We can’t escape the noise of pronatalism as it surrounds us each day on social media, at work, in advertising, within films and even politics. However, each year more of us are saying we are worthy to be seen and heard; we’re here, we’re childless and we refuse to stay quiet.
Join Stephanie Joy Phillips as she speaks with three women who are making a difference and raising awareness of childlessness in their individual ways; Jessica Hepburn, Annie Kirby and Hilary Fennell. See their details below.
DATE: Saturday 17th September
TIME: 4.00pmBST Find your time zone here
REGISTER FOR THIS WEBINAR HERE
Please note: This webinar will be recorded and available to view on the website, if you are unable to attend it live. You do not need to register to watch the replay.
Stephanie Joy Philips - England
Stephanie Joy Phillips is passionate about raising awareness for the childless not by choice. After realising there was no national recognition of the community she started World Childless Week in 2017.
Stephanie also runs three childless Facebook groups: Childless Path To Acceptance focuses on support, Childless Chit Chat is a trigger free zone and Childless Perks!! is all about laughter and finding the positives of being childless without a parent saying 'I told you so'.
Steph lives in Worcestershire, UK, with her husband and two rescue cats, Storm and Tea-Cup.
Jessica Hepburn - England
I am childless because after a diagnosis of ‘Unexplained Infertility’, I went through 11 rounds of unsuccessful IVF and wasn’t in the right place to explore an alternative route to parenthood after this. I will never say never to becoming a parent in some form but my experience of infertility and unsuccessful IVF has made me who I am today.
Over the last decade I’ve become dedicated to transforming this sadness in my life into something good for myself, and hopefully other people too. I’ve written two books: The Pursuit of Motherhood & 21 Miles; founded the arts festival Fertility Fest; and taken on some of the world’s most iconic challenges (including swimming the English Channel and climbing Mount Everest) to raise awareness of what it feels like to struggle to conceive, and how to find acceptance when your life doesn’t go the way you want it to
Annie Kirby - England
Annie Kirby lives in Portsmouth where she works part-time as a university researcher and part-time as a writer.
Her short stories have been published in anthologies and broadcast on radio and she is a winner of the Asham Award for short fiction.
Her debut novel The Hollow Sea, which deals with themes of childlessness, grief, identity and mythologywas published in August 2022 by Penguin Michael Joseph.
Hilary Fennell - Ireland
Hilary Fennell is an award-winning programme maker and journalist with extensive experience of working in television and radio as a series producer and director. Her work runs the gamut from current affairs to arts and human interest and has been in competition at many festivals worldwide. Hilary has worked in both the Irish State Broadcaster RTÉ and the independent sector. As a journalist, she been interviewing and writing for various national media for over twenty years. She is also a recognised fiction writer, recent prizes include The Sean O’Faolain Short Story Competition. Hilary also lectures in Broadcast Production at the National Film School at IADT and Griffith College and does presenting and voiceover work.
She originally graduated from Trinity College Dublin with an honours law degree (LL.B, Bachelor in Laws) and qualified as a barrister from The Kings Inns Dublin (BL, Barrister-at-Law).
Hilary has just produced ‘Childless’ a radio documentary exploring what it means to be involuntarily childless in a child-centred society, funded by the BAI’s Sound and Vision scheme.