Therese grew up assuming marriage and motherhood were simply part of her future, even though she sensed from early adulthood that neither felt right for her. It wasn't until she was 40, as she became a documentary filmmaker with her first film, I Was a Teenage Feminist, that she realized she was already living a fulfilling life. That awakening led her to examine — with meticulous research and a strong dose humor — the powerful influence of pronatalism in other films, including her most recent documentary, My So-Called Selfish Life.
See episode website for show notes, links, and transcript:
https://www.populationbalance.org/beyond-pronatalism-podcast/therese-shechter
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About Beyond Pronatalism
To have or not have kids is one of the biggest decisions we make in our lives, and yet how many of us know that we even have a choice about how we define and create our families?
Beyond Pronatalism host Nandita Bajaj interviews people from diverse backgrounds who are courageously and creatively navigating pronatalism - the powerful pressures to have children - whether from family, friends, or the culture at large. Through intimate conversations, they discuss how they are forging unconventional pathways to fulfillment, including redefining what family means to them - whether that means being childfree or childless, having biological children, adopting or fostering children or animals, or creating close-knit communities of friends and loved ones.
Beyond Pronatalism is brought to you by Population Balance - the only nonprofit organization advancing the rights and wellbeing of people, animals, and the planet by confronting pronatalism and other harmful ideologies.
Visit https://www.populationbalance.org/beyond-pronatalism-podcast to subscribe, learn more, and submit your story!
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