You love your friends. You’ve grown up together, lived through milestones, and shared so many memories. But now they’re raising kids, and you’re navigating life after infertility. You’re the only one in the group chat without a child, and suddenly, the conversations feel distant.

Do you go and feel left out?

Or do you stay home and feel even more alone?

In this episode of The "So Now What?" Podcast, Lana shares the story of reuniting with three of her closest college friends (all moms) and what it now feels like to show up to these friendships as a proud, childless woman.

Years ago, she would have dodged the invitation. But now? She’s looking forward to it—and she shares exactly how that shift became possible.

If you’ve ever:

• Avoided girls’ weekends or coffee dates because you're childless after infertility

• Sat through motherhood conversations feeling invisible or irrelevant

• Wondered if your friendships could survive your childlessness

...this episode will help you imagine what’s possible when you no longer feel like the outsider.

💭 Imagine going to a girls’ weekend and not faking a single smile. 💭 Imagine feeling proud of your story and connected to your friends, even if their lives look different from yours. 💭 Imagine leaving your reunion feeling recharged and in love with the life you’re building.

This is what thriving after infertility can look like.

Lana also shares how this kind of transformation is possible through the work she does in the Thrive After Infertility Mastermind—and how you can begin by joining her free masterclass.

🎓 FREE CLASS: How to Respond to the Things People Say When You’re Childless On Tuesday, August 26th at 6pm CT, Lana is teaching a free class to help you respond to unsolicited comments about your motherhood status—without spiraling, shutting down, or plotting someone’s demise in the grocery store.

🔗 Register here: https://lana-manikowski.myflodesk.com/masterclass

🔗 Links Mentioned in This Episode:

✨ Register HERE for the Free Masterclass (August 26)

📞 Book Your Free 45-Minute Thrive Call HERE:

📘 Click HERE to Buy My #1 Bestselling Book, So Now What?:  

📱 Follow Me on Instagram:  

📺 Watch on YouTube:  

🎵 Follow Me on TikTok:

If you are a woman who is childless not by choice, you know the heartbreak of infertility does not end when treatments stop. You might still feel like shame and guilt are following you around every day.

In this episode, you will hear why infertility shame and secrecy can stay with you for years after IVF or other fertility treatments. Lana shares insights from a 1998 doctoral thesis that described shame as the central emotion of infertility and explains why so little has changed in how women feel about themselves today.

You will discover how guilt convinces you that infertility was your fault, how secrecy keeps you isolated, and why infertility does not define your worth or your future.

If you are tired of feeling like you failed or like you are living life on the sidelines, this conversation will help you imagine how thriving after infertility is possible for you.

• Why shame is often the hidden part of infertility no one talks about

• How guilt after IVF or failed fertility treatments can feel like punishment

• What happens when secrecy becomes your coping mechanism

• A client story showing how she went from feeling invisible to creating a life she is proud of

• How infertility coaching can help you rebuild your identity and confidence without children

You do not have to keep guessing how to feel like yourself again after infertility. That is exactly what the Thrive Method is for.

Inside Thrive After Infertility, you will learn how to:

• Rebuild confidence in who you are without motherhood as your identity

• Reconnect with your partner and friendships you have been avoiding

• Create milestones that bring purpose and joy to your next decades

If you are ready to stop living in guilt and shame and start creating a life you love, book your free 45-minute Thrive Call.

📘 Download your free guide: The Top 27 Things People Say When You Are Childless (and How to Respond Authentically) Get your copy

🌟 Explore Thrive After Infertility: Learn more about the 12-week coaching program for women who are ready to thrive without the children they dreamed of. Explore the program

💬 Book Your Thrive Call: Create a plan to rebuild your identity and find clarity about what is next. Schedule your call

✨ Follow Lana for more inspiration: Instagram | TikTok | YouTube

If you know a woman who is childless after infertility and still carrying shame or guilt, please share this episode. She deserves to know she is not alone and there is a way to create a life she is proud of.

If you have spent years going through fertility treatments like IVF, pouring everything into your dream of motherhood, and still found yourself without a child, you know how heavy it feels to imagine a future that could ever feel as meaningful.

In this week’s episode, Lana shares a deeply personal story about standing on a piece of vacant land in Michigan, a place she and her husband dreamed of building their future home, and realizing that the path to something beautiful isn't coming without obstacles.

If you’re childless after infertility, it’s so easy to believe your life will always feel smaller or less significant than those who got to have a child or raise children. You probably haven’t seen many examples ofchildless women living fulfilling, connected lives without kids, so your brain fills in the blanks, telling you that it must be impossible for you.

But just because you don’t see the path doesn’t mean it isn’t there.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

✨ Why your brain convinces you that a meaningful life after infertility doesn’t exist—and how that belief is just a story, not a fact. ✨ What to do when you feel like you’re staring at a mound of sand that’s blocking everything you wanted. ✨ How learning to trust yourself, even without a roadmap, is the first step to feeling proud of your life again. ✨ The truth about why feeling stuck doesn’t mean you’re broken, it just means you haven’t been shown another way yet.

If you’re ready to stop assuming nothing will ever compare to motherhood and start creating a life that feels purposeful and satisfying, this episode will remind you: more is possible, even if you can’t see it yet.

Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

🌿 Book Your Free 45-Minute Thrive Call If you want help mapping out where you are now and how to get to a life you feel proud of—even without the children you dreamed of—book your free Thrive Call with Lana here: 👉 Schedule Your Call HERE

🌿 Download Your Free Guide: The Top 27 Things People Say When You’re Childless (and How to Respond) This resource will help you feel confident navigating the questions and comments that can make you feel misunderstood or judged: 👉 Download the Free Guide

🌿 Follow Lana on Social Media for Daily Encouragement and Tools: ✨ Instagram ✨ TikTok ✨ YouTube

Whether you’re feeling stuck, disconnected, or unsure how to begin, remember: your dreams didn’t end when motherhood didn’t happen. They are still waiting for you to claim them.

If you ever find yourself waking up on a Saturday, staring at a day that is completely yours and feeling more suffocated than free, this episode is for you.

Maybe you spent years picturing weekends packed with soccer games, birthday parties, college visits, and noisy family trips. 

You imagined how all the hard parts of infertility and IVF would feel worth it once you finally had your baby in your arms.

But here you are, childless after infertility, and the quiet moments you thought would feel peaceful just feel heavy.

And if you have ever caught yourself actually enjoying your life now, maybe a spontaneous trip, an afternoon reading, or a coffee date with your partner, only to feel instant guilt because you think it “looks bad” to be happy without kids, you are not alone.

You might think:

• I shouldn’t enjoy this because it means I am okay with what happened.

• I am betraying the woman I was, the one who fought so hard to be a mom.

• Other people will think I didn’t care enough if I can move on.

This episode will remind you: ✨ You are allowed to love parts of your life right now. ✨ You are allowed to find meaning, peace, and purpose, even if motherhood didn’t happen. ✨ You don’t have to spend the next 40 years waiting for something that will never come.

Inside this conversation, you will learn: ✔️ Why weekends and free time feel so triggering when you are unexpectedly childless ✔️ How to stop feeling guilty for enjoying what you have now ✔️ Why this struggle doesn’t mean you are broken or that you didn’t want motherhood enough ✔️ How to start creating a life you genuinely love without comparing it to the life you dreamed of

This is exactly why I created Thrive After Infertility.

Thrive is my 12-week coaching program for women who are tired of feeling stuck, invisible, or like life is just happening to them instead of for them.

Inside Thrive, you will learn how to: 🌿 Own your time and create experiences that feel expansive and meaningful 🌿 Let go of the guilt that comes when you enjoy your life without children 🌿 Feel connected, confident, and purposeful again on your terms

If you are ready to stop surviving and start living, this is your invitation.

You don’t have to figure this out alone.

💛 Ready to take the next step? Book your free 45-minute Thrive Call. We will create a plan for what is next so you can start designing a life you love, even though it turned out so differently than you expected.

✨ Book Your Free Thrive Call

🎧 Mentioned in this episode:

• Download The Top 27 Things People Say When You’re Childless (And How to Respond)

• Subscribe to my Substack for weekly reflections and support 

• Learn more about Thrive After Infertility

• Order my #1 bestselling book, “So Now What?”

💌 Stay connected with me:

• Instagram

• TikTok

• YouTube

You are allowed to love this life, even if it broke your heart. 

You are allowed to build something beautiful, even if it wasn’t the story you planned. 

And you are allowed to start today.

If you’re childless after infertility or IVF and wondering how to move forward in a life that looks nothing like what you imagined, this episode of The “So Now What?” Podcast is for you.

You did everything you could to become a mother. You prayed, tried, hoped, and gave it your all. And now you're living in the aftermath of a dream that didn’t come true, with no guide for how to feel whole again.

Maybe the world has led you to believe that without children, your life is supposed to be quiet, sad, or incomplete. Perhaps you’ve been carrying that weight so long, it feels like part of your identity. But what if it isn’t?

In this episode, I’m offering you one of the most radical truths I’ve ever learned on the other side of IVF and infertility:

👉 You get to choose how you feel.

I share how I went from living reactively and constantly triggered by baby showers, pregnancy announcements, and other people’s comments, to learning how to stop bracing for emotional pain and start creating emotional freedom.

Inside, you’ll hear:

• Why you’re not wrong or broken for grieving the version of you that never became a mom

• How the grief of infertility includes not just a baby, but an identity, milestones, and meaning you expected to have

• How you’ve inherited outdated beliefs about women without children,  and how to stop wearing them like a stained old t-shirt

• What post-traumatic growth looks like when you’re ready to create purpose, peace, and joy without the children you dreamed of

• The power of choosing your thoughts, your emotions, and your next chapter

You don’t have to stay stuck in sadness or silence just because motherhood didn’t happen for you. And you don’t have to accept a narrative that was never written with your truth in mind. There’s a different path available...and I’ll help you find it.

✨ Resources to support your next steps:

📘 Get your copy of my #1 bestselling book, So Now What? Rediscover purpose and meaning after infertility. 👉 Buy it now

🧭 Book your free 45-minute Thrive Call Let’s create a personalized plan for what fulfillment can look like for you now, even though life turned out differently. 👉 Schedule your Thrive Call

💬 Download your free guide: The Top 27 Things People Say When You’re Childless (and How to Respond) Get real scripts to help you navigate intrusive questions and comments — without having to explain yourself. 👉 Download it here

📲 Let’s stay connected: Instagram: @lana.manikowski TikTok: @lana.manikowski YouTube: Watch here Website: lanamanikowski.com

You’re not less than. You’re not invisible. You’re just living a life no one taught you how to navigate. But you don’t have to do it alone.

💛 If this episode speaks to you, share it with a friend or leave a review so more women who are childless not by choice can find the hope, healing, and community they deserve.

If you’ve ever wondered if this is just how life feels when you don’t become a mom, this episode is for you.

• Maybe your fertility journey ended with heartbreak instead of a baby.
• Maybe you’ve been told (by the world, by your inner voice) that life will always feel incomplete, lonely, or second-best now.
• Maybe you scroll past pregnancy announcements and family vacation photos, not because you’re bitter, but because they hurt.
• And maybe you’ve started to believe the quiet story that society tells women like us: That life without children will always feel like you’re just holding on.

But what if that story isn’t true?

In episode 172 of The “So Now What?” Podcast, Lana shares:

• The truth about the emotional aftermath of IVF and infertility that no one talks about.

• Her own story of navigating the grief of a chromosomally abnormal embryo (Trisomy 16) and what came after fertility treatments ended.

• Why the world’s attempts to “fix” you with adoption, donor eggs, or surrogacy often leave you feeling more invisible.

• How guilt, shame, and comparison can keep you frozen in time, and what it takes to finally move forward.

You'll hear how women inside her 12-week coaching program, go from surviving each day to actually loving their lives again. One client shares how she stopped obsessing over what people with kids were doing and started finding confidence, peace, and simple joys in her everyday life.

This episode invites you to imagine a summer, and a life, where:

• You wake up excited for your day, not dreading another reminder of what’s missing

• You reconnect with your body and stop treating it like it failed you

• You feel connected to your partner again, building a future that feels like yours

• You finally stop pretending to be okay, and actually are

If you’re ready to stop surviving and start living a life that feels meaningful and fulfilling—even without the children you always dreamed of—this episode will show you what’s possible.

Don’t let another summer pass you by in a fog of comparison and sadness.

✨ Book your free 45-minute Thrive Call with Lana to create a plan for what comes next: 👉 Click here to schedule your call

This is your first step toward creating a life that fits again...one that you love, even though it turned out differently than you expected.

• 💻 Website & Coaching Info: lanamanikowski.com

• 📕 Buy the book "So Now What?" HERE!

• 📥 Free Download: The Top 27 Things People Say When You’re Childless (...and How to Respond) → Download Here

• 📸 Instagram: @lana.manikowski

• 🎥 YouTube: Lana Manikowski

• 🎵 TikTok: @lana.manikowski

If you're a woman who went through fertility treatments like IVF or IUI and now find yourself childless after infertility, this episode will speak directly to your heart.

This week, we talk about a quiet kind of grief. The grief carried by the man who never got to become a dad.

Whether it's your husband, partner, brother, or someone else close to you, Father’s Day can feel invisible for the men who once dreamed of fatherhood but never got to live it. And if you’ve been focused on your own pain after infertility, you might not have realized how much he’s grieving too.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• How infertility affects your partner even if he never talks about it

• Why the guilt you’ve been carrying is not yours to hold anymore

• Ways to show up for your partner on Father’s Day without it being complicated or performative

• A reminder that your relationship is still meaningful, even without children

💬 “I thought I was the only one grieving, but I wasn’t. He was just quieter about it.”

📖 Want more support around Father’s Day? Chapter 25 of my bestselling book, So Now What?, is dedicated to helping you understand and support your partner when he didn’t get to become a biological dad.

If you’re wondering how to bring up this conversation, how to honor him, and how to let go of the guilt you’ve been carrying, this chapter is for you.

📚 You can read Chapter 1 and the foreword by Jody Day for free: lanamanikowski.com/book

🎁 Free Resource Download: The Top 27 Things People Say When You’re Childless (...and How to Respond) Your script for those awkward or painful conversations. lanamanikowski.com/thingspeoplesay

💬 Want help creating a life you love, even if you never became a mom?

Book your free 45-minute Thrive Call with me. We’ll create a personal plan to help you move forward with confidence, connection, and purpose.

Book your Thrive Call

📲 This week on Instagram, I’m sharing a series called “A Letter to My Childless Husband.” Follow along at @lana.manikowski

If you’re childless not by choice, grieving after infertility, and want to feel more connected to your life and your partner, this episode will help you start.

Your story isn’t over. It’s just beginning.

#InfertilitySupport #ChildlessAfterInfertility #IVFDidntWork #FatherlessFathersDay #LifeAfterInfertility #SoNowWhat #LanaManikowski #IUIJourney #LifeWithoutChildren #FertilityTreatments

Infertility & Goal Fatigue – What to Do When IVF Fails

If you’re childless after infertility and emotionally drained from years of chasing the dream of motherhood through IVF, I want you to know: you’re not alone. And what you’re feeling right now? It makes perfect sense.

You spent years setting goals—diagnosis, treatment plans, egg retrievals, embryo transfers, second opinions, supplements, side effects, losses… all in pursuit of the child you dreamed of.

But when IVF doesn’t work—and you find yourself childless after all of it—you’re left with a silent question that echoes through your mind:

Now what?

In this episode of The “So Now What?” Podcast, I’m sharing a deeply personal moment that stopped me in my tracks—one that reminded me how so many of us are living in a state of goal fatigue without even realizing it.

It all started with one innocent, thoughtful question from my 13-year-old nephew: “Uncle Jack, what’s your goal for this year?”

And that moment led me to a massive realization—what if we’ve been asking the wrong question all along?

✅ Why infertility turns us into high-functioning goal-chasers ✅ What “goal fatigue” looks and feels like after IVF fails ✅ Why you might feel disconnected even after big wins at work or in life ✅ How I became a workaholic after IVF ended—and still felt empty ✅ The life-changing power of asking, “How do I want to feel?” ✅ What to do if you don’t even know how you want to feel anymore

This conversation is a gentle but powerful invitation to start living from the inside out—not chasing more goals to prove your worth, but learning to feel fulfilled by who you are right now, even without the children you hoped for.

✨ Book your free 45-minute Thrive Call HERE. If you’ve been feeling stuck, lost, or unsure of how to move forward, I’ll help you reconnect with what matters to you. No pressure. No performance. Just a clear, hope-filled starting point for your next chapter.

📘 Ready to read the book that’s helping women just like you? Check out my new bestselling book, So Now What?—created especially for women who are childless after infertility and looking for purpose, healing, and joy beyond motherhood. Grab your copy or download a free preview here: 👉 www.lanamanikowski.com/book

🎥 Watch this episode on YouTube 📸 Connect with me on Instagram 📱 Follow along on TikTok

🎁 Don’t miss this: The Top 27 Things People Say When You’re Childless (...and How to Respond) Get your free copy here.

You don’t have to chase the next big thing to feel proud of your life. You don’t have to “move on” or pretend it doesn’t hurt. You don’t have to keep pushing to prove that you matter.

You’re allowed to feel peace, love, purpose, and joy—even without a child.

So if IVF didn’t work and you’re wondering what now… this episode is your starting point.

Tune in. And let’s begin—together.

If you are childless after infertility and wondering how to move forward without the future you dreamed of, this powerful conversation with Jody Day will meet you right where you are.

In this episode, we explore what it truly means to grieve childlessness and how embracing that grief can lead to deep healing, creativity, and purpose. Jody shares her personal story, her insights from years of working in the childless-not-by-choice space, and how grief can evolve from something you endure into something you grow through.

Inside this episode:

• Why grief is not an event but a skill

• What it means to experience disenfranchised grief as a childless woman

• How to feel seen in a society that avoids your pain

• What it takes to build your own support network as you age

• Why asking for help is a form of strength and connection

Unforgettable quotes from Jody Day:

• “Grief is not an event. It’s a skill.”

• “You’re not needy. You have needs. You’re human.”

• “We grieve that which we have loved.”

• “Grief is the emotion that allows us to let go of what was in order to embrace what’s next.”

• “I look back at the woman who tried so hard and say: You didn’t know more was available to you.”

Whether you are early in your grief or further down the path, this episode will remind you that you are not alone, and that you still have the power to build a life you love.

You are not too late. You are not alone. You may be childless, but your story still matters. This episode will remind you that healing is possible, connection is available, and the life ahead of you still holds meaning.

Helpful links and resources:

🎧 Download: The Top 27 Things People Say When You’re Childless (...and How to Respond)

📞 Book a Free 45-Minute Thrive Call with Lana and create a personalized plan for living a fulfilling life without children

📘 Explore Jody Day’s work: Gateway Women

💌 Subscribe to her Substack: Gateway Elderwomen 📱 Follow Lana on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok

About Jody Day:

Jody is the English-Irish founder of Gateway Women, the world’s best-known support and advocacy network for childless women. Often described as the founder of the global childless movement, she is an integrative psychotherapist, two-time TEDx speaker, author, and thought leader. Her best-selling book Living the Life Unexpected: How to Find Hope, Meaning and a Fulfilling Future Without Children has become essential reading for women navigating life without motherhood.

Jody has been a World Childless Week Ambassador since 2017, was chosen as one of the BBC’s 100 Women in 2013, and named a UK Digital Woman of the Year in 2021. She is a former Fellow in Social Innovation at Cambridge Judge Business School and was a founding board member of the UK charity Ageing Without Children. Today, she writes the popular Substack Gateway Elderwomen, which explores aging and elderhood without motherhood, and is developing her ALTERKIN Project to create local mutual-aid communities for those aging without children.

If Mother’s Day felt hard for you, you’re not alone and this week’s episode of The “So Now What?” Podcast is especially for you. You’ve probably spent years feeling like a party of one, moving through infertility and now life without children, not sure where to go to find connection or how to create it. Maybe you’ve told yourself you should be strong enough to figure this out alone. Maybe you’ve been hiding, thinking you’re the only one whose treatments didn’t end in motherhood. In this powerful episode, you’ll hear why connection is not a luxury, it’s a necessity. You’ll be reminded that you are not weak for wanting support. You are human, and you were never meant to do this alone. Lana opens up about her own journey, from getting an unexplained infertility diagnosis in 2011 and hiding her pain, to walking into silence despite being someone who always had “talks too much” on her report card. You’ll hear how that silence was one of the hardest parts, and why finding your voice again starts with connection. Lana shares what inspired her to start this podcast in 2021, why she left her 20-year corporate career to coach full time, and how her Thrive After Infertility program and The Other’s Day Brunch were created to make sure women like you never have to navigate childlessness alone. You’ll hear about: - What it feels like when connection feels out of reach after infertility - Why fertility clinics gave us science but not the soul-level support we needed - What healing starts to look like when you stop hiding - The incredible stories of women at The Other’s Day Brunch who showed up not knowing a soul and left with new friendships - Simple ways you can say yes to connection today . even if it starts with a coffee invite or replying to a DM This episode is a reminder that even if your life looks different than you planned, it can still be beautiful, because you are part of it. ✨ Resource Mentioned: Download *The Top 27 Things People Say When You’re Childless (and How to Respond) . Click here! 🎧 If this episode resonated with you, please take a moment to rate and review the podcast. Your words help other women find this space. 📲 Connect with Lana on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube: @lana.manikowski  💌 Questions or feedback? Email  🌐 Learn more: www.lanamanikowski.com