has been a guest on various other radio and podcasts, including Jeremy Vine's BBC Radio 2 show, Peter McGraw's 'Solo: The Single Person's Guide to a Remarkable Life', and Shani Silver's 'A Single Serving Podcast'. Lucy has had many, many amazing guests on her podcast including Cindy Gallop, Jody Day, Bella DePaulo, Shani Silver, Heidi Clements, Matt Cooke, Nicola Slawson, Jo Good, Peter McGraw, Jill Stark, Polly Vernon, Kate Lister and Ruby Warrington.

Lucy also runs her own membership for single women, Thrive Solo.

Usually based in her flat in south-west London, she is currently living in Dorset, with her beloved cat, Johnny Depp.

__

Join our an upcoming Kids or Childfree workshop: kidsorchildfree.com/workshop

Check out our free resources here, or at kidsorchildfree.com/free-resources

And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review The Kids or Childfree Podcast if you love what you’re hearing!

You can leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, or a rating on Spotify.

Find us online at www.kidsorchildfree.com.

Instagram: www.instagram.com/kidsorchildfree