If you're a woman who went through fertility treatments like IVF or IUI and now find yourself childless after infertility, this episode will speak directly to your heart.

This week, we talk about a quiet kind of grief.
The grief carried by the man who never got to become a dad.

Whether it's your husband, partner, brother, or someone else close to you, Father’s Day can feel invisible for the men who once dreamed of fatherhood but never got to live it. And if you’ve been focused on your own pain after infertility, you might not have realized how much he’s grieving too.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• How infertility affects your partner even if he never talks about it
  
  

• Why the guilt you’ve been carrying is not yours to hold anymore
  
  

• Ways to show up for your partner on Father’s Day without it being complicated or performative
  
  

• A reminder that your relationship is still meaningful, even without children
  
  

💬 “I thought I was the only one grieving, but I wasn’t. He was just quieter about it.”

📖 Want more support around Father’s Day?
Chapter 25 of my bestselling book, So Now What?, is dedicated to helping you understand and support your partner when he didn’t get to become a biological dad.

If you’re wondering how to bring up this conversation, how to honor him, and how to let go of the guilt you’ve been carrying, this chapter is for you.

📚 You can read Chapter 1 and the foreword by Jody Day for free:
lanamanikowski.com/book

🎁 Free Resource
Download: The Top 27 Things People Say When You’re Childless (...and How to Respond)
Your script for those awkward or painful conversations.
lanamanikowski.com/thingspeoplesay

💬 Want help creating a life you love, even if you never became a mom?

Book your free 45-minute Thrive Call with me.
We’ll create a personal plan to help you move forward with confidence, connection, and purpose.

Book your Thrive Call

📲 This week on Instagram, I’m sharing a series called “A Letter to My Childless Husband.”
Follow along at @lana.manikowski

If you’re childless not by choice, grieving after infertility, and want to feel more connected to your life and your partner, this episode will help you start.

Your story isn’t over.
It’s just beginning.

#InfertilitySupport #ChildlessAfterInfertility #IVFDidntWork #FatherlessFathersDay #LifeAfterInfertility #SoNowWhat #LanaManikowski #IUIJourney #LifeWithoutChildren #FertilityTreatments

Infertility & Goal Fatigue – What to Do When IVF Fails

If you’re childless after infertility and emotionally drained from years of chasing the dream of motherhood through IVF, I want you to know: you’re not alone. And what you’re feeling right now? It makes perfect sense.

You spent years setting goals—diagnosis, treatment plans, egg retrievals, embryo transfers, second opinions, supplements, side effects, losses… all in pursuit of the child you dreamed of.

But when IVF doesn’t work—and you find yourself childless after all of it—you’re left with a silent question that echoes through your mind:

Now what?

In this episode of The “So Now What?” Podcast, I’m sharing a deeply personal moment that stopped me in my tracks—one that reminded me how so many of us are living in a state of goal fatigue without even realizing it.

It all started with one innocent, thoughtful question from my 13-year-old nephew:
“Uncle Jack, what’s your goal for this year?”

And that moment led me to a massive realization—what if we’ve been asking the wrong question all along?

✅ Why infertility turns us into high-functioning goal-chasers
✅ What “goal fatigue” looks and feels like after IVF fails
✅ Why you might feel disconnected even after big wins at work or in life
✅ How I became a workaholic after IVF ended—and still felt empty
✅ The life-changing power of asking, “How do I want to feel?”
✅ What to do if you don’t even know how you want to feel anymore

This conversation is a gentle but powerful invitation to start living from the inside out—not chasing more goals to prove your worth, but learning to feel fulfilled by who you are right now, even without the children you hoped for.

✨ Book your free 45-minute Thrive Call HERE.
If you’ve been feeling stuck, lost, or unsure of how to move forward, I’ll help you reconnect with what matters to you. No pressure. No performance. Just a clear, hope-filled starting point for your next chapter.

📘 Ready to read the book that’s helping women just like you?
Check out my new bestselling book, So Now What?—created especially for women who are childless after infertility and looking for purpose, healing, and joy beyond motherhood.
Grab your copy or download a free preview here:
👉 www.lanamanikowski.com/book

🎥 Watch this episode on YouTube
📸 Connect with me on Instagram
📱 Follow along on TikTok

🎁 Don’t miss this:
The Top 27 Things People Say When You’re Childless (...and How to Respond)
Get your free copy here.

You don’t have to chase the next big thing to feel proud of your life.
You don’t have to “move on” or pretend it doesn’t hurt.
You don’t have to keep pushing to prove that you matter.

You’re allowed to feel peace, love, purpose, and joy—even without a child.

So if IVF didn’t work and you’re wondering what now… this episode is your starting point.

Tune in.
And let’s begin—together.

If you are childless after infertility and wondering how to move forward without the future you dreamed of, this powerful conversation with Jody Day will meet you right where you are.

In this episode, we explore what it truly means to grieve childlessness and how embracing that grief can lead to deep healing, creativity, and purpose. Jody shares her personal story, her insights from years of working in the childless-not-by-choice space, and how grief can evolve from something you endure into something you grow through.

Inside this episode:

• Why grief is not an event but a skill
  
  

• What it means to experience disenfranchised grief as a childless woman
  
  

• How to feel seen in a society that avoids your pain
  
  

• What it takes to build your own support network as you age
  
  

• Why asking for help is a form of strength and connection
  
  

Unforgettable quotes from Jody Day:

• “Grief is not an event. It’s a skill.”
  
  

• “You’re not needy. You have needs. You’re human.”
  
  

• “We grieve that which we have loved.”
  
  

• “Grief is the emotion that allows us to let go of what was in order to embrace what’s next.”
  
  

• “I look back at the woman who tried so hard and say: You didn’t know more was available to you.”
  
  

Whether you are early in your grief or further down the path, this episode will remind you that you are not alone, and that you still have the power to build a life you love.

You are not too late. You are not alone.
You may be childless, but your story still matters. This episode will remind you that healing is possible, connection is available, and the life ahead of you still holds meaning.

Helpful links and resources:

🎧 Download: The Top 27 Things People Say When You’re Childless (...and How to Respond)

📞 Book a Free 45-Minute Thrive Call with Lana and create a personalized plan for living a fulfilling life without children

📘 Explore Jody Day’s work: Gateway Women

💌 Subscribe to her Substack: Gateway Elderwomen
📱 Follow Lana on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok

About Jody Day:

Jody is the English-Irish founder of Gateway Women, the world’s best-known support and advocacy network for childless women. Often described as the founder of the global childless movement, she is an integrative psychotherapist, two-time TEDx speaker, author, and thought leader. Her best-selling book Living the Life Unexpected: How to Find Hope, Meaning and a Fulfilling Future Without Children has become essential reading for women navigating life without motherhood.

Jody has been a World Childless Week Ambassador since 2017, was chosen as one of the BBC’s 100 Women in 2013, and named a UK Digital Woman of the Year in 2021. She is a former Fellow in Social Innovation at Cambridge Judge Business School and was a founding board member of the UK charity Ageing Without Children. Today, she writes the popular Substack Gateway Elderwomen, which explores aging and elderhood without motherhood, and is developing her ALTERKIN Project to create local mutual-aid communities for those aging without children.