Claire

How are you feeling today?

Mostly really good. I feel like my life has been on hold for years, trying to get pregnant or recovering from miscarriages, so now I'm over the worst of the grief I'm looking to the future with a sense of hope. I still get triggers, but I have an amazing life today which I absolutely cherish.

What are you most proud of?

The fact I'm still here and not just surviving any more. I have suffered from depression since childhood, and when the reality hit me that I would never be a mother, my depression got a lot worse. But the fact I'm on the other side, I'm living a great life and I actually like the person I am is just brilliant.

What is your biggest learning in life so far?

I can survive more than I think I can. There were times I thought the grief would overwhelm and break me, but what it has done is make me a stronger, more compassionate person.

What are your hopes for the future?

I'm currently doing a degree part time, so I'm hoping to use that in a new career working in nutrition. My husband and I have recently bought our first home together (after being together for 14 years!) so the plan is to pay that off as quickly as possible so he can retire and we can live a long healthy life together with our cats.

What would you tell your younger self?

I would tell myself that you are an awesome, incredible woman, and however life turns out, you will be okay.

When or where are you happiest?

I'm happiest when I'm anywhere with my husband and my dogs but I'm a homebody so I'm especially happy with them at home.

What would you like to say to wider society?

Put yourselves in our shoes, have some compassion and empathy for what we have been through and what we might still be going through. I think on any subject, not just childlessness, as a society we can be very judgemental, but nobody really knows what somebody is going through. So treat everybody with kindness, and in particular, treat people how you would wish to be treated yourself.