The Full Stop
The Full Stop
Michael Hughes, Berenice Smith and Sarah Lawrence
Making Sense of Childlessness
56 minutes Posted Aug 26, 2026 at 12:41 pm.
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What if the question "why don't you have children?" was one you spent your doctorate trying to answer for yourself?
That's exactly what Dr Naomi Menahem did. And what she found wasn't the misery she'd half expected. It was something nuanced and defiant, and ultimately more hopeful.
In Episode 89, Naomi joins us from Byron Bay to share her research on circumstantial childlessness, the concept of the Deferral Iceberg, and why she's chosen "robust pragmatism" over the quiet resignation of "acceptance." She also tells us about Childless Conversation — her new monthly in-person gathering for women who've been silent for too long.