Raised in a conservative Indian family, Sneha knew from an early age that she didn't want to have a biological child. As a teen she discovered her queer identity, and in her twenties Sneha made the difficult but liberating decision to leave her parents’ house and hometown. Sneha has rejected the patriarchal expectations of procreation and marriage and embraced her own path - filled with strong friendships, family, and her companion animals.

https://www.populationbalance.org/beyond-pronatalism-podcast/sneha

Interested in being on the show? Submit your story here: https://www.populationbalance.org/beyond-pronatalism-podcast.

About Beyond Pronatalism

To have or not have kids is one of the biggest decisions we make in our lives, and yet how many of us know that we even have a choice about how we define and create our families?

Beyond Pronatalism host Nandita Bajaj interviews women and men from diverse backgrounds who are courageously and creatively navigating pronatalism - the powerful pressures to have children - whether from family, friends, or the culture at large. Through intimate conversations, they discuss how they are forging unconventional pathways to fulfillment, including redefining what family means to them - whether that means being childfree or childless, having biological children, adopting or fostering children or animals, or creating close-knit communities of friends and loved ones.

Beyond Pronatalism is brought to you by Population Balance - the only nonprofit organization advancing ecological and reproductive justice by confronting pronatalism.

Visit https://www.populationbalance.org/beyond-pronatalism-podcast to subscribe, learn more, and submit your story!

Episodes released every two weeks. Find us on Apple podcasts, Spotify, and all other podcast platforms.

Copyright 2025 Population Balance

At age 27 Elena is diagnosed with an advanced cancerous brain tumor. As she confronts this life-changing and grief-filled reality, she also wrestles with the question of whether to bring a child into the world - balancing her love for children and the future she once imagined against her understanding of ecological overshoot, pronatalist pressures, and the profound uncertainties of life itself.

https://www.populationbalance.org/beyond-pronatalism-podcast/elena

Interested in being on the show? Submit your story here: https://www.populationbalance.org/beyond-pronatalism-podcast.

About Beyond Pronatalism

To have or not have kids is one of the biggest decisions we make in our lives, and yet how many of us know that we even have a choice about how we define and create our families?

Beyond Pronatalism host Nandita Bajaj interviews women and men from diverse backgrounds who are courageously and creatively navigating pronatalism - the powerful pressures to have children - whether from family, friends, or the culture at large. Through intimate conversations, they discuss how they are forging unconventional pathways to fulfillment, including redefining what family means to them - whether that means being childfree or childless, having biological children, adopting or fostering children or animals, or creating close-knit communities of friends and loved ones.

Beyond Pronatalism is brought to you by Population Balance - the only nonprofit organization advancing ecological and reproductive justice by confronting pronatalism.

Visit https://www.populationbalance.org/beyond-pronatalism-podcast to subscribe, learn more, and submit your story!

Episodes released every two weeks. Find us on Apple podcasts, Spotify, and all other podcast platforms.

Copyright 2025 Population Balance

From a very early age Pip sensed she didn’t want children, and a diagnosis of premature ovarian failure at 15 confirmed that path. As she grew older, Pip found herself desperately searching for the perfect partner to complete her. A chance conversation blew open the door regarding societal expectations around relationships, sex, and conventional measures of success. Childfree, single, and celibate, Pip lives an independent, authentic, and joyful life with her family of two rescue dogs.

https://www.populationbalance.org/beyond-pronatalism-podcast/pip

Interested in being on the show? Submit your story here: https://www.populationbalance.org/beyond-pronatalism-podcast.

About Beyond Pronatalism

To have or not have kids is one of the biggest decisions we make in our lives, and yet how many of us know that we even have a choice about how we define and create our families?

Beyond Pronatalism host Nandita Bajaj interviews women and men from diverse backgrounds who are courageously and creatively navigating pronatalism - the powerful pressures to have children - whether from family, friends, or the culture at large. Through intimate conversations, they discuss how they are forging unconventional pathways to fulfillment, including redefining what family means to them - whether that means being childfree or childless, having biological children, adopting or fostering children or animals, or creating close-knit communities of friends and loved ones.

Beyond Pronatalism is brought to you by Population Balance - the only nonprofit organization advancing ecological and reproductive justice by confronting pronatalism.

Visit https://www.populationbalance.org/beyond-pronatalism-podcast to subscribe, learn more, and submit your story!

Episodes released every two weeks. Find us on Apple podcasts, Spotify, and all other podcast platforms.

Copyright 2025 Population Balance