A Life Beyond Labels: Lessons from Professor Gayle Letherby
“It’s part of me—but it doesn’t define me.” — Professor Gayle Letherby
In episode 75 of our podcast, we listened—intently, emotionally, and with tears at times—to Professor Gayle Letherby share her journey through childlessness, loss, and what came next. For those of us who are childless not by choice, her voice felt like both a mirror and a map: reflecting our lived experience while offering a sense of direction, purpose, and hope.
Gayle’s story begins with a miscarriage at a time when there was little support, no online communities, and few words to describe what she was going through. That experience set her on a path that would shape the rest of her life into decades of research, advocacy, and writing about childlessness, grief, and identity.
And what a path it has been.
What stood out to us was how Gayle talked about the emotional complexity of being childless. We feel that sadness and the longing, but a new area of exploration for us was the ambivalence that is so rarely spoken about. Society often expects us to be either desperate to have children or to be completely certain we never wanted them. Gayle doesn’t shy away from those contradictions in her studies.
Gayle’s podcast episode reminded us that being childless isn’t never a failure. It’s a life that has much value, creativity, connection, and even joy, and a life in which storytelling, research, community, and friendship can take root and flourish.
One of the most powerful takeaways from this conversation was how Gayle uses storytelling in academia, as memoir, and fiction, for healing, for truth-telling, and for changing how society understands childlessness. She spoke about writing through grief, about being her participants’ “soapbox,” about using creative writing to reach people that academic journals can’t. We can share stories as a form of activism to feel less alone, to be heard and to make sense of life. That feels like a fullness as it’s what our guests have been doing on the Full Stop podcast. Childless people bring many riches to the world, not in spite of our experiences - because of them.
This episode isn’t just for those of us in the CNBC community. It’s also for our supporters and cheerleaders - the partners, friends, therapists, educators, and anyone who wants to better understand the emotional landscape of childlessness.
It demonstrates the importance of creating spaces where stories like Gayle’s can be shared, not hidden. Where we don’t reduce someone to “less,” but instead open up space to see their wholeness.
Because, as Gayle says:
“We’re all more than one thing.”
Listen to Episode 75 and download the show notes, transcript and connect with Professor Letherby
