Browsing Tag

childlessness

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Andrea Leadsom may have thrown in the towel, but we still need to challenge pronatalism

By On 12 July 2016

Andrea Leadsom’s ambitions of being the next Prime Minister are in ashes: whatever your feelings about her, you could see, as she bowed out of the Conservative leadership contest yesterday, that she was giving up on a dream. But before the whole saga becomes yesterday’s hooha, it’s worth reflecting on what impact her comments about motherhood have had. Leadsom’s assertion…

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You are not alone

By On 5 March 2016

I didn’t go to church on Mother’s Day for many, many years because it hurt too much. I didn’t realise for a long time that I wasn’t alone. The day is hard for so many. Those grieving the loss of their own mother. The mother who has no physical child to hold. Those who are estranged from their mothers. Those…

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The script

By On 24 February 2016

I love story. I love how stories can grab you, feeding your mind and your creativity, introducing you to a new world as you dive into the pages of a book or are carried away by the film you’re watching. Over the past few months I’ve been studying story a lot, exploring what makes a great story – how to…

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What are you really worth?

By On 19 January 2016

The other night Dave and I pulled out one of our favourite DVD’s from our ever growing film collection to watch. Laid out on the sofa under a blanket with Betsy, our cavapoo snuggling next to us – she’s an excellent snuggler – we watched Moneyball. For someone who’s never really considered themselves as ‘sporty’, I never expected to enjoy…

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A New Year’s Resolution

By On 7 January 2016

It’s new year and with it come new year’s resolutions, plans to live a more meaningful life, lose weight, get fitter and look down right sexy whilst at the same time still being really down to earth. For one of my many new year’s resolutions I’ve decided to try to read the Bible in a year, I have started this…

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A New Song

By On 23 December 2015

Christmas is about babies. Not just any babies either. Miraculous babies. Christmas is about ancient barren couples and unmarried virgins rejoicing in their pregnancy news, and, of course churches filled with hyperactive kids holding flaming oranges speared with sweets. Christmas is not an easy time for the childless. It’s not an easy time for me. I’d love a miraculous baby…

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The mug

By On 26 November 2015

There’s a mug that’s spent years at the back of my kitchen cupboard, we’ve moved house four times since we’ve had it and every time we’ve unpacked I’ve placed it right at the back of my cupboard again, hidden by the other mugs. There are a lot of people who have a mug exactly like the one I’m talking about,…

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The story behind the story

By On 19 October 2015

So we had a baby. Why does it feel like an apology should follow? An explanation perhaps? A sheepish shrug of the shoulders and whispered tones. I had a baby but it wasn’t straightforward. The statement sounds so simple. It doesn’t detail the years of hoping and ‘trying’, the tests, the numerous doctor’s waiting rooms, consultants, nurses, more tests, the…

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the fairytale

By On 10 October 2015

When I was eight I fell in love with a fairy tale, a happily ever after. A story etched on the hearts of young girls and women around the world. A simple story of falling in love, getting married and having a family. This fairy tale was more than my first love: it was my first dream and my first…

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What we wish we’d known about childlessness

By On 25 June 2015

You didn’t plan to be childless, it wasn’t what you dreamed of when you were little or when you got married or when you decided to start trying for a baby and it’s not an experience you want to be permanent. Childlessness catches you off guard, waking you from the innocent assumption that life will just drift from one stage…