Thread by @DawnLlewellyn

1 I had a thought-provoking, emotionally 'full', inspiring #StoryhouseChildless @StoryhouseLive We explored 'living in as a non-parent in a family-centric world' #childlessnotbychoice #childfree #childlessbycircumstance #ttc #childlessbychoice Here are my highlights

2 @gatewaywomen: the shame of #childlessness is a powerful tool for keeping us apart: it prevents conversation, community, it creates separation, isolation, stigma and vilification #StoryhouseChildless @StoryhouseLive

3 @gatewaywomen: #abortion is the 'taboo within the taboo' of #childlessness #Storyhouse
@StoryhouseLive

4 @gatewaywomen: the #childless population is growing (and looks like it will continue to grow). Although a sizeable minority #pronatalism keeps us quiet #StoryhouseChildless
@StoryhouseLive #ChildlessNotByChoice #ChildlessByCircumstance #ChildlessByChoice #Childfree

5 #GatewayWomen #Chester panel courageously shared their experiences: #TurnerSyndrome #UnexplainedInfertility #Infertility ... #StoryhouseChildless @StoryhouseLive

6 #GatewayWomen #Chester discussed the isolation #childlessness prompts with family, friends, work colleagues and how connecting with each other has changed their lives #StoryhouseChildless @StoryhouseLive
#ChildlessNotByChoice #ChildlessByCircumstance

7 #GatewayWomen #Chester have had some classic #ChildlessBingo moments ... #StoryhouseChildless @StoryhouseLive ...

8 #GatewayWomen #Chester #ChildlessBingo
Why don't you get a dog?
Have you thought about adoption?
Oh, sorry you can't have kids...here's a picture of my new baby!
God, you must be relieved you can't have kids, they are knackering!
#StoryhouseChildless @StoryhouseLive

9 If you ruled the world, what would you change for #childless community?
*Education for GPs, Healthcare professionals, fertility specialists on grief, isolation, stigma #childlessness
*Recognition that family-orientated events trigger pain
*#Childfree spaces

10 *Wider representation of #childless experiences in school curriculum - let's get away from stereotypes of the spinster, the cat-lady, the mad woman in the attic!
*Be thoughtful, compassionate, have empathy for #childlessness #StoryhouseChildless

11 @RobinHadley1: #ChildlessMen are under-researched; male fertility stats are not regularly collected in the UK. There are more childless men than childless women (aprox 25% compared 20% women) #StoryhouseChildless @StoryhouseLive

12 @RobinHadley1: #ChildlessMen less economically privileged than fathers; have higher suicide rates; and fear they are perceived as peodophiles #StoryhouseChildless @StoryhouseLive

13 @RobinHadley1 #ChildlessMen report fears of the future without children, isolation, not feeling 'like a man', alienation. #StoryhouseChildless @StoryhouseLive

14 'Something Missing' by @RobinHadley1
There’s something missing
A conversation ended before it began
Scatterlings of cuda, shuda, wuda, dada
The latent maelstrom of the none man
There’s something missing,
holding a life-wide gap,
breathing wallpaper,

15
I am whole and incomplete
There’s something missing,
first to be left behind,
first to be sent in,

this line is incomplete
#StoryhouseChildless @StoryhouseLive

16 Barbara Dillon's experiences #LGBTQI #childlessness took us through soaring grief and joyous meaning making! #StoryhouseChildless @StoryhouseLive

17 @ShonaHookham has just been diagnosed with #POI at the age of 24. This means she is experiencing #earlymenopause #infertility #grief #StoryhouseChildless @StoryhouseLive - I cried at this point, ironic given my next reflection - but I'm *so* proud of Shona.

18 There is so much emotional and political work involved in explaining, justifying, rationalising #childlessness to other people, and managing their expectations, sympathy, pity #StoryhouseChildless #ChildlessNotByChoice #Childfree #ChildlessbyChoice @StoryhouseLive

19 I will never forget @yvonnehjohn punch-in-the-gut, challenging intersectional analysis of #Childlessness - from the 'only black woman in the room'.

20 @yvonnehjohn 'My experiences of being seen as the angry black women , being dismissed and over looked because of my gender and/ or skin colour or being told that I’m being over sensitive (to what I perceived as a racist situation)...black women are negatively stereotyped'

21 Dave and Lizzie Lowrie @Saltwater_Honey took us on a storytelling journey to find our own way to voice our struggles, recognise the 'transformative' twist in our tales, and to think about what the hero, villain, and victim of our challenges might be ...

22 I just kept thinking that the villain in the #childless story is #pronatalism #patriarchy and that I was SURROUNDED all day by #heros....

23 If you've never heard Chiara Beradelli perform her one-woman storytelling and music show then you don't know what you are missing #TotalFanGirl I want everyone to buy a copy of #SeaMonster here: chiaraberardelli.com

24 Taboo, stigma, shame was broken as community formed between strangers, across #childlessness #experiences, an acknowledgement of differences & similarities, an understanding of when to listen & when to speak #ChildlessNotByChoice #ChildlessByChoice An immense day, thank you