What happens when the life you imagined includes motherhood, and then you learn that future may never come?

Stephanie Joy Phillips spent much of her twenties in an abusive relationship, taking the contraceptive pill because she knew she did not want to bring a child into that situation. In her early thirties, she met the man who would become her husband, but they did not begin trying to conceive until they were nearing forty.

At 39, an unsympathetic doctor told Stephanie that even if she became pregnant, she was unlikely to carry the pregnancy to term. In that moment, she knew she would never be a mum.

In this episode of Becoming, Stephanie and I talk about childlessness not by choice, the future she had imagined, and the difficult path toward accepting a life that looked different from the one she expected.

We also talk about the silence surrounding childlessness and how isolating it can feel in a culture where motherhood is often treated as an inevitable part of womanhood.

In 2016, Stephanie founded the support group Childless Path to Acceptance. A year later, after realizing there was no widespread recognition of the childless community, she created World Childless Week, an online global platform where childless people can share their stories and find their voices.

This is a conversation about grief, acceptance, identity, and creating meaning from a life you did not choose.

FIND STEPHANIE AND WORLD CHILDLESS WEEK

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If this conversation made you think of someone who has felt alone in her childlessness, send it to her. Sometimes hearing another woman speak honestly about the life she did not choose can make her feel less invisible.

What happens when stepping away from your family is the only way to find yourself again?

Susan Rich has been hard no-contact with her primary family for more than 23 years. She calls it Family Freedom.

In this episode of Becoming, Susan and I talk about the decision to leave the family system she had known her entire life, the loss of identity that followed, and what it took to begin building a life on her own terms.

We talk about the parts of estrangement that are rarely acknowledged. The grief and loss. The disorientation of discovering that you no longer know who you are outside of the roles you were given.

We also talk about what can grow in the space that decision creates. Susan is now happily partnered for more than 33 years, profoundly grateful for the life she has built, and working toward publishing her debut four-book series.

This is a conversation about family estrangement, identity, freedom, and the complicated work of choosing yourself.

About Susan

Susan Rich is an author, writer, reader, talker, animal lover, artist-in-wishful-thinking, and a crocheter with 30 years of experience doing the same stitch over and over. She has been hard no-contact with her primary family for more than 23 years, an experience she has learned to call Family Freedom.

Now retired, Susan is working as a debut indie author and hopes to release the first books in her four-book series in spring 2027. She has been happily partnered for more than 33 years and has three grown-and-flown stepchildren. After building a life on her own terms, she describes herself as profoundly grateful and content.

Find Susan

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Becoming tells the stories between who we were and who we are. Subscribe so you never miss an episode.

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If this conversation made you think of someone who needs to hear it, send it to her. Sometimes another woman’s story gives us language for a choice we have been afraid to name.

Introducing Becoming: The Stories Between Who We Were and Who We Are

There are moments in a woman’s life when something shifts.

Sometimes it happens all at once. Sometimes it begins with the quiet realization that the life you are living no longer feels like your own.

Becoming is a podcast about the changes that shape a woman’s life and the loss of identity that so often comes with them. Through honest conversations, we explore divorce, motherhood, grief, aging, family estrangement, career changes, reinvention, and what happens when you begin building a life around who you are now.

There is no final version of us waiting on the other side. Becoming is something we do over and over again.

Listen to the trailer, follow the podcast, and join us for the stories between who we were and who we are.

Stay connected

Becoming tells the stories between who we were and who we are. Subscribe so you never miss an episode.

• Listen to and follow Becoming
• Read and subscribe to Beautiful Things
• Follow Lisa: on Instagram, Threads, YouTube, and TikTok
• Shop Lisa's Favorites
• Interested in sharing your own story on Becoming? Click here!

If you know a woman who is somewhere between the life she knew and the life she is building, send this trailer to her.