Childless After IVF: When the Path to Your Dreams Feels Impossible
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.
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Your Meaning as a Childless Woman After Infertility
Your Meaning as a Childless Woman After Infertility 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.
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Infertile, Childless, and Taking Back Control
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.
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Childless After Infertility: You’re Not Meant to Just Survive This
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. 💬 Ready to Take the Next Step? 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. 📲 Stay Connected with Lana 💻 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
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Father’s Day When He’s Childless Too
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
I am an infertility survivor—the kind you never hope to become: childless. After enduring multiple rounds of IUI and IVF at some of the leading fertility centers, I was advised to discontinue treatment. When my fertility journey ended, I was offered no resources to help me navigate the reality of an unexpected childless life. I was left asking:
So now what?
In the years that followed, I tried to convince myself I’d be OK, but I wasn’t. I felt shattered, alone, and failed—not just by the process but by my own body. I longed for someone who truly understood the pain I felt, a guide to help me navigate a life without children.
But I couldn’t find it.
So, I decided to create it.
Today, I am still childless, but I’ve redefined what that means. I’ve learned that a meaningful and purposeful life is possible, even without motherhood. I’ve learned to love myself and embrace the body I once felt had let me down. Through my certification in life coaching and my own transformation, I’ve discovered tools and insights that helped me thrive—and I’m here to share them with you on The "So Now What?" Podcast.
If you’ve been on this journey, join me as we build what we were never offered: a sisterhood for the bravest women I know. Together, we’ll rewrite the narrative, shedding labels like failed, unexplained, miscarriage, pregnancy loss, not-viable, or advanced maternal age.
Follow me on Instagram: @lana.manikowski for resources, inspiration, and opportunities to live a fulfilling life without the children you dreamed of.
New Zealand