Dec 24, 2024
In our premiere episode, we will discuss the experience of
being involuntarily childless in a pronatalist world, through
personal experiences, and the need for change. Our guest for this
episode is Hilary Fennell.
Hilary is an award-winning programme maker and journalist with
extensive experience of working in television and radio as a series
producer and director. In her ground-breaking radio
documentary, Childless, Hilary Fennell explores the realities and
dynamics of being involuntarily childless in a child-centered
society.
Her voice as a childless not by choice woman, is interwoven
with the stories of six other women. Each of the women speak to
their diverse journeys in coming to terms with living a life
without children.
Currently, it is estimated that one in five women in Ireland
will not have a child, by the time they reach age 45. It is further
estimated that only 10% of these women are childless by choice
(child free). Childless, focuses on the other 90% of women, who
represent an often less represented group.
This group is often silenced by the taboo nature of this
topic, which remains today, despite the number of women living
without children, not by choice. Further, these statistics do not
include other genders. A majority of countries primarily track the
parental status of women only.
Societies have become obsessed with motherhood and the
idealization of human reproduction, supported by pronatalist
rhetoric, which is reinforced through policy, in the workplace and
socially.
Hilary navigates the social, physical and emotional impact of
childlessness throughout her documentary, with skillful artistry
and a full heart, amidst the shadows of grief, a call for social
change, and the lightness of learning to live a full and meaningful
life.
Please join us to learn more about her incredible radio
documentary, and the issues that matter most to those who are
living without children, involuntarily.
Hilary Fennell is an award-winning programme maker and
journalist with extensive experience of working in television and
radio as a series producer and director. Her work runs the gamut
from current affairs to arts and human interest and has been in
competition at many festivals worldwide. Hilary has worked in both
the Irish State Broadcaster RTÉ and the independent sector.
As a journalist, she been interviewing and writing for various
national media for over twenty years.
She is also a recognised fiction writer, recent prizes include
The Sean O'Faolain Short Story Competition.
Hilary also lectures in Broadcast Production at the National
Film School at IADT and does presenting and voiceover
work.
She originally graduated from Trinity College Dublin with an
honours law degree (LL.B, Bachelor in Laws) and qualified as a
barrister from The Kings Inns Dublin (BL, Barrister-at-Law).
See hilary@hilaryfennell.com
