By Chance Avenue

Host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss reflects on taking on an unofficial maternal role through her large family, with about 11 nieces and nephews and 10 godchildren, beginning when her first niece was born as she turned seven. As the youngest until age 16, she became hands-on early—learning caregiving tasks and later building close, sibling-like bonds with her oldest nieces and nephews—eventually becoming the aunt who was consistently available for all of them to talk and vent. She also describes being a “secondary” godmother not officially listed on church paperwork but still fully committed, emphasizing that a title never determined how she showed up. She acknowledges that this does not replace longing or grief for one’s own child, but argues that children in your life deserve your care regardless of role, and that many forms of mothering are real without the “mom” label.An Unofficial RoleGrowing Up a TitaBonding Through the YearsGodmother Without PaperworkTitles Don’t Define LoveHolding Grief and Giving LoveShow Up Without a LabelFinal Takeaway and GoodbyeConnect with Elizabeth:IG: @bychanceavenueStay connected & up to date with all things By ChanceWant to share your story? Apply to be a guest!

Host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss shares a long-held tradition with Victor during their season of trying and waiting for a baby: collecting small, meaningful travel souvenirs intended for a future nursery, including a stuffed St. Bernard from Switzerland, a giraffe door stopper from Kenya, a stork from a French market, and a dolphin wind chime from the Maldives. She explains she still keeps these items because they now represent nostalgia and who they were—two hopeful people exploring the world—rather than only loss. She contrasts this with letting go of clothes and toys bought for two failed adoptions (one boy, one girl), a healing ritual guided by therapy. She encourages listeners to move beyond one-size-fits-all rules about discarding reminders and instead ask, “What does this mean to me right now?” to decide what to keep or release as grief evolves.A Waiting TraditionSouvenirs For The NurseryNostalgia Not SadnessAdvice To Let GoThe Healing RitualNot One Size Fits AllMeaning Changes Over TimeThe Question To AskChoosing What StaysClosing EncouragementConnect with Elizabeth:IG: @bychanceavenueStay connected & up to date with all things By ChanceWant to share your story? Apply to be a guest!

Host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss shares how an “On This Day” phone memory resurfaced photos and videos from five years ago of the six-month-old baby she and Victor were supposed to adopt, noting it may be triggering. Seeing the baby’s face sparked tenderness and curiosity about how he is now, but a photo of Victor laughing while holding him hit hardest, highlighting what Victor lost and her desire to have seen him as a dad. After exchanging brief texts and getting Victor’s consent to post a back-view image, Victor later admitted the post made him emotional. Elizabeth reflects that life is good now, yet grief can appear unexpectedly and doesn’t move in a straight line; healing doesn’t mean grief stops, but that you can feel it without being consumed, and being caught off guard doesn’t mean you’re back at square one.On This Day MemoryPhotos That StayedVictor Holding HimSharing The PostHealing With GriefFeeling Neutral NowClosing ThoughtsConnect with Elizabeth:IG: @bychanceavenueStay connected & up to date with all things By ChanceWant to share your story? Apply to be a guest!

Host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss reflects on a week that contrasted her prior discussion of the “messy middle,” sharing how her heart felt unexpectedly full through layered moments of connection. A lifelong best friend visited and they spent time eating, beachgoing, laughing, and enjoying K-pop and K-dramas; another close friend came for a soul-filling night of conversation. She hosted a brunch where three friends from different chapters of her life met and bonded, followed by a mahjong gathering at her home that left her grateful and surprised by how social and supported she feels. She emphasizes that meaningful friendships are built with intention, time, and courage, offering hope to those feeling lonely. She also shares being a Midi Health ambassador and joining a brand photo shoot with six other women, leaving inspired by the community and mission around menopause care and being heard.From Messy to JoyBrunch Nerves PayoffMahjong and Social SeasonHow Friendships GrowMidi Health BackstoryAmbassador Photoshoot WeekJoy After Hard SeasonsClosing ThanksCheck out MIDI health http://bit.ly/3QHmKZ0Connect with Elizabeth:IG: @bychanceavenueStay connected & up to date with all things By ChanceWant to share your story? Apply to be a guest!

Host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss reflects on living in a “messy middle” where her life feels both joyful and heavy: she’s making new friends, enjoying a new hobby, and feeling excited about projects, while also processing difficult new news about her dad’s health after last year’s serious health scare and caregiving season. She shares how being the only one in her large Filipino family without children has led her to place extra responsibility on herself—feeling she must be more available, justify her existence, and preempt potential judgment—despite knowing childfree people don’t inherently have more bandwidth. She wrestles with guilt about honoring grief while continuing to build her life, and concludes that two truths can coexist. She encourages listeners, especially those without kids, to name and acknowledge this self-imposed load as a first step to change.Living in ContradictionDad’s Health UpdateThe Messy MiddleCarrying Extra WeightLove vs Self GrowthTwo Truths Can CoexistIf You’re Childfree TooClosing ThoughtsConnect with Elizabeth:IG: @bychanceavenueStay connected & up to date with all things By ChanceWant to share your story? Apply to be a guest!

Host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss shares the fuller context behind an Instagram video about returning to Joshua Tree for her 13th wedding anniversary with Victor, contrasting it with a trip nearly three years earlier when they went to the desert to decide whether to renew their adoption home study and continue a decade-long infertility journey. On that earlier trip, amid emotional weight and a storm, they had a vulnerable conversation and chose to end the process, with Elizabeth fearing Victor might later regret the decision. Revisiting the same desert recently, she notices a new sense of peace, contentment, and joy alongside ongoing sadness, and emphasizes that this inward peace comes from her own grieving and healing work, not from having a partner, offering hope to listeners wherever they are in their journey.Why Share AgainAnniversary Desert TripThe Hard Joshua Tree DecisionStorm and Final ConversationReturning With PeacePeace Comes From WithinClosing Reflections and HopeConnect with Elizabeth:IG: @bychanceavenueStay connected & up to date with all things By ChanceWant to share your story? Apply to be a guest!

Host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss speaks with Sarah, co-founder of The Otherhood Collective, about Sarah’s path toward living without children and how the project began with longtime friend and co-founder Lisa Levy. Sarah is the co-founder of The Otherhood Collective, a community and storytelling platform that gives voice to those navigating life outside traditional expectations of motherhood, family, and identity. With nearly two decades of experience working with brands like Amazon, ESPN, Disney, NBC, and Paramount, she’s passionate about creating spaces where diverse stories are heard, celebrated, and empower others to live authentically.Sarah shares trying to conceive in her early 30s, undergoing medical testing and hormone treatments, being told IVF likely wouldn’t work, and choosing not to pursue surrogacy, donor paths, or adoption due to emotional capacity amid repeated family losses, including the deaths of her parents, her husband’s brother, a niece, and later her mother-in-law’s decline. She discusses redirecting love toward nieces, nephews, and community, the ongoing grief without regret, and a non-label approach to “childless/childfree.” They describe The Otherhood Collective’s year of storytelling content, the catharsis participants feel sharing with strangers, plans for in-person events, and where to find the Collective online, including a new Substack.Her Motherhood Journey BeginsFertility Treatments and PausesChoosing Another PathLoss and Mental CapacityRegret, Grief, and AcceptanceFounding The Otherhood CollectiveChildfree vs Childless LabelsCommunity Threads and StorytellingFuture Plans and In-Person EventsDefining a Full Life TodayClosing and Where to Find ThemConnect with Sarah:https://theotherhoodcollective.substack.com/YT, TT, IG, FB, LI all @theotherhoodcollectiveConnect with Elizabeth:IG: @bychanceavenueStay connected & up to date with all things By ChanceWant to share your story? Apply to be a guest!

Host Elizabeth Tiglaso-Guss reflects on how, during grief and loss around not having children, people need empathetic community that “gets it,” and affirms the value of childless-not-by-choice spaces like the one they are building. They also warn that the same supportive bubble can become too small and limit growth if it becomes someone’s whole world, and they gently encourage listeners to “breathe different air” without abandoning the community or bypassing grief. Using examples like taking American mahjong lessons, hosting a beginner mahjong soiree where no one knew their story, and attending salsa dancing workshops, they describe the freedom of reconnecting with parts of themselves that existed before this journey. They also share their preference for reading general books on grief, healing, mindset, and growth rather than books centered on childlessness, and invite listeners to try one hobby, friend group, or space where they can simply be themselves.A Gentle ContradictionWhy Empathy MattersThe Bubble EffectStep Outside BrieflyReclaim Old JoysChoosing Different BooksMore Than One IdentityOne Small ExperimentCommunity Plus GrowthConnect with Elizabeth:IG: @bychanceavenueStay connected & up to date with all things By ChanceWant to share your story? Apply to be a guest!

In this interview, Steph (Stephanie Phillips), founder of World Childless Week, shares her path to childlessness: after leaving an abusive relationship, she and her future husband tried to conceive in her late 30s, received devastating news from a doctor at age 39, and declined NHS-funded IVF due to timing, low odds, and her inability to lose weight while grieving. She describes navigating shock, isolation, and pronatalist culture, finding a crucial Facebook support group, and how she and her husband largely processed grief separately. Now nearly 60, she explains grief’s evolving “triggers,” speaking openly, and fears and planning around aging without children. Stephanie spent a large part of her twenties in an abusive relationship so took the contraceptive pill to prevent a child being born into that situation. In her early thirties she met her husband to be but they didn't try to conceive until nearing forty. At the age of 39 she was told by an unsympathetic doctor "if he manages to get you pregnant it is highly unlikely you'll carry full term". She knew in that moment, she would never be a mum. In 2016 Stephanie Joy Phillips founded Childless Path To Acceptance, a free support group on Facebook that welcomes anyone who is childless by circumstance, infertility, chance or tough choices. In 2017 after realising there was no national recognition of the childless community Stephanie had an idea for a global awareness week. She mentioned her idea to several childless friends who encouraged her to pursue her idea. Inspired by their enthusiasm, she spoke to the childless not by choice community who rallied round and stepped forward to offer their support and participation. Six weeks later World Childless Week went live for the first time. In 2026 World Childless Week will be celebrating ten years of giving the childless community a platform where they can find their voice and share their stories with confidence.Stephanie lives in Worcestershire with her husband and two rescue cats, Storm and Tea-Cup. She enjoys gardening, arts and crafts, a good book, dining out and relaxing in front of the television with a puzzle book and one of her two cats snuggled up beside her.Meet StephHer Childless JourneyDiagnosis and IVF DecisionFinding Support OnlineMarriage Under GriefSpeaking Up PubliclyAging Without ChildrenAging Without Kids PlanningSilver Linings And PreparednessWhy World Childless Week BeganChoosing September 16First Year On FacebookChildless Versus ChildfreeGrowth Website And WebinarsCommon Threads And IsolationHealing Worthiness And AnonymityMeaningful Life And Getting InvolvedConnect with Stephanie:https://www.facebook.com/WorldChildlessWeekhttps://www.instagram.com/worldchildlessweekhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-phillips1966/Connect with Elizabeth:IG: @bychanceavenueStay connected & up to date with all things By ChanceWant to share your story? Apply to be a guest!

Host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss reflects on a week of being sick at home and noticing unexpected reminders of what she and her husband, Victor, don’t have. She shares three moments that landed differently: a Facebook post claiming you don’t know love until you have children, a coworker telling Victor he “highly recommend[s]” having kids, and an Apple TV show, Shrinking, featuring a simplified adoption storyline with a happy ending. While not triggered in the way she once would have been, Elizabeth describes feeling the weight of their journey and their two failed adoptions, and acknowledges that even after healing, random comments or media can still catch you off guard. She encourages listeners to notice these moments without over-meaning them, remember they pass, and know they aren’t alone.Sick Week ReflectionsThe Love Quote StingCoworker Kid TalkAdoption Plot SurpriseNot Triggered But AwareHealing Still Has MomentsYou Are Not AloneClosing Take CareConnect with Elizabeth:IG: @bychanceavenueStay connected & up to date with all things By ChanceWant to share your story? Apply to be a guest!

Host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss speaks with a New York-based filmmaker about her multi-year journey through unexplained infertility, multiple IVF rounds beginning at age 38 in 2019, and the trauma of continuing treatment as the city shut down during the pandemic, including a failed transfer and chemical pregnancy. Lisa is the Co-Founder of The Otherhood Collective, a storytelling platform and community using real voices to challenge and reshape narratives around parenthood, identity, and belonging. After repeated cycles yielding one embryo that failed, health issues and surgery, she and her husband explored adoption but struggled with pandemic red tape, emotional readiness, and unspoken exhaustion before drifting toward acceptance that having children would not happen. She describes keeping the process secret, feeling unsupported, loneliness, and grief shifting from shame to sadness, especially around milestones like Mother’s Day. Seeking deeper representation, she and longtime friend Sarah created The Otherhood Collective to share layered, inclusive video stories that bridge divides between parents and non-parents and help people feel less alone.Starting the JourneyTrying to ConceiveIVF Meets PandemicRounds and SetbacksConsidering AdoptionLast IVF AttemptLetting It FadeGrief After TreatmentKeeping It SecretLoneliness and TherapyCreating OtherhoodWhere I Am NowSadness Without ShameAdvice for the ThickBeyond Black and WhiteFuture of OtherhoodFinal Thanks and WrapConnect with Lisa:LINKS:YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@TheOtherhoodCollectiveInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/theotherhoodcollective/TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@theotherhoodcollectiveLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-otherhood-collective/Website - https://www.theotherhoodcollective.comGet Involved - https://www.theotherhoodcollective.com/get-involved-1Connect with Elizabeth:IG: @bychanceavenueStay connected & up to date with all things By ChanceWant to share your story? Apply to be a guest!

Host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss opens an honest conversation about the unspoken worry many childfree women carry: what aging will look like without children and whether life will still feel full, enough, or lonely. Reflecting on her parents’ aging and a medical scare that led her and her husband, Victor, to care for them for months in California, she describes realizing that, as a Filipino raised in a culture where caring for elders is expected, the cycle of family caretaking may stop with her. She shares fears about needing support later in life, the possibility of assisted living, and the financial and emotional realities of having no one else to lean on, while acknowledging those facing this completely alone. Rather than offering “toxic positivity,” she validates the sadness, uncertainty, and fear, and invites ongoing conversations with other women, including older voices.The Unspoken FearAsking the Hard QuestionsParents Aging Reality CheckCulture of CaregivingWhen the Cycle StopsSpiraling Into the FuturePlanning for TwoSeeing Women AloneLiving Present Yet WonderingNo Toxic PositivityOpening the ConversationYou Are Not AloneClosing ThanksConnect with Elizabeth:IG: @bychanceavenueStay connected & up to date with all things By ChanceWant to share your story? Apply to be a guest!

Host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss reflects on the “comparison trap” in the context of living without children, sharing how it shows up in layered, sometimes contradictory ways. She describes beach days with her partner Victor where being surrounded by young families brings an unexpected sense of relief at not managing the exhaustion of toddlers, especially at 51 after trying IVF and adoption in her 40s. At the same time, conversations with friends who enjoy close relationships with their college-age and grown children spark curiosity and longing about what her own relationship with an adult child might have been like. She emphasizes that both relief and wondering can be true, that comparison can come and go without overtaking life, and that all emotions—envy, anger, resentment, or peace—are valid with no timeline for grief.Comparison Trap ReframedBeach Walks And NoiseRelief Without KidsThe Other Side Of ComparisonWondering About Adult KidsBoth Feelings Can CoexistLayers Of ComparisonPermission To Feel It AllClosing ThoughtsWhether you’re in the thick of grief or finally starting to feel like yourself again, there’s a name for where you are and a roadmap waiting for you.bychanceavenue.com/roadmapConnect with Elizabeth:IG: @bychanceavenueStay connected & up to date with all things By ChanceWant to share your story? Apply to be a guest!