What happens to women who don’t have the children they thought they would? First, often, there is fear. What now? What does a life without children look like? Because a child is not actually a goal, when you think about it. A child is a map. - Nadia Huq in The Childless Woman Who Soared
For our second Substack LIVE, I was joined by the gorgeous Nadia Huq. Together, we dived deep into the meaning of her exquisite piece, The Childless Women Who Soared.
The Life Without Children fortnightly writer spotlights are new, and this was just the second one. There is something deeply special and privileged about hearing a writer speak about the inspiration and meaning behind their words.
If you haven’t already read Nadia’s piece, you can read it here.
The Childless Woman Who Soared
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I realised during this discussion that this is the piece Nadia longed to read when she was at the depths of her struggles. It’s almost as if it’s written from her future self to her past self—a note of love, compassion and reassurance that everything is going to be okay.
During our conversation, I asked Nadia who she hoped would read her story and what impact she hoped it would have on them. In her comprehensive answer, she made mention of her desire for older women to read her words, and that’s when it hit me. So many older women without children, whether by choice or circumstances, didn’t have the same resources as we have now; they likely have some delayed healing to work through.
It’s hard enough navigating a life without children in this generation, where we have many individuals and communities speaking out about not having children, but rewind a couple of decades and the isolation, silencing, and loneliness women must have experienced is almost too much to bear.
It made me realise that it’s never too late to find validation in our lived experiences. And I truly hope that those who suffered in silence and were a forgotten demographic in society will find their way to Nadia’s words and find comfort in their embrace.
Useful links
Nadia spoke warmly about Jody Day and her book Living the Life Unexpected. You can also find Jody here on Substack with Gateway Elderwomen.
In my fangirling of Nadia’s writing, I reveal that she inspired me to write in a way I haven’t written before. You can read my interpretation of Nadia’s vibe here: To Have Kids or Remain Childfree, That Is the Question.
Nadia gave a shout-out to her Thrive Solo community, led by Lucy Meggeson—a community dedicated to single childfree/childless women.
I hope you enjoy watching this discussion as much as we enjoyed having it.
Pop the details of our next LIVE discussion into your calendar. Here’s the link.
Feel free to share this link and the image below with anyone you know who may be interested.
It’s on Thursday, 8th May, at 18:00 (GMT+1) with Lisa Kissane
Lisa and I will be discussing her stunning piece, Every One of Us Is a Unique Work of Art. I have temporarily brought it out of the archive to allow everyone access.
If you have any specific questions you’d like me to ask Lisa about this beautiful piece, drop them in the comments here.
And if there is a story published here at Life Without Children that you are just itching to hear the background on, let me know, and I will do my best to have a LIVE discussion with the writer about it.
See you on Thursday, 8th April at 6 pm UK/Ireland time.
You can also find us in our other online spaces.
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