Host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss speaks with a New York-based filmmaker about her multi-year journey through unexplained infertility, multiple IVF rounds beginning at age 38 in 2019, and the trauma of continuing treatment as the city shut down during the pandemic, including a failed transfer and chemical pregnancy.

Lisa is the Co-Founder of The Otherhood Collective, a storytelling platform and community using real voices to challenge and reshape narratives around parenthood, identity, and belonging. After repeated cycles yielding one embryo that failed, health issues and surgery, she and her husband explored adoption but struggled with pandemic red tape, emotional readiness, and unspoken exhaustion before drifting toward acceptance that having children would not happen.

She describes keeping the process secret, feeling unsupported, loneliness, and grief shifting from shame to sadness, especially around milestones like Mother’s Day. Seeking deeper representation, she and longtime friend Sarah created The Otherhood Collective to share layered, inclusive video stories that bridge divides between parents and non-parents and help people feel less alone.

• Starting the Journey
• Trying to Conceive
• IVF Meets Pandemic
• Rounds and Setbacks
• Considering Adoption
• Last IVF Attempt
• Letting It Fade
• Grief After Treatment
• Keeping It Secret
• Loneliness and Therapy
• Creating Otherhood
• Where I Am Now
• Sadness Without Shame
• Advice for the Thick
• Beyond Black and White
• Future of Otherhood
• Final Thanks and Wrap

Connect with Lisa:

LINKS:

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@TheOtherhoodCollective

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theotherhoodcollective/

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@theotherhoodcollective

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-otherhood-collective/

Website - https://www.theotherhoodcollective.com

Get Involved - https://www.theotherhoodcollective.com/get-involved-1

Connect with Elizabeth:

IG: @bychanceavenue

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Host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss opens an honest conversation about the unspoken worry many childfree women carry: what aging will look like without children and whether life will still feel full, enough, or lonely. Reflecting on her parents’ aging and a medical scare that led her and her husband, Victor, to care for them for months in California, she describes realizing that, as a Filipino raised in a culture where caring for elders is expected, the cycle of family caretaking may stop with her. She shares fears about needing support later in life, the possibility of assisted living, and the financial and emotional realities of having no one else to lean on, while acknowledging those facing this completely alone. Rather than offering “toxic positivity,” she validates the sadness, uncertainty, and fear, and invites ongoing conversations with other women, including older voices.

• The Unspoken Fear
• Asking the Hard Questions
• Parents Aging Reality Check
• Culture of Caregiving
• When the Cycle Stops
• Spiraling Into the Future
• Planning for Two
• Seeing Women Alone
• Living Present Yet Wondering
• No Toxic Positivity
• Opening the Conversation
• You Are Not Alone
• Closing Thanks

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IG: @bychanceavenue

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Host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss reflects on the “comparison trap” in the context of living without children, sharing how it shows up in layered, sometimes contradictory ways. She describes beach days with her partner Victor where being surrounded by young families brings an unexpected sense of relief at not managing the exhaustion of toddlers, especially at 51 after trying IVF and adoption in her 40s. At the same time, conversations with friends who enjoy close relationships with their college-age and grown children spark curiosity and longing about what her own relationship with an adult child might have been like. She emphasizes that both relief and wondering can be true, that comparison can come and go without overtaking life, and that all emotions—envy, anger, resentment, or peace—are valid with no timeline for grief.

• Comparison Trap Reframed
• Beach Walks And Noise
• Relief Without Kids
• The Other Side Of Comparison
• Wondering About Adult Kids
• Both Feelings Can Coexist
• Layers Of Comparison
• Permission To Feel It All
• Closing Thoughts

Whether you’re in the thick of grief or finally starting to feel like yourself again, there’s a name for where you are and a roadmap waiting for you.

bychanceavenue.com/roadmap

Connect with Elizabeth:

IG: @bychanceavenue

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Host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss shares a surprise insight from a recent therapy session: beneath current relationship tension, she’s grieving the loss of sisterhood and a deep craving for kinship with women who truly know her. She reflects on longing for belonging since college and explains how infertility and loss can quietly isolate women as social circles shift around kids, causing friendships to drift and compounding grief—especially for single women navigating the journey without a partner. Elizabeth offers practical ways to rebuild connection intentionally using available time and bandwidth: host small gatherings, name the desire for deeper friendship out loud, seek women in a similar season through groups like Facebook, stay open to unlikely friendships across ages and life stages, and deepen existing relationships one step at a time. She closes by encouraging listeners to reach out this week and DM her on Instagram at by Chance Avenue.

• Therapy Surprise Insight
• Grieving Sisterhood Loss
• A Lifelong Longing
• Infertility Isolation Effects
• Single Women Loneliness
• Turning Ache Into Action
• Host Small Gatherings
• Say It Out Loud
• Find Your Season People
• Unlikely Friendships
• Quality Over Quantity
• Sisterhood Is Essential
• Weekly Challenge And Connect
• Closing Gratitude

Whether you’re in the thick of grief or finally starting to feel like yourself again, there’s a name for where you are and a roadmap waiting for you.

bychanceavenue.com/roadmap

Connect with Elizabeth:

IG: @bychanceavenue

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Host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss reflects on how years of trying to become a mother consumed her identity and buried the question “What do I want?” After repeated heartbreak, she realized her personal growth wasn’t just preparation for motherhood—it was building her, and it led her back to what had always been true: she loves serving and helping people, which inspired her podcast and By Chance Avenue. She offers a reframe for women who are childless not by choice: purpose isn’t lost, it’s buried under grief, and it’s not one big revelation but subtle nudges that can change with life seasons. She introduces Ikigai as a framework—what you love, what you’re good at, and what you want to give the world—and invites listeners to start asking these questions. She also shares a free “Roadmap Quiz” at bychanceavenue.com/roadmap.

• The Big Question
• Trying And Losing Self
• Growth Became The Point
• Serving Spark Returns
• Purpose Was Buried
• Purpose Is Many Nudges
• Ikigai Finding Direction
• Hope For The Middle
• Roadmap Quiz Next Steps
• Closing Reframe

Whether you’re in the thick of grief or finally starting to feel like yourself again, there’s a name for where you are and a roadmap waiting for you.

bychanceavenue.com/roadmap

Connect with Elizabeth:

IG: @bychanceavenue

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Host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss shares a personal reflection on how complicated family dynamics—drama, miscommunication, hurt, and dismissal—can feel especially heavy when you don’t have the family you dreamed of, adding a second layer of grief. She notes that while she and Victor are doing well, a family of two can feel painfully quiet when outside relationships get messy, and she acknowledges listeners who may be facing life without a partner or close support. Elizabeth describes how she copes: letting herself cry, working through it in therapy as it comes up, sitting with the emotions, then refocusing on joy, gratitude, and surrendering what she can’t control. She encourages self-care, boundaries, and remembering you’re not responsible for fixing what isn’t yours, and invites listeners to share what helps them when life gets hard.

• Opening Up Honestly
• Family Complications
• When You Feel Alone
• How I Cope
• Refocus and Surrender
• Self Care Reminder
• You’re Not Alone
• Reach Out and Closing

Whether you’re in the thick of grief or finally starting to feel like yourself again, there’s a name for where you are and a roadmap waiting for you.

bychanceavenue.com/roadmap

Connect with Elizabeth:

IG: @bychanceavenue

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Host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss shares her experience entering perimenopause/menopause after years of infertility treatments and how it surfaced as fatigue, brain fog, mood changes, and feeling “off,” initially mistaken for depression. After trusting her instincts and seeing a hormone specialist, she learned her labs suggested menopause, which triggered a new, unexpected layer of grief by making the end of fertility feel biologically final. She describes how IVF and other medical conditions can intensify symptoms, how hormones can amplify existing grief and uncertainty, and how menopause conversations often feel isolating for women without children. Elizabeth discusses becoming her own advocate, learning through books and women’s health resources, choosing hormone replacement therapy to improve quality of life, and encouraging listeners to trust their bodies, seek supportive care for both hormones and mental health, and normalize the grief that may reemerge.

• Why This Matters
• Early Signs and Confusion
• Finding a Hormone Specialist
• Menopause as New Grief
• Becoming Your Own Advocate
• Symptoms After Infertility
• HRT and Quality of Life
• Hormones and Mental Health
• Feeling Left Out of Menopause Talk
• Where I Am Now
• More Resources and Openness
• Final Takeaways and Support

Whether you’re in the thick of grief or finally starting to feel like yourself again, there’s a name for where you are and a roadmap waiting for you.

bychanceavenue.com/roadmap

Connect with Elizabeth:

IG: @bychanceavenue

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Host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss and her husband Victor recount their Baja, Mexico trip to a bay where gray whale mothers and calves approach boats to be petted, a rare experience they booked two years in advance after discovering it through The Bucket List Family. They describe the long, all-day overland journey from San Diego, the remote cabin accommodations, early-morning boat outings among hundreds of whales, and close interactions including spy-hopping, breaching, bubble-blowing, and mothers nudging calves toward the boat; Elizabeth shares an emotional first touch that moved her to tears. They also traveled to Bahía de Los Ángeles to look for humpbacks and blue whales, saw a blue whale, dolphins, and a humpback tail-slapping near their boat, and reflect on how wildlife travel shifts perspective, highlights childfree flexibility, and can be done via groups for singles or those with hesitant partners.

• Welcome Back Victor
• Why Baja Whales
• Booking And Freedom
• The Long Trek South
• Daily Boat Itinerary
• Whales Everywhere
• Petting Puppy Dogs
• Moms Teaching Calves
• First Touch Tears
• Feeling Fully Alive
• How It Changed Us
• Wildlife Healing Trips
• Nature Shifts Perspective
• Baja Bay Hopping
• Blue Whales and Humpbacks
• Humpback Tail Slaps
• Remote Nights and Cabins
• Freedom to Travel Childfree
• Convincing a Hesitant Partner
• Adventure Starts Nearby
• Solo Women and Retreat Groups
• Next Trips and Final Takeaway

Whether you’re in the thick of grief or finally starting to feel like yourself again, there’s a name for where you are and a roadmap waiting for you.

bychanceavenue.com/roadmap

Connect with Elizabeth:

IG: @bychanceavenue

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Host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss reflects on what she wishes she could tell her past self at the start of her grief-filled journey: that her body did not fail her, and that both she and her body were doing the best they could. She shares how the absence of a guide or community deepened her suffering, and encourages listeners to find support so they don’t have to navigate loss alone. Elizabeth explores how guilt and shame can be part of grieving but shouldn’t become identity, and describes her fear that life without children would feel empty only to discover a different, quieter, intentional kind of fullness. She discusses anxiety and the fear of the unknown, reframing it as possibility, and ends with journaling prompts about offering present-day grace and recognizing today’s life as an answer to past prayers.

1. Letter to My Past Self
2. Your Body Did Not Fail
3. Pain vs Suffering
4. Find Your People
5. Release Guilt and Shame
6. A Different Kind of Full
7. One Step at a Time
8. Fear Lives in the Head
9. Proud of Who I Became
10. Journal Prompt and Grace
11. This Was an Old Prayer
12. Closing Thanks and Forward

Whether you’re in the thick of grief or finally starting to feel like yourself again, there’s a name for where you are and a roadmap waiting for you.

bychanceavenue.com/roadmap

Connect with Elizabeth:

IG: @bychanceavenue

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Host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss marks the 100th episode of By Chance Avenue by thanking listeners and inviting them to share what they want more of in the next chapter of the show. Building on episode 97’s foundation of processing emotions, she explains that moving forward after infertility isn’t a dramatic transformation, but a gradual shift—like realizing on an ordinary day that the “cloud” of grief isn’t always overhead. She describes what life beyond infertility looks like for her after deciding to move forward without children two and a half years ago: grounded routines, purpose, a “family of two” with Victor, and a fulfilling rhythm that includes solitude. She reframes childfree life as an opportunity to live with intention and announces a slight pivot toward more stories from women who have moved forward, ending with a journaling prompt about who you might become if the cloud lifted.

1. 100th Episode Gratitude
2. What This Episode Covers
3. The Cloud of Grief
4. What Moving Forward Feels Like
5. A Real Good Day
6. Grounded Content Mindset
7. The Gift of Intention
8. Freedom With Your Partner
9. Next Season Pivot
10. Journaling Reflection Prompt
11. Thanks and Closing

Whether you’re in the thick of grief or finally starting to feel like yourself again, there’s a name for where you are and a roadmap waiting for you.

bychanceavenue.com/roadmap

Connect with Elizabeth:

IG: @bychanceavenue

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