The Motherless Mothers

In this episode, we’re joined by Sam Rose—Emmy Award-winning TV producer, NY Times bestselling ghostwriter, and author of the memoir Giving Up the Ghost. After losing her mother to suicide in 2020, Sam found herself grappling with a kind of grief that resists easy understanding—shock, unanswered questions, and the search for meaning in something that feels inherently senseless. What began as note-...

We’ve told our stories before, but this feels like a different conversation. More about where we are now, what’s changed with our grief, what’s still the same and how being in this work is shaping our own experience of grief in ways we didn’t necessarily expect. TMM is two years old, and we are working so hard to bring this dream to life – but what does that feel like for us and our own experience...

Clare has experienced a form of grief and loss that started in childhood. She felt unsupported growing up, which developed into her feelings towards her mum being invalidated by the rest of her family. Clare has journeyed a painful path, but one that she has also led to empowerment as she focuses on raising her own two grown-up boys.  Clare talks to us today to set the record straight on that impo...

Geraldine’s experience of mother loss didn’t come through death, but through the painful decision to walk away. After years of being her mother’s carer from the age of 12, Geraldine found herself in a deeply enmeshed and emotionally harmful relationship. As she grew older and began building a life and family of her own, the dynamic intensified—control, manipulation, and isolation became part of he...

Geri is mum to two boys and a mum-influencer with over 30,000 followers. She’s musical and cares deeply for young people, a love that led her to run London Music Box, a musical school for students on the Autism Spectrum and mainstream students.  But what Geri doesn’t always share is that she lost her best friend seven years ago, her mum. Even saying her name brings tears to Geri’s eyes. We’re chat...

Sophie lost her mother as a teenager—a loss that shaped not just her grief but the woman, mother, and leader she would become. Now a mother of two young sons, Sophie reflects on what it means to grow up without a mother while raising children of her own and how that early loss continues to echo through everyday moments of motherhood. In this episode, we explore losing your mother during your forma...

 Lou is a woman in business - she owns her own business, she’s a creative director and has been shaping businesses from the ground up since 2004. In recent years, she has embraced personal healing, creating space from her mum to reflect, grow and reconnect with herself. We sit down with Lou today to talk estrangement, making the right choices for you and how creativity has played a part in her sto...

In February 2022, everything changed in a matter of thirty-five days. Our guest today joins us to discuss the reality of a pancreatic cancer diagnosis that left no room for long goodbyes. While her daughter was just two and a half, she was forced to navigate the sharp end of grief and the constant demands of early motherhood at the same time. Today, we talk about what happens when you don't ge...

In this episode, TMM co-founders Lou and Adina come together to reflect and share what’s going on behind the scenes at The Motherless Mothers. Although their work now spans different spaces - Lou in workplace research, marketing and PR, and Adina in NHS research, group therapy and TMM’s counselling and antenatal support offerings, their shared mission remains the same: to make motherhood for women...

What do you do when your world ends and begins in the same breath? This week, Adina sits down with Megan, who lost her mother just six weeks before discovering she was pregnant with her first child. Megan opens up about the raw, often "taboo" side of grief: the stinging jealousy of seeing siblings’ children with their grandmother, the crushing isolation of local playgroups, and the "charity case"...

What does it mean to lose your mom before you even know her? In this deeply moving conversation, we sit down with Miranda Malone, aka Dead Mom Therapist, about the lifelong impact of losing a mother at just five months old. We delve into identity, relationships, self-worth and not getting over the grief. Ever. This episode is for anyone who has experienced losing a mum young, loves someone who has...

Abigail’s story is one of deep contradiction: anger and grief, motherhood and loss. When Abigail’s mother died unexpectedly during her pregnancy, their relationship was already complicated. Years of on-and-off estrangement, unresolved conflict, and longing for a different kind of mother left her grieving not just the woman she lost—but the one she never had. In the weeks after her mother’s death,...

Mum-of-three Sarah lost her mum suddenly a week before Christmas when she was only 15 years old. Years later, when Sarah became a mum herself, the absence of her mum brought new layers of grief, alongside birth trauma and postnatal struggles that were often misunderstood. In this honest chat, Sarah shares how motherhood without her own mum has shaped the fabric of her life, how being a highly sens...

In this special episode, we share a conversation originally recorded on the Jess Press Play podcast , now brought to The Motherless Mothers listeners. Lou, Adina, and Jess explore their experiences as motherless mothers—how grief shaped their lives, the inspiration behind building The Motherless Mothers, and the ways they’ve turned loss into a supportive, global community. From personal stories an...

In this episode, we sit down with PJ Ellis, former Big Brother housemate, charity founder, and now the creator of Mommy’s Boy, a brave new space for men grieving the loss of their mums. PJ, who grew up in Birmingham and has spent his life championing community through projects like LoveBrum, joins us on the podcast to explore what really happens when you lose a parent - how the grief doesn’t just...

Last summer, Liv found us on Instagram with one simple but powerful truth – parenting without your own mother is different, and meeting other motherless mothers changed everything. In this episode, she shares what it really looks like to raise children while carrying your own grief. The quiet moments no one sees. The milestones that sting. The strength you build because you have to. We talk about...

*Trigger warning – this episode talks about suicide. Some losses leave us with stories. Others leave us with silence. In this episode, we're joined by Ashton about becoming a motherless mum through suicide and what it means to mother while carrying grief that doesn’t resolve neatly. Together they reflect on survival, community, and finding meaning through service and connection. Love, Lou &amp...

Health anxiety isn’t something you’re taught to deal with as a first-time mum. But after Sophie became a mum in 2023, three years after her mum died, she finds herself confronting a relationship with health worries. What does this look like? When did it start? Why is it so difficult to live with? Sophie bears all in this honest chat about toddler mumming without her.  We know you'll enjoy this...

When Megan first got in touch, we genuinely got chills after reading her email. Honest, raw and had a way of describing motherhood we’d never heard before - “We can see our friends and family on their islands, they’re waving and asking how we are, but they can’t quite reach us. And I can see them on their islands, with connecting bridges to their Mums’ islands. So while we are loved by many, it’s...

Sydney lost her mum to cancer three years ago and is now navigating motherhood with her little girl while carrying the weight of that loss. A dedicated volunteer for TMM, she bravely spoke out on Mother Loss Awareness Day about being denied mental health services because her grief wasn’t seen as “severe enough”, and therefore, she didn’t meet the threshold. In this episode, Sydney shares her exper...

In this episode, we speak with Evodia, a twin mum whose mother died during childbirth. She opens up about growing up motherless, how becoming a mother changed her relationship with loss, and why she now works as a coach for motherless mothers. It's a heartbreaking and beautiful episode you won't want to miss. Love, Lou & Adina To find out more about Evodia's coaching for motherless...

Losing your mum before her time is never something you see in life’s plan. Losing her slowly, piece by piece, is on another level. In today’s episode, Kennedy steps up to talk about what a genetic form of dementia did to her mum, how mother loss can be slow, scary, and unexpected, and how she mothers her two girls while missing her mum.  For anyone whose mum has dementia or who is working through...

Ann is the founder of Full Feedings, a community member, and a motherless mother raising three children. In this episode, she joins Adina to talk about losing her mother to pancreatic cancer, navigating divorce and single motherhood, and building a business in the depths of grief. Together, they explore how creation can be a lifeline and how mothers keep going when there is no one to catch them. L...

Alex Bollen is many things: a researcher, a postnatal practitioner, author of Motherdom: Breaking Free of Bad Science and Good Mother Myths and Adina’s neighbour. As three motherless mothers, they explore how grief reshapes motherhood, how cultural narratives fail women, and why community matters more than perfection. Drawing on research, postnatal work, and lived experience, Alex offers insight i...

In this episode, Adina and Lou are joined by licensed marriage and family therapist and community member Steph Bayan. As a motherless mother herself, Steph speaks to the layered identity shifts that happen when you become a mother without your own mum. Together, they explore how grief reshapes who we are, how it shows up in everyday parenting moments, and why community and shared ritual can be so...