YDGM Ep 021: Rachael Talbot-Frank

My guest this week is Rachael Talbot-Frank. Rachael doesn’t have children of her own and is not a mother.

These last few weeks and in the next few episodes, the topic has been about women who do not have children. I’ll be speaking to women who share their story of not becoming a mother. It’s something I think people should hear about. There’s always that uncomfortable, politically correct awkwardness that looms over us when we address it. There’s always the elephant in the room and the curious, what’s her story? And I think many women who aren’t mothers don’t get a chance to tell theirs.

Rachael’s experience is possibly unique because for her, everything changed when she was twenty-one. Something happened to her body which she had to heal tremendously from on an emotional and mental level, not to mention learn how to cope on a physical level. This shift is what catapulted her relationship to herself as a woman without children. It also formed her view on the possibility of not having children and why she didn’t want to risk passing down her chronic illness. This made her believe that there’s a natural reason for her NOT to have children.

Inside her journey to heal from her illness, to experience shame that her body ‘failed’ her and then having to go through the process of whether or not she wanted to become a mother, Rachel has discovered her own power within herself as a woman who is nurturing, caring, beautiful, and owning her amazing body.

Listen to Rachel share her experience in the context of not being a mother and her unique story talking about health challenges and how she’s living a life she loves and continues to love.