A Different Kind of Full: Childless Not by Choice Stories

Inside this volume

Fifty first-person accounts describe childlessness that was not chosen. Writers reached it through endometriosis dismissed for years, unexplained infertility, fibroids, menopause at twenty-nine, tuberculosis of the womb, five pregnancy losses, a stillborn daughter, a genetic condition both partners carried, cancer in their twenties and thirties, a husband's own test result, meeting the right person too late, and years working apart across a border. They include a midwife who has delivered more than two thousand babies, a hospice nurse whose niece moved out, a teacher tired of hearing her pupils called her children, a lorry driver who took every long-haul job going, a former nun, two stepmothers and a farming couple with forty-two acres and no heirs. Places run from Pune to Galway and Lusaka to Montréal. Writers describe rounds of IVF, frozen eggs and four embryos in a freezer, a surrogacy that fell through, an adoption panel's no and five years on a list, fertility waiting lists, wills, and the question of who will sit with them in old age. Pressure from in-laws and churches runs through several accounts, and one man was told in front of his wife to take a second one. Some reach a settled life; others write eleven weeks after stopping treatment, or are still waiting, and say the sadness still visits.

Who it's for

For anyone living with childlessness they did not choose, whether newly grieving or decades on, and for the friends, relatives and colleagues who are unsure what to say.

Format · Instant download · PDF & EPUB · Fifty first-person accounts · PDF: 235 pages

A collection of personal testimony, offered as companion reading — not medical advice.

• 50 single-author testimonies from real people
• A short, plain-language introduction to the topic
• Editor's note, contents page, and curated resource list
• Professional interior typesetting and an original cover

Every purchase includes a print-quality PDF (best for desktop, tablet, and printing) and a reflowable EPUB (best for Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, and phones). Files are DRM-free. You can download both instantly from the order-confirmation screen, and we email them to your inbox as well, so your books are always within reach.