By Chance Avenue

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 th...

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...

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, the...

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, an...

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 “breath...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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....

Host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss shares a surprise insight from a recent therapy session: beneath current relationship tension, she’s grieving the loss of sisterhood and a deep craving for kinship with women who truly know her. She reflects on longing for belonging since college and explains how infertility and loss can quietly isolate women as social circles shift around kids, causing friendships to dr...

Host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss reflects on how years of trying to become a mother consumed her identity and buried the question “What do I want?” After repeated heartbreak, she realized her personal growth wasn’t just preparation for motherhood—it was building her, and it led her back to what had always been true: she loves serving and helping people, which inspired her podcast and By Chance Avenue. S...

Host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss shares a personal reflection on how complicated family dynamics—drama, miscommunication, hurt, and dismissal—can feel especially heavy when you don’t have the family you dreamed of, adding a second layer of grief. She notes that while she and Victor are doing well, a family of two can feel painfully quiet when outside relationships get messy, and she acknowledges listene...

Host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss shares her experience entering perimenopause/menopause after years of infertility treatments and how it surfaced as fatigue, brain fog, mood changes, and feeling “off,” initially mistaken for depression. After trusting her instincts and seeing a hormone specialist, she learned her labs suggested menopause, which triggered a new, unexpected layer of grief by making the en...

Host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss and her husband Victor recount their Baja, Mexico trip to a bay where gray whale mothers and calves approach boats to be petted, a rare experience they booked two years in advance after discovering it through The Bucket List Family. They describe the long, all-day overland journey from San Diego, the remote cabin accommodations, early-morning boat outings among hundreds...

Host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss reflects on what she wishes she could tell her past self at the start of her grief-filled journey: that her body did not fail her, and that both she and her body were doing the best they could. She shares how the absence of a guide or community deepened her suffering, and encourages listeners to find support so they don’t have to navigate loss alone. Elizabeth explores h...

Host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss marks the 100th episode of By Chance Avenue by thanking listeners and inviting them to share what they want more of in the next chapter of the show. Building on episode 97’s foundation of processing emotions, she explains that moving forward after infertility isn’t a dramatic transformation, but a gradual shift—like realizing on an ordinary day that the “cloud” of grief...

Host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss explores what it means to give yourself permission to feel real, unapologetic joy without guilt, especially after loss. She shares her personal journey through miscarriage, years of failed fertility treatments, and the grief and anger that surfaced during the adoption process, including the emotional weight of having to “prove” worthiness in an adoptive family profile. A...

In this hearftelt episode host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss explores the identity crisis that can come with living without children not by choice, asking: who are you if not the woman who was supposed to become a mother? She shares her own journey through unsuccessful fertility treatments, opening to adoption, and grieving both the child she wouldn’t have and the experience of pregnancy she longed for. F...

In this heartfelt episode, host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss returns to the basics of what it really means to “process your emotions,” especially in the context of infertility grief and being childless not by choice. She shares her personal history of growing up in the Philippines suppressing emotions, being teased for sensitivity, and later experiencing a breakdown in her early twenties that led to a di...

In the second episode of this heartfelt series, host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss explores the journey of moving forward without children. Elizabeth discusses the emotional process of letting go of old dreams, creating space for new ones, and finding hope and excitement amidst uncertainty. She shares personal anecdotes, including the symbols of her past dreams and how she reimagines her future with new g...

In the first part of this two-part series, host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss addresses the challenges and fears of deciding to move forward without children. She shares her personal journey from the initial terror of the unknown to finding a way to live intentionally. Elizabeth offers insights on how to navigate uncertainties, emphasizing the importance of staying connected with loved ones and taking lif...

In this deeply personal episode, host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss shares her journey of self-forgiveness, especially related to her struggles with infertility. Inspired by a passage from 'The Comfort Book' by Matt Hague, Elizabeth discusses the subconscious blame she placed on herself and the profound impact of letting go of these feelings. Through therapy, meditation, and various mindfulness practices,...

In this heartfelt episode host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss shares five essential tools that supported her emotional and mental well-being after deciding to stop pursuing parenthood. She emphasizes the importance of creating a personal toolbox of practices and rituals, including meditation, journaling, travel, therapy, and community. Elizabeth shares her journey of coping with deep emotions and finding n...

In this deeply personal episode, host Elizabeth Tiglao-Guss is joined by her husband Victor to mark two years since they decided to stop trying to have children through adoption. They share their emotional journey, reflecting on the challenges, the grief, and the healing process. They discuss how their lives have changed, the support they found in each other, and the newfound freedom they've embra...