A Comedy About Infertility? Not Really.
Back in January 2018, I wrote a post announcing the production of Private Life, a Netflix movie that purported to take an honest look at how couples can be stressed and consumed by infertility and the resulting quest for a baby. Not the first movie on the subject, for sure, but this one stars actor Paul Giamatti, and he's a personal favorite. (Catch him in Billions on Showtime or Hulu. Enough said.) Private Life started streaming in October. Its producers have described it as
Laura's Story: Childfree and Moving On
When I quit my corporate job in the spring of 2012, I was entering completely unknown territory. Sure, other people have quit their careers and moved on to very successful personal projects, but I had no idea if I could be one of those people. Within the first few months, I built a reliable based of clients. But the life of a freelancer is a constant hustle, so I searched open writing jobs every day. As more and more companies were advertising for “Mommy Bloggers” in a time-f
Remembering the Place Where No One Asks If You Have Kids
Here's what we did on our Summer Vacation. The NotMom team -- Laura LaVoie and I -- spent our summer absorbing Change in just about every way you might define it. One year ago, on October 7, 2017, we were wrapping up our second successful NotMom Summit in Cleveland, Ohio, More than 100 childless and childfree women from across the US and Canada, plus attendees from Belgium, England, and even New Zealand spent a memorable weekend together, happy to be in a place where no one a
An Open Letter to 'The Big Bang Theory': Penny and Leonard Are OK Without Kids
Dear Writers' Room: I am one of the zillions of women worldwide who fell in love with The Big Bang Theory during Season One, Episode One. That said, I am also one of the women who felt betrayed when Bernadette's character was immediately happy about a supposedly accidental pregnancy. We remember Season Five when you focused an entire episode on the reasons why kids were unthinkable for Bernadette. Do you? As a woman who once dreamed of being a Mom, the things about motherhoo
The Childfree Experience Under the Microscope
Years ago, I worked for a grant making foundation where I learned how research drives the world's progress. Funders pay for the research and the programs derived from it. And ultimately, everything that follows. Did you ever hear a news story announcing a study on something that is "obviously" already known? Who would study such a thing, you wonder. Research that determines whether dogs can improve a person's mood, for example, is what funders and donors need before they inve
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