About Yvonne John
Public Speaker | Author | Facilitator | Photographer
I am a British author and activist for the Childless women of colour. I wrote my book out of the anger for me and the other childless women who were not being heard or listened to by the circles we find ourselves in. ‘Dreaming of a Life Unlived: Intimate Stories and Portraits of Women Without Children’, was conceived out of love and understanding and born to give women like me the permission to unashamedly own our stories. I am a public speaker who has appeared on numerous radio and television programmes, including BBC Radio 4’s ‘Woman’s Hour’. I am known as the leading voice for the women of colour’s experience around infertility, as well as creating an inclusive space for black women and women of colour to openly talk about their childless journey.
I am a graduate of the Gateway Women’s 2016’s year-long Plan B Mentorship Programme, a licensed Gateway Women workshop facilitator (GWS) and World Childless Week Champion. I work in the NHS and am also an accomplished photographer.
Events
I regularly speak at a range of events and podcasts about my journey and experience as a black childless not by choice (CNBC) woman in society and in the workplace.
If you would like to invite me to speak please click below:
Latest on the Blog
What rights do we really have over our bodies???
For as long as I can remember abortion has been that taboo word whispered behind closed doors and that’s if you ever dared to mention it, let alone (God forbid) you ever think about having one. Given the recent Supreme Court ruling in the US ending the right for a...
Boo Saville’s exhibition ‘Ma’
Thanks to an introduction from Jody Day, I got the opportunity to meet artist Boo Saville. Boo being a fan of Gateway Women and interested in the subject of involuntarily childless, reached out to Jody about her solo show in London this month. Being an involuntarily...
Hiding to Nothing
Back in 2020 I received an email from Anita Pati who, after being introduced to each other by Jody Day on a train ride home, contacted me as she was putting together a sequence of poetry based on women's experience of infertility and non-motherhood and asked...