The Single Greatest Choice: For Single Women Exploring Solo Motherhood by Choice (SMBC), Fertility, and Having a Baby on Their Own Through Donor Conception or Adoption

S8 E20 The Baby #2 Question -The Space Before Clarity


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This episode is a little different than usual.

In this Season 8 finale of The Single Greatest Choice Podcast, I’m stepping out of my usual interview role to share a personal reflection on the question I’m asked more than any other:

Will I have a second child as a single mother by choice?

Rather than offering a clear answer, this episode is about the process of living inside that question — the clarity that came and went, the tension between who I’ve been and who I’m becoming, and what it looks like to honor uncertainty without rushing toward resolution.

In this episode, I share:

  1. Why deciding about a second child isn’t the same as deciding to try
  2. What it means to choose “not deciding” as a valid place to stand
  3. How finances, age, capacity, identity, and work all factor into this question
  4. The joy and freedom of life with an older child — and what’s at stake in starting over
  5. One of my core coaching frameworks for navigating high-stakes decisions with no clear right answer
  6. The grief of imagined futures and the “ghost ships that didn’t carry us”
  7. Why sometimes holding on is part of integration, not avoidance
  8. What I’m learning about letting go, identity, and trust as this year comes to a close

This episode isn’t about arriving at certainty. It’s about honoring the space before clarity.

Mentioned in this episode:

Cheryl Strayed, Dear Sugar: “The Ghost Ships That Didn’t Carry Us”

Looking for other single mothers by choice who share your city, career, identity, or stage of motherhood? Join the SGC Directory

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Reach out to Katie over at [email protected]

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The Single Greatest Choice: For Single Women Exploring Solo Motherhood by Choice (SMBC), Fertility, and Having a Baby on Their Own Through Donor Conception or AdoptionBy Katie Bryan

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