Meet Lisa

My husband and I met later in life and both always wanted children so we started trying to get pregnant before we got married with no success. We were referred to a fertility specialist who told me my egg reserves were very low and our chances of becoming pregnant naturally were very slim. To our surprise, one month after we got married we got pregnant naturally. Unfortunately we suffered a miscarriage very shortly after.  

 

From there, we began working with the fertility clinic and went through many months of cycle monitoring. I saw a naturopath, changed my diet, took fertility meds, practiced meditation and yoga and we both started supplements to no avail. We had a couple chemical pregnancies and tried IVF twice where I unfortunately didn’t respond to the meds either time, something I didn't even know was possible. This was devastating to me and we took some time to process. 

 

Now we were faced with the difficult decision of trying an egg donor, private adoption or to stop trying to expand our family. After a lot of discussion and considering what would be best for us physically, mentally and financially, we decided to start planning for our life moving forward without children.

 

It was challenging in the beginning and we struggled to manage the insensitivity, at times, from those we love. I found myself feeling let down by my own body and bitter that others had success where I didn't. I became stuck in a grief spiral and didn't know how to get out. 

 

And after some time that included a lot of healing and processing I got to a place where i could be more open and honest with those that love me and even with new people. Together with my husband, we found ways to honour our story without allowing the grief to take away the joy of planning for our future. 

 

We now know that our story doesn’t end here and we are no less a family because we can’t have children. We are truly valued by our loved ones for so many reasons unrelated to parenting and we can spread all of the love we had reserved in our hearts for children of our own to our nieces and nephew, friends’ children and fur babies. 

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Having gone through this journey and experiencing firsthand how little support there is available to women when they are struggling to choose between continuing to try to expand their family and giving up, I became passionate about filling this gap which led me to establishing Family Redefined, a therapeutic coaching program. More specifically, I used my lived experience as well as my vast knowledge from working in the mental health field to create a 5 step therapeutic coaching program called Childless Not Les to support childless women in navigating this difficult journey and ultimately in finding joy and contentment in their lives again. 

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