Dearest First name / One,
As you can see from this month's photo, the Puffin and Pushkin story continues! (Yes, he was ‘Finn’ last month, but it seem he answers more to ‘Puffin’…) This photo was taken just as I got out of bed to make sure he wasn't going to pounce on the cat. You may notice that all
three versions of my
book are in view… this wasn't staged, honest! It was just that I was writing a piece about how much my relationship to the concept of ‘legacy’ has changed over the years, and wanted to see what I'd written about it back in 2013, 2016 and 2020. The resulting essay, which I published last weekend on my Substack, is still being widely shared and commented on, and it seems to have touched a chord with many of us.
You can read/comment on it free here, and I'd love to know how it lands with you. Writing has been such a powerful companion to my childless experience as a way of making sense of it, and I'm so grateful that it helps others too.
Father's Day - 16th June
As many of us know, childless men grieve too, but because of the way our culture sees having children as something women want more than men (
Dr. Robin Hadley's research debunks this), added to the way that men are socialised not to show vulnerable emotions like sadness and grief, their experience is often neglected - included by themselves. Over the almost 15 years that I've been doing this work, I have gradually encouraged some of the wonderful childless men I've met to become more vocal and visible with their stories. The result is that there is now a closed Facebook community called ‘The Childless Men’s Community,' as well as wonderful books, podcasts and articles about the heterosexual male experience of childlessness. If you want to understand the childless men in your life more, or would like to point them in the direction of resources just for them, you'll find them on the
Gateway Women website here.
Find a Childless Therapist
This month, I've added four new therapists to my listings on the Gateway Women website, bringing the global list to 79 therapists, counsellors, coaches and practitioners, all with lived experience of non-motherhood. These listings aren't paid-for adverts, each one is someone I either already know, or have chatted with on Zoom and feel comfortable recommending to you. So a warm welcome to counsellor Rachael Hartley in Perth, Australia; Abigail Robertson, an Art Therapist based in Edinburgh, Scotland; Counsellor Rachael Trainor, working out of Bath & Chippenham in the UK; and Jo Walker, a counsellor based in Bristol UK. You can read more about each of their practices, and browse the full list of global practitioners, organised by country,
here.
World Childless Week 2025: Monday 15th - Sunday 21st September
I continue in my proud role as a World Childless Week Ambassador and I'm excited to say that the ‘Daily Topics’ for this year are due to be announced in the week beginning Monday 16th June. Each year, WCW seeks submissions from childless people across the world to contribute something for the website, and maybe this year YOU will? Click here for
more information and
sign up for the WCW newsletter, written by the founder Stephanie Joy Phillips and which will keep you in the loop before, during and after WCW.
I could keep going, but I won't! You'll find lots more below to explore, if you wish, including book reviews, podcasts, two brilliant webinars coming up, connection via our Childless Collective online community, Reignite Weekends and more. Frankly, there's now so much going on that each month that I have to be quite selective about what to include or it'd end up overwhelming you!
It's always lovely to hear from you and to understand how these missives from my world land in yours! Just hit reply and your message comes directly to me. And if you're feeling generous, and would like to offer me some support for my work (and the many things I offer free of charge, but which cost me time and money to create), you are very welcome to
Buy Me A Coffee! I hope to see you at the Fireside Wisdom webinar later this month, or in the CC online community, or at a local CC Gathering (I've got one on Saturday near me in Clonakilty, Ireland and they happen all over the world via the CC Online Community).
