If your fertility journey didn’t lead to motherhood, it’s easy to feel like everything else is just second best. After years of IVF, IUI, and trying everything to have a baby, you never imagined navigating a life without children. And now, instead of embracing the opportunities in front of you, you might feel stuck, wondering if true joy, fulfillment, and connection are even possible for you.

But here’s the truth: You CAN create a life that feels meaningful, fulfilling, and deeply connected because you CAN.

In this episode of The So Now What? Podcast, I’m sharing how my recent injury and surgery forced me to shift my focus from what I can’t do to what I can and how this same mindset shift is essential for embracing your life after infertility.

Too many women who are childless after infertility struggle to see the gifts available to them. You might hold back from fully living, believing nothing could ever measure up to motherhood. But when you start doing things because you CAN instead of focusing on what’s missing, you’ll begin to create a life that feels aligned, purposeful, and truly yours.

✔️ Why it’s so easy to overlook the opportunities available to you after infertility ✔️ How my experience recovering from surgery helped me reframe what’s possible ✔️ How to stop treating your life as a backup plan and start embracing it fully ✔️ The simple shifts that help you find joy, fulfillment, and meaning without guilt ✔️ How I help my clients in Thrive After Infertility create lives that feel truly theirs

You don’t have to stay stuck in the feeling that life without children is less than what it could have been. The things you CAN do, the dreams you CAN pursue, the adventures you CAN take, the ways you CAN show up for yourself are not second best. They are your life. And when you begin to truly live because you CAN, everything starts to shift.

📖 My new book, So Now What?, is coming out in April! Enter to win a free signed copy here

📞 Book a free Thrive Call to start creating a life you love without the children you dreamed of. Schedule here

The Other's Day Brunch is May 10, 2025 in Chicago. Click here to get on the waitlist!

📩 Download my free guide: The Top 27 Things People Say When You Are Childless (...and how to respond). Get it here

📲 Follow me on social media for daily inspiration: Instagram → @lana.manikowskiTikTok → @lana.manikowski 🎧 Catch up on past episodes of The So Now What? Podcast. Listen here

If this episode resonates with you, share it with a friend who needs to hear it. And if you haven’t yet, leaving a review helps more women find this space and know they are not alone.

Until next time, remember: You CAN create a life you love because you CAN. 💛