Today we’ll discuss the role pets play in healing the grief of childlessness (or not), and also how to cope with the death of a furbaby/featherbaby or scalybaby on top of the grief of childlessness.
DATE: Wednesday 18th September
TIME: 9am BST - See your timezone HERE
REGISTER FOR THIS WEBINAR HERE
Please note: Whilst the panellists will be recorded, your camera and audio will be turned off. If you are unable to attend the webinar live, you DO NOT need to register to watch the replay. Just subscribe to the World Childless Week YouTube channel and you’ll be notified when new recordings are added.
PANELLISTS
Steph Penny - Australia
Steph is the proud human of Boba the rescue cat (yes, the Boba Fett from Star Wars!) and is passionate about caring for rescue animals. Boba is a young ginger tabby boy and loves chasing his favourite toy mouse and sleeping near his humans.
Steph is childless-by-forced-choice due to a medical condition and finds that having an animal companion around helps to fill the void left by childlessness, as well as being an endless source of entertainment!
Steph is also a writer, a singer/songwriter, a psychologist, a chocoholic, a secondhand bargain hunter and an avid poster of cat pics on social media! Steph loves giving back to the childless community and is passionate about connecting with others to build solidarity, share our stories and remind each other we are not alone.
Merlijn Van der Wijngaart - Netherlands
I'm Merlijn, I'm 30 years old. I got married on August 30th this year and together with my husband I have our adorable ball python Polleke, our ‘scaley daughter’.
I went to med school and was just one year away from becoming an MD when my congenital heart defect became too disabling and I had to stop my studies. I've been on disability for a year and a half now, which has been both a huge relief and a grieving process. This disability is also the reason I'm childless by forced choice, there is a decent chance I would be able to get pregnant and give birth but I could never be the mother I'd want to be, and I will have more and more cardiac issues over the years.
I spend my time mostly crocheting, but I also love reading, cooking, playing Magic the Gathering and playing Dungeons and Dragons.
Stephanie Joy Phillips - UK
Stephanie spent a large part of her twenties in an abusive relationship and took the contraceptive pill to ensure children would not be born into that situation. In her early thirties she met her husband to be but they didn't try to conceive until nearing forty.
At the age of 39 she was told by an unsympathetic doctor "if he manages to get you pregnant it is highly unlikely you'll carry full term". She knew in that moment, she would never be a mum.
In 2016 Stephanie Joy Phillips founded three childless support groups on Facebook: Childless Path To Acceptance, Childless Chit Chat and Childless Perks!!
In 2017 after realising there was no national recognition of the childless community she founded World Childless Week.
Steph lives in Worcestershire with her husband and two rescue cats, Storm and Tea-Cup. She enjoys gardening, arts and crafts, a good book, dining out and relaxing in front of the television with a puzzle book and one of her two cats snuggled up beside her.
REGISTER FOR THIS WEBINAR HERE
