When you are childless after infertility, the holiday season can feel like a spotlight you never asked for. Everyone has an opinion about your fertility decisions. Everyone has a suggestion about what you should have done. And somehow every gathering becomes an open invitation for people to ask about baby news, adoption, donor eggs, or why you stopped trying.

In this week's episode, you learn how to stay grounded, confident, and steady when holiday opinions collide with the decisions you made after IVF Failed. You discover how to trust your intuition again and how to walk into December without feeling like you owe anyone an explanation.

This episode is for you if
• you are childless after infertility
• you ended fertility treatments and people still question why
• you feel pressure during family gatherings
• you struggle with unsolicited advice about adoption, donor eggs, donor sperm, surrogacy, or "trying again"
• you want to feel connected to the holidays without feeling triggered
• you want to walk into gatherings feeling prepared instead of anxious

Inside the episode, you will learn
• why holiday comments land so hard for women who are childless not by choice
• how lifelong conditioning leads you to second guess your decisions
• why your inner knowing is wiser than outside opinions
• what to tell yourself when someone questions your fertility choices
• how to feel empowered about the decisions you made when your fertility journey ended without a baby
• how to walk into December feeling solid and sure of yourself

If you are already bracing for the questions and opinions, I have two things that will support you through this season.

These private sessions help you
• practice what you want to say
• stay grounded during conversations
• feel confident about your decisions
• handle family dynamics with clarity and calm

These are one on one coaching sessions at a discounted rate for December.

Book your Glow Up Session here!

Handling the Holidays: Managing Your Family, Traditions, and Celebrations Without Kids
Tuesday, December 16
11:30 AM Central

In this class you learn how to
• handle family gatherings when you are childless after infertility
• navigate traditions that feel painful because you do not have kids to pass them onto
• stay centered when everything around you feels kid focused
• make space for your own joy this holiday season

Register for the free class:
https://meet.google.com/occ-gnzy-sdt
(If you want a registration page link instead of a direct meet link, tell me and I will swap it.)

Download the Top 27 Things People Say When You Are Childless and How to Respond
https://lana-manikowski.com/thingspeoplesay

Connect With Me

Website
https://www.lanamanikowski.com

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/lana.manikowski

TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/@lana.manikowski

YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@lana.manikowski

Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast. It helps other women who are childless after infertility discover this space and find the support they never received from their clinic once treatment ended.

Episode 192: How Childless Women Can Navigate the Holidays Ahead

The holiday season can feel emotionally heavy when you're childless after infertility. In this episode, Lana explains why Thanksgiving and Christmas can stir up overwhelm, anxiety, numbness, and confusion when you always imagined this season with a child of your own. You'll learn how your brain and nervous system respond during this time of year, why nothing about your reaction means you're doing anything wrong, and how to feel more grounded and supported as the holidays approach.

The holidays can feel complicated when you're childless after infertility. That knot in your stomach during Thanksgiving or Christmas is not your imagination. Whether you are done with fertility treatments, still navigating IVF or IUI, or childless by circumstance, this season can shine a spotlight on the life you thought you would be living by now.

In this episode, you learn why the holidays often stir up so much emotion and why nothing about your experience means you're doing anything wrong. You'll understand how your brain and nervous system interpret this season, why old neural pathways get activated, and why your reactions are very normal for women who are childless after infertility or childless not by choice.

Inside the episode, you'll learn:
• How neural pathways built during your fertility journey impact your holidays
• Why unpredictability around the holidays activates your nervous system
• Why numbness is normal when the season feels emotionally loaded
• Why family gatherings can trigger isolation even when you're loved
• How to stop blaming yourself for how you feel this time of year
• How to stay grounded when traditions center around children
• Why you don't have to sit out of Christmas just because you don't have kids

If you want real tools and support to help you feel more prepared and confident this year, join my free live class on Tuesday, December 16 at 11:30 AM Central:

Register here!

You deserve to feel grounded, steady, and in control of the rooms you walk into this season.

And if you want help responding to the comments people make when they don't understand your experience, download my free guide HERE!
The Top 27 Things People Say When You're Childless and How to Respond.

How to Feel Like You Belong Again When You Are Childless After Infertility

If you have ever walked into a room and instantly wondered where you fit, this episode is going to speak directly to you. When you are childless after infertility or you are still in the middle of your fertility journey, it can feel like everyone around you is living a chapter you hoped would be yours. Conversations about kids, family schedules and milestones can leave you feeling two inches outside the circle and unsure how to take your place in the room.

In this episode, you learn why this happens and how to reconnect with yourself so you can walk into any space with confidence and grounding. You will understand why your nervous system reacts before your mind catches up, why belonging feels harder when your story looks different, and how the lack of support after IVF failed can shape the way you show up socially. You will also hear how public conversations about infertility, including the reaction to Jennifer Aniston's story, influence the way you protect yourself in group settings.

This episode teaches you how to honor your own experience and how to show up without shrinking or pretending. You will learn four ways to lead with connection so you can feel steady and comfortable in rooms that once felt overwhelming. You will walk away knowing how to stay anchored in who you are becoming and how to trust your own voice so you can feel a sense of belonging again, even when the conversations around you do not reflect your life.

If you are ready to feel grounded in social spaces again and to rebuild a future beyond infertility that actually feels meaningful, this episode will support you every step of the way.

Resources mentioned in this episode

Thrive After Infertility - My 12 week coaching program for women who are childless after infertility and IVF

Book a Thrive Call - Ready to spend the best 45 minutes you've spent this year? Book a free Thrive Call woith me. We will get a plan together for what is next for you now that IVF is over.

Download your free guide The Top 27 Things People Say When You Are Childless (...and How to Respond)

Connect with me
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lana.manikowski
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lana.manikowski
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lana.manikowski

I hope this episode helps you feel more grounded and more seen as you walk into the rooms that matter to you.

Have you ever walked into a room and instantly questioned whether you belonged there?
That is exactly what happened to me t at the annual meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) in San Antonio. I was surrounded by fertility doctors, clinic directors, psychologists, and researchers, all experts in reproductive medicine. And for a moment, that familiar voice whispered, Who do you think you are?

In this episode, I am taking you behind the scenes of what it felt like to show up as a woman who is childless after infertility in a space that rarely represents us. You will hear how I faced imposter syndrome, found my voice, and ended up speaking on stage about the one topic that almost no one else was addressing: what happens when IVF fails and you leave fertility treatment without a baby.

You will learn:

• Why imposter syndrome often shows up after infertility or IVF fails

• How to recognize the lies your brain tells you when you start something new

• The powerful shift that helped me turn self doubt into purpose

• What happened when fertility doctors lined up to thank me for speaking out

• How you can use the same coaching tools I did to quiet the voice that says you are not enough

If you have ever thought, no one will care what I have to say or I am not qualified to lead this conversation, this episode is your reminder that your story matters. You do not have to be a doctor to create change. You only need to be brave enough to show up.

Free Guide: The Top 27 Things People Say When You Are Childless And How to Respond
Join our community: Childless After Infertility on Skool
Learn more about my coaching program: Thrive After Infertility

Whether you are sitting in a clinic waiting room or walking into a professional space wondering if you belong, this episode will remind you that your voice is needed.
You are not a failed fertility patient.
You are a woman who lived through what most people cannot imagine and still found the courage to keep showing up.

Episode 189 | Childless After Infertility: The Shift That Changes Everything

What if you could stop living in regret after infertility and start creating a life that feels amazing to wake up to?

In this episode of The "So Now What?" Podcast, Lana Manikowski shares the realization that changed everything: the moment she stopped identifying as a victim of infertility and began shaping a new story for her life after IVF failed.

If you have ever wondered whether it is possible to feel fulfilled without motherhood, this episode will show you how. You will learn how to shift your mindset from loss to ownership, reconnect with your body, and rediscover your power to create joy and meaning again, even in a world that revolves around parenthood.

If you are ready to move beyond grief and step into growth, come join Childless After Infertility, Lana's new online community for women who are ready to grow beyond the pain of infertility. If you join now it is free!

Skool is a private online platform where you can connect, learn, and grow together without the noise, ads, or distractions of social media. It combines the best parts of a classroom and a community so everything we discuss stays focused and meaningful.

This is not a support group. It is a growth group for women who want to create what comes next.
👉 Join Childless After Infertility on Skool

Explore Coaching that Works: Thrive After Infertility

If you are ready for personal support, Thrive After Infertility is Lana's 12-week coaching program that helps you rebuild trust with your body, strengthen your relationships, and create meaningful milestones beyond motherhood.

📘 Free Resource: The Top 27 Things People Say When You're Childless (and How to Respond)

Tired of awkward questions and unsolicited advice?
Get your free guide to navigate those conversations with confidence and authenticity.
Download it here

🩵 In This Episode, You'll Learn

• How to stop identifying as a victim of infertility.
  
  

• Why letting go of regret is essential for healing beyond childlessness.
  
  

• The mindset shift that helps you thrive after IVF fails.
  
  

• How to find connection and purpose without motherhood.
  
  

• What makes the Childless After Infertility community different from a support group or Facebook group.
  
  

🎧 Listen and Subscribe

If you have found the content of this podcast to be helpful, please subscribe to the show and leave a review to help more women find hope and community after infertility.

Learn how to leave a podcast rating and review HERE!

When IVF Fails: How to Ask Your Fertility Clinic for the Support You Still Need

When IVF fails, it can feel like your clinic disappears but you still deserve care. In this episode, learn how to ask for what you need from your fertility doctor even after fertility treatment ends. Discover how to advocate for yourself, share resources, and help your clinic better support women who are childless after infertility.

If your fertility treatment ended without the baby you dreamed of, you are not alone and you are not forgotten.

In this episode of The So Now What Podcast, host Lana Manikowski shares how to ask for what you need from your fertility clinic or doctor even after IVF fails. Whether you are still in treatment, deciding what is next, or already navigating life without children, you will learn how to take action, reclaim your voice, and inspire change inside the fertility industry.

You will discover how to
✅ Ask for acknowledgment and emotional support from your clinic even months or years later
✅ Write a compassionate message to your IVF nurse, patient coordinator, or doctor
✅ Share what helped you heal so your feedback can support future patients
✅ Turn pain into purpose and become part of the change in fertility care for women who are childless after infertility

When fertility treatment ends without a baby, silence from your clinic can feel like abandonment. But that silence does not mean you were unimportant. It means the system is incomplete. And systems change when you speak up.

Lana offers a simple message template you can use to reach out to your clinic and invites you to take one small, brave step toward creating the care you and other women deserve.

Your story still matters.
You are not invisible.
You are part of the change that can make fertility care more human, compassionate, and complete.

Mentioned in this episode

• Listen to Episode 187 IVF Failed A Fertility Doctor's Thoughts About What Happens Next

• Free Guide The Top 27 Things People Say When You're Childless and How to Respond

• Book a Thrive Call to create your plan for thriving after infertility
  
  

When you're going through fertility treatments, you never imagine they will end without a baby. I didn't. I believed that if I tried hard enough, followed every step, and stayed committed, eventually I would have the child I dreamed of. But when IVF failed and motherhood didn't happen, I was completely unprepared and unsupported.

That gap, the silence that follows when treatments end without children, is why I became a member of ASRM, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, and serve in their Mental Health Providers group.

In October I am attending the ASRM annual congress with thousands of reproductive Endocrinologists, fertility doctors, IVF nurses, and fertility specialists from around the world. My mission is to make sure the voices of women who are childless after infertility are part of the conversation.

For an upcoming podcast episode I will be interviewing a fertility doctor who not only treats patients but has gone through IVF herself. This is your opportunity to shape that conversation.

✨ What do you wish you had received when you left treatments without a baby?
✨ Were you offered support, and if yes what was most helpful?
✨ If you weren't, what do you think would have made the biggest difference?
✨ And what is one question you would love me to ask a fertility doctor about life after treatment?

👉 Share your input here: Fill out the form

Your name will never be used on the podcast, but if you'd like me to thank you personally you'll have the option to share your name and email at the end.

Your experience matters. What you went through is real, and if I can help bridge your story with the professionals shaping fertility care, we can change the way life after infertility is understood and supported.

🔗 Related Episodes:

• Ep 147: Support After IVF - What Childless Women Really Want (click here to listen)

• Ep 146: Finding Closure After IVF (click here to listen)

💜 Free Resource: The Top 27 Things People Say When You're Childless (and How to Respond) → Click HERE!