Miriam was raised in France in an emotionally demanding family dynamic, a product of her mother's poor mental health and her parents' unhappy marriage. As the oldest daughter, she felt responsible for her younger sisters as well as her parents' emotional wellbeing. At 20, a conversation with her ecologically-minded, childfree partner helped her realize, with a great sense of relief, that she didn't have to become a mother and follow the life script she was raised with. Now a junior doctor in southern Germany, Miriam happily embraces the freedom and possibilities of her childfree life.

See episode website for show notes, links, and transcript:

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

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 people 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 the rights and wellbeing of people, animals, and the planet by confronting pronatalism and other harmful ideologies.

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 2024-2026 Population Balance

Growing up in rural, Catholic Newfoundland, Lindsey absorbed the expectation that motherhood was her destiny. Seeking external validation through relationships with men, she struggled to understand why traditional family life seemed to come so easily to others but eluded her. Writing her book, Nobody's Mother: A Childfree Memoir, saved her life and helped her discover that she was chasing a life she never actually desired. Now married and happily childfree, she hopes the book will help others navigate their own life path beyond pronatalist expectations.

See episode website for show notes, links, and transcript:

https://www.populationbalance.org/beyond-pronatalism-podcast/lindsey-harrington

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 people 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 the rights and wellbeing of people, animals, and the planet by confronting pronatalism and other harmful ideologies.

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 2024-2026 Population Balance

Growing up in the counterculture of the 1960s, Sarah felt alienated when her peers embraced the traditional path of marriage and family, while she pursued a life of scholarship. Pulled by the strength of pronatalism, she briefly experimented with marriage only to realize that path was not for her. In her book, Pronatalism: Discourses and Counterdiscourses, Sarah examines the pronatalist tropes that shape women's lives, from the "biological clock" to "having it all." Now retired, Sarah enjoys her life as a "nother" and the stimulation and community bonds of her Brooklyn neighborhood.

See episode website for show notes, links, and transcript:

https://www.populationbalance.org/beyond-pronatalism-podcast/sarah-benesch

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 people 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 the rights and wellbeing of people, animals, and the planet by confronting pronatalism and other harmful ideologies.

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 2024-2026 Population Balance