The Whole Truth: Motherhood and the Writing Life
Jun 10, 2026 · 1 hr · 13 segments
In this episode of The Whole Truth, Nadia Mahjouri welcomes the inspiring Lorena Otes author of the debut memoir *Solo Mum by Choice*. Lorena shares her remarkable journey through the complexities of…
Lorena OatesGuest
Nadia MajouriHost
So, you know, I mean, it might be it's not commonly covered in memoir or fiction, really.
No, no, and I mean, or even in our conversations politically, do you know, even in our conversations around what it is to be, you know, what, yeah, to be a mother in, you know, this situation, in this world today, you know, where things are expensive and, you know, our, yeah, like...
Politically, solo mums by choice aren't even recognised officially in the constitution.
If the sperm donor turns up in court and says, I want something to do with my offspring, There is nothing to protect solo mums from that at this point.
So, of course, they'd have to jump hoops because there's contracts and things.
But in terms of the constitution, we're fighting at the moment to become recognised.
And it just is a couple of tweaks in um in the constitution that'll fix that wording wise and and but uh at the moment it's not there so it could just i mean
that's like that becomes a referendum issue because can't you isn't that the issue with constitution you can't change the constitution unless you have a referendum
I think, you know, technology moves very fast and... you know, things become possible that weren't possible 30 years ago, for example.
So, you know, I mean, it might be it's not commonly covered in memoir or fiction, really.
No, no, and I mean, or even in our conversations politically, do you know, even in our conversations around what it is to be, you know, what, yeah, to be a mother in, you know, this situation, in this world today, you know, where things are expensive and, you know, our, yeah, like...
Politically, solo mums by choice aren't even recognised officially in the constitution.
If the sperm donor turns up in court and says, I want something to do with my offspring, There is nothing to protect solo mums from that at this point.
So, of course, they'd have to jump hoops because there's contracts and things.
But in terms of the constitution, we're fighting at the moment to become recognised.
And it just is a couple of tweaks in um in the constitution that'll fix that wording wise and and but uh at the moment it's not there so it could just i mean
that's like that becomes a referendum issue because can't you isn't that the issue with constitution you can't change the constitution unless you have a referendum
I think, you know, technology moves very fast and... you know, things become possible that weren't possible 30 years ago, for example.
Every episode on Radar is fully transcribed, speaker-labeled, and rich with metadata. Here is a taste of this one. Try Radar for free to see the rest.
3 of 5
Bathroom Heartbreak At Eisteddfod
She relives the bathroom heartbreak at Eisteddfod.
Not In The Constitution
Australia’s laws ignore solo mums’ legal rights.
‘I’m Not Infertile!’
She thought she’d just need turkey-baster method.
+2 more clips · 3 min 11 sec of audio in all
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
All 5 clips — the highlight moments, each cut as its own audio, with a title and a speaker
All 13 segments — the transcript broken into labeled sections, every ad read marked
All 25 topics — jump to every other episode discussing the same subject
Every related episode — other shows Radar links to this one
No account is needed to search Radar.
