It’s the club nobody wants to join. I certainly didn’t wake up one morning and think, ‘I’d really like to become part of the childless community today.’ Yet here we are.
It can be hard to find childless people who are happy to share even a small part of their story. Harder still is finding support for your own story. I didn’t have anyone to turn to when I became childless; most people I knew were either of the parental persuasion or happily childfree.
How do you find a friend to talk to about the children you wanted, planned for, dreamed about but could not have?
Fortunately, I found a childless community online. I discovered there were childless people like me all around the world, not only willing to talk about their experiences but enthusiastic about doing so. That gave me a quiet thrill. ‘Yay! I’ve found people who are happy to talk about this!’
’Yay! I’ve found people who are happy to talk about this!’
It helped me so much to find kindred spirits. It didn’t cure my grief, of course—no one can do that—but it eased the pain. I felt validated, normalised and supported.
That’s why I make an effort each year to join in for World Childless Week. It’s a one-of-a-kind, week-long event that supports childless people, honours our stories, and celebrates our healing journeys. You can share as much or as little as you want and you can elect to be anonymous—a good option if you’re not ready for the world (or loved ones) to hear your truth.
You don’t have to restrict yourself to words either. You can share songs, photos, artwork, sculpture, creative installations, dance, video discussion and poetry, as well as blogs or article-style written pieces. It’s entirely up to you.
There are also topical webinars held during the Week which you can join live or view later. Even better, all submissions stay online so you can read and view them at your pace. This is helpful when life gets busy, or when the content is just too raw for you. It took me nine months to read the submissions from 2024!
It can be hard to know where to turn when the childless curveball comes at you. But when the worst happens and the reality of not having children hits home, it’s comforting to know you are not alone and that help is one click away.
Join the childless club—we’re here for you.
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To view submissions from World Childless Week 2024, submission topics for 2025 and information about how you can submit, go here: https://worldchildlessweek.net/past-events
Want an example of a submission? Here’s my piece from 2024, How my rescue cat rescues me, about the healing power of furbabies: https://worldchildlessweek.net/weds-2024/how-my-rescue-cat-rescues-me
And here’s a webinar I led in 2024 about furbabies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3bDC-vlLLQ
Have you found your own ‘childless club’? What difference has it made to have support in childlessness? Are you thinking about submitting to World Childless Week this year? If you feel ready, I would love to encourage you to share your story for World Childless Week 2025 and help raise the profile of childlessness in our communities. Let’s have a countercultural conversation.