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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. Infertile and Childless Around the Holidays

Infertile and Childless Around the Holidays

Dec 17, 2024

The holidays can feel especially heavy when you're childless after infertility and IVF. In this episode, I'm sharing heartfelt insights and practical strategies to help you navigate this season with grace, even when it feels like everything revolves around kids.

Whether you're grieving the loss of a dream of motherhood after fertility treatments failed you, feeling out of place at family gatherings, or looking for new ways to make the season meaningful, this episode is for you.

Join me as I offer support, validation, and actionable tips to help you honor your emotions, set boundaries, and create moments of joy that align with your life.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

  • How to Honor Your Grief and Emotions: Why it's common to feel both sadness and joy this season, especially after navigating infertility and childlessness after IVF failed.

  • Setting Boundaries at Family Gatherings: How to protect your emotional well-being while showing up in a way that feels true to you.

  • Navigating Holiday Triggers: Managing the constant reminders of what you hoped life would look like, from social media to family traditions, and why it’s normal to feel the grief of being childless after infertility.

  • Creating Your Joyful Traditions: Ideas for new ways to celebrate that bring comfort and meaning to your holiday season when life without children looks different than you expected.

  • Why You’re Not Alone: Real stories of support and love, even when life looks different than you dreamed, and why community matters when you are childless not by choice.

Special Invitation:

Join my FREE Masterclass on Thursday, December 19th at 6 PM Central Time where we’ll dive deeper into handling the holidays without children. I’ll share more tools and ideas to help you feel prepared, connected, and at peace this season, even if you’re childless after infertility.

Register Here 

Key Moments:

  • [00:01:31] Healing and the love I received—even without kids, and how I am processing life after IVF.

  • [00:03:08] How the holidays highlight grief and bring up unexpected emotions for childless women after infertility.

  • [00:06:32] The truth about grief: it doesn’t disappear, but we can learn to carry it with us.

  • [00:07:25] Setting boundaries and permitting yourself to step back when needed.

  • [00:08:31] Ideas to create new, meaningful traditions that honor your experience as a woman without children.

  • [00:10:32] Holding two emotions at once: joy for others and grief for yourself.

Quotes to Inspire You:

  • “Your worth is not defined by whether or not you have children. Your presence matters deeply.”

  • “You can love your nieces and nephews while also grieving what hasn’t happened for you.”

  • “The holidays can feel heavy, but you don’t have to navigate them alone.”

Connect with Me:

YouTube: @lana.manikowski 

Instagram: @lana.manikowski

TikTok: @lana.manikowski

Website: lanamanikowski.com

Resources Mentioned:

If this episode resonated with you, please share it with a friend who may need to hear this message. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review—it helps me reach more women navigating life after infertility and IVF who need to hear they are not alone.

You are seen. You are loved. And you are not alone.