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IVF Failed You - The "So Now What?" Podcast

I am a Fertility Survivor.  The kind you enter into treatments hoping you will never be... childless.  After several rounds of IUI and IVF, at some of the leading Fertility Centers, I was told I was no longer a candidate for fertility treatment.  It left me asking myself...

So now what?

For the years that followed, I tried to put myself back together and tell myself I would be OK, but I wasn't.  I was shattered - I felt alone and failed by the whole process and especially, my body.  I yearned for others that felt the pain I felt and someone that could help me navigate a life without a child. 

I didn't find it, so I decide to create it.  

Fast forward to today. I am still childless, but my beliefs about my life have changed.  I decided that I can create meaning and purpose in my life even though I am not a mother.  I've learned to love myself and the body I felt failed me as a woman.

If you've been on this journey, hop on and join me as we create something we were not offered.  Let's create a sisterhood for the bravest women I know.  We brush ourselves off and don't let terms like: Failed, Unexplained, Miscarriage, Not-viable or Advanced Maternal Age define us anymore.  

 

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  2. IVF Without a Pregnancy — No One Saw You Trying

IVF Without a Pregnancy — No One Saw You Trying

Jul 30, 2025

What if the hardest part of infertility wasn’t just the treatments… but the fact that no one even knew how hard you tried?

In this episode of The "So Now What?" Podcast, we’re talking about an overlooked reality: what it feels like to go through years of IVF and fertility treatments and never even get a positive pregnancy test.

No bump.

No loss others can see. Just you, quietly rearranging your life around the hope of motherhood… with nothing to show for it when it didn’t work.

This is for you if you’re childless after infertility and have felt the sting of being dismissed, forgotten, or misunderstood because your story doesn’t come with "visible" grief.

Here’s what we cover:

  • Why IVF without pregnancy leaves a haunting silence around your story

  • The reality of disenfranchised grief when you’re infertile and childless

  • Why comparing your pain to others doesn’t bring healing, it brings shame

  • The myth that you have to love your story in order to find peace

  • How to stop minimizing your experience and start creating a future you feel proud of

  • What it looks like to reclaim your voice and move forward without motherhood

You don’t have to keep shrinking your grief or hiding your truth just to make others comfortable.
This episode reminds you that you were in it.
And that’s enough to matter.

If you’ve ever wondered whether your story counts because you never got pregnant—this episode is your reminder:

You don’t need proof to be seen.
You don’t need a baby to validate your grief.
You were there. You gave everything.
And that matters.

✨ Mentioned in this episode:

📆 Free Masterclass: “Things People Say (and How to Respond)”
Join me on Tuesday, August 26 at 6pm CT for a powerful free class where I’ll teach you how to navigate comments about your motherhood status—without spiraling, shutting down, or feeling like you need to justify anything.
Register here.
  

📘 Download Chapter 1 of my book “So Now What?”  FREE
The day I found out I’d never become a mom, and what happened next.
 

📝 Click HERE - Free Guide: The Top 27 Things People Say When You're Childless (and How to Respond)
 

📺 Watch this episode on YouTube
👉 https://www.youtube.com/@lana.manikowski

Let’s connect:

🌐 Website: https://www.lanamanikowski.com
 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lana.manikowski/
 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lana.manikowski
📕 Buy my book: https://www.lanamanikowski.com/book