In this reflective end-of-year episode, we - Berenice, Sarah, and Michael - look back on the past year, the growth of the podcast, and the conversations that have shaped the Full Stop Community and childlessness. We also turn gently towards the holidays, and Christmas, a season that can bring joy, grief, pressure, and loneliness in equal measure.

In this episode we share messages of hope and coping techniques to help you through the festive season. Our guests share their experiences, and as always, there may be some mentions of infertility treatment and miscarriage in this podcast. We were joined by Helen Segal, Bindi Shah, Professor Krista Cooper, Clare Elleray (Mae) and Tessa Broad. You’ll also find some lovely messages from past guests too.

In this episode, we were joined by our , Sarah Roberts from The Empty Cradle, Stephanie Phillips from World Childless Week, Andy Harrod from Invisible Childlessness with Jody Day from Gateway Women to share our reflections on the year passed and our hopes for 2021.

Michael, Sarah and Berenice met up to share their thoughts on how Christmas went for them and their thoughts on the New Year. This is an entirely off-the-cuff recording, completely unedited and we hope it brings you comfort as we head into 2020, at a time that be reflective and brings it’s own challenges.

Christmas is hard work at the best of times, but being part of this community only makes it harder. Yes, we get it and that’s why we’ve done something different with episode 8 – The Alternative Kings and Queens speech.

In this episode Michael, Sarah and Berenice were joined by Emily Scott from IVF Fairness and Mind to talk about coping during the holidays. We shared our own experiences of how we manage at times of celebration. Emily chatted to us about good mental health as part of the team at Mind and as a result of her journey.