When I was younger, much younger – say, 18 years old – I was a tall, slim blonde, excelling at grammar school. The world was my oyster. I breezed through my A-levels, passed with flying colours. I got accepted to several top universities. People told […]
Back in July this year I was on holiday with my mum at my parents’ villa in Alicante. I awoke before dawn, as is my habit these days, and lay there in my bed, listening to the sounds of the countryside: a dog barking; cicadas […]
As the country, nay the world, descends into maternity mania once again at the arrival of yet another blue-blooded baby, our newspapers and newsfeeds awash with the details as if the arrival of a child was something unusual in a world already buckling under […]
Grant Melton Photography I was recently approached by the Metro, a popular newspaper distributed across London and the home counties, to write an opinion piece on being labelled ‘infertile’ and how that label has affected me and my sense of self-worth. It is not easy […]
“You never know true love until you have a child.” The woman glanced back over at me, peering up through heavy-lidded eyes, drugged in an oxytocin fug. Her blissful state as she gently rocked her tightly-swaddled newborn back and forth in her lap was at […]
Argh! It’s happened! My newsfeed is full of back-to-school snaps! 👨👩👧👦 Well, fear not, Non-Mums, because next week is our week : Stephanie, founder of World Childless Week, and I recorded this video chat last week to tell you all about it. I was […]
You know when you’re walking down the street and you catch sight of a battered plimsoll wedged in a tree…or some other random piece of clothing residing somewhere it shouldn’t? If you’re anything like me, you’ll glance at it curiously, wondering for a moment what […]
Last month I was in hospital having an operation. I was left to wait until almost 6pm for the procedure, despite it being boiling hot, with no aircon, and I’d been Nil By Mouth since 7am. During that time it was just me, alone in […]
Once upon a time there was a woman. We’ll call her Little Miss Organised. The woman had a life plan, and was happily ticking things off her wish list in the order they appeared: study hard, pass exams, get a job, meet a man, fall […]
My name’s Sam and I have a confession: I’m a travel addict. Seeing the world, embracing new cultures, meeting new people – it’s my favourite pastime. So when I found myself at one of life’s crossroads aged 31, I decided it was time for another […]
Do you ever lie awake at night feeling stuck, or anxious? Like you can’t – or won’t – achieve something? That everyone else seems to be playing this crazy board game called Life so much better than you are? Like you’ve started playing the game, […]
For those women who, like myself, are childless not by choice (CNBC), Mother’s Day brings a mixture of feelings: love and appreciation for our own mothers (and mothers everywhere), and sadness that we will never experience motherhood ourselves. If you are a mum, I hope […]
I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by Berenice Smith for Walk In Our Shoes: a website supporting men and women who are childless not by choice (CNBC), their families, friends and colleagues through real-life stories and accounts of life after loss. Walking Forward Inspirational […]
Thank you, Bird’s Eye Viewers – you rock! OH EM GEEEEEE!!! I am off-the-charts DE-LIGHTED!! Thank you so much from the bottom of my battered and oft-broken 40-something heart for voting for me in the UK Blog Awards 2018 and kicking off my New Year with […]
“We have your bloods back from the lab, Mrs…er…Walsh,” said the consultant at St Bart’s Hospital, London, looking up from his stack of papers and pushing his varifocals back up on the bridge of his nose. “The results are…extremely high.” I beamed. “Oh great!” I’d […]
I love to travel. Sometimes I even love to travel alone. I’ve backpacked solo around Thailand, no problem. I’m a grown-ass woman after all: big enough, savvy enough…yep, and ugly enough to take care of myself. Sure, there were moments of loneliness; occasions where […]
It’s not the one you’re thinking of, or any from the typical arsenal of word-weapons – the ones we humans launch at one another in moments of anger, when the red mist descends and none of the others are quite hitting their target. No, the […]
‘Tis this time of year, as the clocks go back, the nights draw in and Halloween looms, that the vivid imaginations of Earth-dwellers all over this wondrous planet of ours begin to conjure up images of witchcraft and wizardry; supernatural goings-on. For this blog, therefore, […]
Okay, so I'd rather I was on the cover of a magazine as the glamorous cover star rather than a sad caption alongside an image of me beaming away in my wedding dress, oblivious to the tough times ahead, but there it is. If someone […]
When you think of a minority group, who do you think of? Those who are discriminated against because of their ethnicity, disability, religion or sexual orientation? So not me, then: a straight, white, working-class, able-bodied woman? If you see me walking down the street, dressed […]
