unRipe - Learning to Embrace the Childless Life

Jo Vraca

A podcast for women (and even men) with an honest voice about the realities of living without children. It is my mission to provide a platform for this global group, to create a supportive environment & community for the Childless and Childfree to share our stories and experiences.(un)Ripe is a vibrant, supportive community hosted by me, Jo Vraca. Each fortnight, I speak with women and men, counsellors, spinsters, hypnotherapists, journalists, authors, women who are in the middle of grief, or who have come through it and are living unexpectedly fabulous lives.I'll help you share your story so we can build advocacy, and find our purpose and meaning when it is not defined by for us through the role of motherhood. I'm on a mission! Join me, as I look to our past, our present and our futures with a global array of special guests so we can change the narrative about childless and childfree life and embrace our lives without children.

  1. 07/09/2022

    What's your Plan B? How do we find our life purpose now? Natural Practitioner, Anne Barratt tells us.

    When your Plan A doesn't go as planned, what's your Plan B? What does our future hold without children? Can we Google the answer? What about Jeeves? We speak to Anne Barratt from Empowering Health about her story after IVF and a hysterectomy. Anne is a professional practitioner who employs kinesiology, EFT, counselling, hypnotherapy and a host of different modalities to help reset our minds and bodies to focus clearly on what we want for our future. Stats: Our elder community tell us how their lives have turned out without children. In Shit that comes up on our Feed, my guest co-host has a beef with the way women introduce themselves in a business Facebook group. Question of the Week: What is your Plan B? What are you going to do in the future? Even if it's your Plan A! Sign up to our newsletter over on our website: http://www.unripecommunity.com.au Private Group: @unripecommunitygroup - https://www.facebook.com/groups/unripecommunitygroup Group: @Childless and Childfree Women  - https://www.facebook.com/groups/CCW40ANZ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/unripecommunity Please share and leave a review on your favourite podcast app including iTunes and Spotify List of resources and articles we referenced in the episode: Anne Barratt @ Empowering Health: http://www.empoweringhealth.clinic/anne-barratt/ Our elders talk about life without children: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/23/reader-center/no-kids-no-regrets.html https://www.abc.net.au/life/women-share-what-its-like-to-live-childfree-and-with-no-regrets/11223972 Childless women in Gambia are revered for their role as messengers: https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/beyond-the-egg-timer/201501/childless-circumstances Judy Graham @ Womanhood – https://www.womenhood.com.au/ World Childless Week Elders webinar: https://worldchildlessweek.net/ageing-without-children-2020 Jody Day: Living the Life Unexpected - 12 Weeks to Your Plan B for a Meaningful and Fulfilling Future Without Children Volunteer: Australia - https://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/ New Zealand - https://www.newzealand.com/au/feature/volunteering-in-new-zealand/ Happy Feed Gratitude App: https://www.happyfeed.co

    45 min

  2. 07/09/2022

    World Childless Week the Annual Event for us, by Stephanie Phillips!

    In our first mini episode we talk to World Childless Week founder Stephanie Phillips. World Childless Week 2020 is a virtual event held online through this website and on social media channels from September 14-20. To find out more about World Childless Week: www.worldchildlessweek.net/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorldChildlessWeek Join the (un)Ripe Community Website: www.unripecommunity.com.au Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/unripecommunity Private Group: @unripecommunitygroup - https://www.facebook.com/groups/unripecommunitygroup Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/unripecommunity Sound engineering and original music by Jeff Willis. You can find his tunes on Spotify and iTunes

    22 min

  3. 07/09/2022

    What's this childless grief about? Childless counsellor, Sarah Roberts, tells us.

    Today I welcome Sarah Roberts to the podcast. We talk about grief and second chances! Sarah is not only a counsellor for childless women, she’s one of us! With over 25 years experience in counselling, teaching and community work, Sarah brings her lived experience to The Empty Cradle where she focuses on involuntary childlessness and motherhood loss. She understands the complexities of supporting women who experience involuntary childlessness. As the founder of The Empty Cradle, Sarah aims to bring women together in loving community to mourn the loss, be transformed by the grief and create a life they love. The Empty Cradle is a place where mourning, complexity, hope, spirituality, ambition and lifestyle collide. She offers rock solid strategies (think:  psychology, counselling, feminism, education, sociology, practical philosophy and spiritual practices) to clarify decision-making about your journey, grieve your loss and move forward with confidence about the future.    Sarah believes that grief is a skill to be learned: it deepens your ability to live and love and it awakens your whole being. And being childless herself, she gets us, and to a grieving woman, it makes all the difference. So while our conversation focuses on the losses for childless women, she brings us back around to the joy we can find once we allow it. Sign up to our newsletter over on our website: http://www.unripecommunity.com.au Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/unripecommunity Private Group: @unripecommunitygroup – https://www.facebook.com/groups/unripecommunitygroup Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/unripecommunity Please share and leave us a review on your favourite podcast app including: iTunes and Spotify Resources and articles referenced in the episode: Dr Leslie Cannold "What, No Baby?" and "The Abortion Myth": https://www.cannold.com/ Brene Brown: https://brenebrown.com/ Stephen Jenkinson "Come of Age: The Case for Elderhood in a Time of Trouble" on Amazon Sound engineering and original music by Jeff Willis. You can find his tunes on Spotify and iTunes Produced by Jo Vraca

    53 min

  4. 07/09/2022

    When did we know we were never going to be mums? Dr Bronwyn Harman tells us.

    When did you know you weren’t going to have children.  Did you decide or were you a fence sitter? Or maybe you didn't decide, but there was a point when you just knew. My special guests are Dr Bronwyn Harman who is currently finalising her phD about childfree women. We also speak to friend of the podcast, Lovisa, who talks about her journey as a childfree woman, both in Sweden and in Australia. Stats: We crunch the numbers and facts about why women are childfree by choice or by circumstance, and looks at IVF failure, delayed childbirth & just not meeting the right partner.  In Shit that came up on my feed, we talk about Australian Federal Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg's, recent rally cry to get Australians to start having more children as part of our economic recovery. Nice one. Question of the Week: When did you decide or know that you were not going to have children? Sign up to our newsletter over on our website: http://www.unripecommunity.com.au Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/unripecommunity Private Group: @unripecommunitygroup - https://www.facebook.com/groups/unripecommunitygroup Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/unripecommunity Please share and leave us a review on your favourite podcast app including iTunes and Spotify List of resources and articles we referenced in the episode: Assisted Reproductive Technology in Australia and New Zealand 2018, updated statistics: https://bit.ly/3mZJhN4 Transparency in IVF: https://ab.co/346zxb7 Legislative proposal requiring greater scrutiny of the IVF industry https://bit.ly/30fkIlB Delayed Childbirth: https://bit.ly/3ih71sd Why being a childless women is rarely a simple case of choice or infertility: https://bit.ly/33bMQIb Why are childless women childless? Findings from an exploratory study in Victoria, Australia, published in 2013 to the Journal of Social Inclusion by Melissa Graham: https://bit.ly/2ELhAGy Studies on Childfree by Choice: https://bit.ly/2ELhAGy Dr Bronwyn Harman: https://drbronharman.com/about/ SBS Insight - Why are more men and women choosing a life without kids? https://bit.ly/3kTUvRk Sound engineering and original music by Jeff Willis. You can find his tunes on Spotify and iTunes

    50 min

  5. 07/09/2022

    Coping with Christmas when You're Childless - Plus some tips for parents!

    Christmas can be exhausting, both physically and emotionally.  Today,  I'm also bringing you a series of tips to get you through the big days over the holidays. These tips will help all of us without kids to navigate the Christmas landscape when there might be a tonne of happy families with kids. Of course, you might love it! I find it exhausting so I keep it simple, but if you have no choice and you're heading off to a family affair where there will be family that you may not see very often, and who will likely ask you the usual series of "bingo" questions like: are you married? in a relationship? when are you having kids? - you know the ones - I hope that today's episode gives you some ideas for coping. And at the end, I also give some suggestions to people with children on ways they can help you get through the hols. Sign up to our newsletter over on our website: http://www.unripecommunity.com.au Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/unripecommunity Private Group: @unripecommunitygroup - https://www.facebook.com/groups/unripecommunitygroup Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/unripecommunity Please share and leave us a review on your favourite podcast app including: iTunes and Spotify Resources and articles referenced in the episode: Jody Day's Christmas video - Coping with Holiday Expectations Sound engineering and original music by Jeff Willis. You can find his tunes on Spotify and iTunes

    36 min

  6. 07/09/2022

    What happens when all your friends have kids and you don't?

    What happens to friendships when you don't have kids but they do? In this episode I share my experience of all the friendships that have been lost to motherhood over the years. If you are a mum and you’re listening we’d love to hear your thoughts on your friendships with childless women and if they fell to the wayside or how you maintained them. In Shit that comes up on our Feed, Jo is angry (surprise!) over a recent IVF TV ad.  Question of the Week: Childless women – how did you maintain your friendships with those who became mums? Sign up to our newsletter over on our website: http://www.unripecommunity.com.au Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/unripecommunity Private Group: @unripecommunitygroup - https://www.facebook.com/groups/unripecommunitygroup Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/unripecommunity Please share and leave a review on your favourite podcast app including iTunes and Spotify List of resources and articles referenced in the episode: US National Libarary of Medicine – 4 impacts of childlessness: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4251270/ Social Exclusion of Australian Childless Women in Their Reproductive Years: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/489/489 Is there regret for childless women over 50: https://bit.ly/3isx7JQ Is being childless detrimental to a woman's health and well-being across her life course: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25669856/ Sound engineering and original music by Jeff Willis. You can find his tunes on Spotify and iTunes

    38 min

  7. 07/09/2022

    Aging without children - What's the Plan?

    Aging without children isn't always a choice, and this week we speak with 67-year-old Heather who surprises us with a story she hasn't shared with anyone. It’s a big story and we are honoured to have her share it.  Heather hopes her story helps other women share. Stats: We investigate advocacy for the aging childless and childfree population in Australia and New Zealand. There's plenty of room for improvement.   In Shit that Comes up on My Feed we share a must read Facebook page that flips sexism on its ass. Question of the Week:  Have you talked about your experience, with other people, about not having children?  What was the reception to your conversation? Sign up to our newsletter over on our website: http://www.unripecommunity.com.au Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/unripecommunity Private Group: @unripecommunitygroup - https://www.facebook.com/groups/unripecommunitygroup Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/unripecommunity Please share and leave us a review on your favourite podcast app including: iTunes and Spotify List of resources and articles we referenced in the episode: Aging Advocacy in New Zealand: https://www.ageconcern.org.nz/ https://bit.ly/2HV1TOi Aging Advocacy in Australia - My Aged Care: https://bit.ly/2TKipTO Aging without Children Advocacy in the UK: https://bit.ly/3jT95HZ Australian Aging Agenda: https://bit.ly/3oOeZxz Older Women’s Expectations of Care, Reciprocity, and Government Support in Australia. ‘Am I Not Worthy?’ https://bit.ly/3mIWysr Man Who Has it All: https://www.facebook.com/MANWHOHASITALL  Sound engineering and original music by Jeff Willis. You can find his tunes on Spotify and iTunes

    40 min

  8. 07/09/2022

    1 in 9 Women have endometriosis - So Why Don't We Have a Cure Yet? I ask Naturopath, Michelle Williams

    Recently, Lena Dunham wrote a follow up article for Harpers Magazine about the two years since her hysterectomy after an endometriosis diagnosis. I discuss the importance of talking about endo and normalising the conversation. I learn that period pain may be common, but it's not normal. I also speak to Naturopath and Women's Health Specialist, Michelle Edwards, about the signs and what to do if you suspect you have endometriosis. Sign up to our newsletter over on our website: http://www.unripecommunity.com.au Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/unripecommunity Private Group: @unripecommunitygroup – https://www.facebook.com/groups/unripecommunitygroup Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/unripecommunity Please share and leave us a review on your favourite podcast app including: iTunes and Spotify Resources and articles referenced in the episode: Lena Dunham  "In Her Own Words: Lena Dunham on Her Decision to Have a Hysterectomy at 31." Lena Dunham - "False Labor: Giving up on motherhood." Endometriosis Australia - https://www.endometriosisaustralia.org Michelle Edwards – Naturopath - www.adelaidenaturalfertility.com.au Sound engineering and original music by Jeff Willis. You can find his tunes on Spotify and iTunes Produced by Jo Vraca

    42 min
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Ratings & Reviews

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5 Ratings

About

A podcast for women (and even men) with an honest voice about the realities of living without children. It is my mission to provide a platform for this global group, to create a supportive environment & community for the Childless and Childfree to share our stories and experiences.(un)Ripe is a vibrant, supportive community hosted by me, Jo Vraca. Each fortnight, I speak with women and men, counsellors, spinsters, hypnotherapists, journalists, authors, women who are in the middle of grief, or who have come through it and are living unexpectedly fabulous lives.I'll help you share your story so we can build advocacy, and find our purpose and meaning when it is not defined by for us through the role of motherhood. I'm on a mission! Join me, as I look to our past, our present and our futures with a global array of special guests so we can change the narrative about childless and childfree life and embrace our lives without children.

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