The Kids or Childfree Podcast

The Kids or Childfree Podcast

108. Emmalee Bierly & Jennifer Chaiken of ShrinkChicks on Friendships Between Moms and Non-Moms

Jun 17, 2026 · 54 min · 15 segments

Keltie is joined by therapists and hosts of the ShrinkChicks Podcast, Emmalee Bierly and Jennifer Chaiken, to discuss friendships between moms and women without kids — including their own. **Hear…

Keltie is joined by therapists and hosts of the ShrinkChicks Podcast, Emmalee Bierly and Jennifer Chaiken, to discuss friendships between moms and women without kids — including their own. **Hear them explore:** - How Jennifer supported Emmalee through postpartum depression and fertility struggles — and why it was actually a good thing Jennifer isn't a mom as well. - Your biggest friendship dilemmas with friends who are moms. - Why open communication and honesty are the key to navigating different life choices. - How to bridge the divide that can occur when one of you has kids and the other doesn't. **About The ShrinkChicks** Emmalee Bierly & Jennifer Chaiken are both Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists, co-owners of the private therapy practice, The Therapy Group, and co-hosts of the ShrinkChicks Podcast! They believe in being down to earth, authentic, and transparent, which are values they bring both to their practice as well as their podcast! Their mission is to make therapy more relatable and accessible, working to break down that clinical wall. **As mentioned in the episode** Tune in to hear Keltie on the ShrinkChicks Podcast Find Emmalee and Jennifer on Instagram at: @shrinkchicks @thetherapygrp Their website is thetherapygroup.com Join our upcoming Grow or No Workshhop happening on June 24th. **MORE HELP FOR YOUR KIDS OR CHILDFREE DECISION:** Start Here: sign up for an upcoming WORKSHOP 🔗 https://kidsorchildfree.com/workshop Join a GROUP PROGRAM 🔗 Kids or Childfree Group Program ▸ https://www.kidsorchildfree.com/kids-or-childfree-program 🔗Confidently Childfree Group Intensive ▸ https://www.kidsorchildfree.com/confidently-childfree-group-intensive Access an ON DEMAND class 🔗 Peruse the entire On Demand Collection ▸ https://www.kidsorchildfree.com/ondemand Join one of our monthly SUPPORT SERIES sessions 🔗 Kids or Childfree Support Series ▸ https://kidsorchildfree.com/kids-or-childfree-support-series 🔗Confidently Childfree Support Series ▸ https://kidsorchildfree.com/confidently-childfree-support-series Work with me in 1-on-1 COACHING 🔗 https://kidsorchildfree.com/coaching FREE resources ▸ https://kidsorchildfree.com/free-resources CONNECT ONLINE 💻 Website ▸ http://kidsorchildfree.com 📸 Instagram ▸ http://instagram.com/kidsorchildfree ⏰ Tiktok ▸ https://tiktok.com/@kidsorchildfree 📽️ YouTube ▸ https://www.youtube.com/@KidsorChildfree 👉 Brought to you by Keltie Maguire, Clarity Coach ▸ http://keltiemaguire.com Love what you're hearing? 💕 Subscribe | Like | Comment | Share with a friend

Keltie is joined by therapists and hosts of the ShrinkChicks Podcast, Emmalee Bierly and Jennifer Chaiken, to discuss friendships between moms and women without kids — including their own. **Hear…

Friendship Growth After Motherhood6:27 – 8:34

Jennifer ChaikenGuest

6:27

And I think one of the big things, um, that I would love to talk more about is, and s- something I've noticed as a, um, someone who's child free, is that when you become a mom, the growth and change that happens within you is so huge.

Jennifer ChaikenGuest

6:42

You watch your friends go through this gigantic transformation of becoming a mother, and I think one of the things where people get stuck is that the friendship doesn't grow with the person, which I think is a really important thing to talk about.

Jennifer ChaikenGuest

7:01

Because we tend to wanna hold on to who that person was, as opposed to open ourselves up to who that person is becoming and who they're growing into.

Jennifer ChaikenGuest

7:12

Um, and I think that that's one of the big challenges that we see in our clients, something that we've had to navigate, um, is that just allowing the person to change and to be able to adjust with that change is really important in terms of your relationship with that person.

Keltie MaguireHost

7:31

Yeah.

Keltie MaguireHost

7:32

Gosh, I, I think that's so hard, right? Because when we think about someone having her child or not, I know for me, like when I was on the fence, I think part of what I felt, aside from like the loneliness and alien- l- and alienation of, of not knowing and being clear, was the fact that it was almost like I was closing a door on a certain chapter of my life.

Keltie MaguireHost

7:51

And in, in many ways I don't wanna say my youth, because I mean, we're all still relatively young, right?

Jennifer ChaikenGuest

7:55

Mm-hmm.

Keltie MaguireHost

7:55

And youth is an attitude, yada, yada.

Keltie MaguireHost

7:57

But it, it was sort of like the way things were, it was this knowing that it will never be the same again in many ways, which feels so heartbreaking, right?

Jennifer ChaikenGuest

8:07

Yeah.

Keltie MaguireHost

8:07

Like, I'm guessing when the two of you ladies met, you were probably in what, your early 20s?

Jennifer ChaikenGuest

8:12

Yes.

Keltie MaguireHost

8:13

Yeah.

Jennifer ChaikenGuest

8:13

Yeah.

Jennifer ChaikenGuest

8:13

[laughs]

Keltie MaguireHost

8:13

A- and life, life looks different today, right? So it's like-

Jennifer ChaikenGuest

8:17

Yeah.

Jennifer ChaikenGuest

8:17

[laughs]

Keltie MaguireHost

8:17

...

Keltie MaguireHost

8:17

I think part of this, the change that, I mean we all experience change-

Jennifer ChaikenGuest

8:21

Yeah

Keltie MaguireHost

8:21

...

Keltie MaguireHost

8:21

but mothers in particular go through, it, it also connects to the fact that like life is just changing, and that's really hard.

Keltie MaguireHost

8:27

That's something we wanna hold on to.

Friendship Growth After Motherhood6:27 – 8:34

Jennifer ChaikenGuest

6:27

And I think one of the big things, um, that I would love to talk more about is, and s- something I've noticed as a, um, someone who's child free, is that when you become a mom, the growth and change that happens within you is so huge.

Jennifer ChaikenGuest

6:42

You watch your friends go through this gigantic transformation of becoming a mother, and I think one of the things where people get stuck is that the friendship doesn't grow with the person, which I think is a really important thing to talk about.

Jennifer ChaikenGuest

7:01

Because we tend to wanna hold on to who that person was, as opposed to open ourselves up to who that person is becoming and who they're growing into.

Jennifer ChaikenGuest

7:12

Um, and I think that that's one of the big challenges that we see in our clients, something that we've had to navigate, um, is that just allowing the person to change and to be able to adjust with that change is really important in terms of your relationship with that person.

Keltie MaguireHost

7:31

Yeah.

Keltie MaguireHost

7:32

Gosh, I, I think that's so hard, right? Because when we think about someone having her child or not, I know for me, like when I was on the fence, I think part of what I felt, aside from like the loneliness and alien- l- and alienation of, of not knowing and being clear, was the fact that it was almost like I was closing a door on a certain chapter of my life.

Keltie MaguireHost

7:51

And in, in many ways I don't wanna say my youth, because I mean, we're all still relatively young, right?

Jennifer ChaikenGuest

7:55

Mm-hmm.

Keltie MaguireHost

7:55

And youth is an attitude, yada, yada.

Keltie MaguireHost

7:57

But it, it was sort of like the way things were, it was this knowing that it will never be the same again in many ways, which feels so heartbreaking, right?

Jennifer ChaikenGuest

8:07

Yeah.

Keltie MaguireHost

8:07

Like, I'm guessing when the two of you ladies met, you were probably in what, your early 20s?

Jennifer ChaikenGuest

8:12

Yes.

Keltie MaguireHost

8:13

Yeah.

Jennifer ChaikenGuest

8:13

Yeah.

Jennifer ChaikenGuest

8:13

[laughs]

Keltie MaguireHost

8:13

A- and life, life looks different today, right? So it's like-

Jennifer ChaikenGuest

8:17

Yeah.

Jennifer ChaikenGuest

8:17

[laughs]

Keltie MaguireHost

8:17

...

Keltie MaguireHost

8:17

I think part of this, the change that, I mean we all experience change-

Jennifer ChaikenGuest

8:21

Yeah

Keltie MaguireHost

8:21

...

Keltie MaguireHost

8:21

but mothers in particular go through, it, it also connects to the fact that like life is just changing, and that's really hard.

Keltie MaguireHost

8:27

That's something we wanna hold on to.