Having children is one of the most rewarding and meaningful things we can do. But what if you wish you'd never become a parent?

For mothers especially, the taboo of admitting they regret their children can be incredibly lonely. Many carry their grief, loss of identity and exhaustion in silence.

Yumi Stynes gets a rare window into the lives of people who love their children but admit that if they could go back in time, they'd make a different choice.

Featured in this episode:

• Ella Reed, sociologist at Monash University researching maternal regret 

This episode will answer questions like:  

• What does it feel like to regret having kids?
• Why do some parents regret having children?
• Where do you get help if you’re struggling as a parent?
• How does regretting children impact a romantic relationship?
• Why is maternal regret so taboo? 

What to listen to next:

"Traded a husband for a bestie" Why these mums moved in together

Worst ever dates, with Alita Brydon

The grief no parent expects

What to read next:

This episode contains references to motherhood, parenting, mothering, regret, anxiety, depression, suffering, family, mental load, support, relationships, romance.

There’s a special kind of fury reserved for the 'other woman.' She’s often depicted as a home wrecker and immoral, but is she misunderstood? Unlucky to fall for someone who’s already taken?   

Yumi Stynes speaks with women whose hearts belong to married men and discovers that beneath the stereotypes are complicated love stories built on hope and promises in the face of deception.    

Psychologist Liz Neal also explains what forbidden love does to the brain and why it can be so enticing. (R). 

This episode will answer questions like: 

• What’s it like to be the other woman?
• How do people hide affairs from their partners?
• Why do people have affairs?
• Where does the ‘seductive mistress’ trope come from? 

What to listen to next:

"Traded a husband for a bestie" Why these mums moved in together

Worst ever dates, with Alita Brydon

The grief no parent expects

What to read next:

These grieving mothers want you to say their babies' names

Empty-nesters on how they 'fill the void' left by children

This episode contains references to cheating, infidelity, sex, relationships, marriage, women, the other woman.  

Have you ever fantasised about raising kids with your bestie? Well, some women are doing it for real. And these mum communes or ‘mummunes’ don’t look like your average share house.  

These women are sharing a roof, chores, bills and the mental load of raising their kids. For some, it’s the antidote to a nuclear family structure that left them drained and resentful. For others, it’s a handy, albeit overcrowded solution to the struggles of single motherhood. 

Yumi Stynes speaks to women who are rewriting the rules of motherhood and finds out what there is to gain when you challenge the status quo.  

This episode will answer questions like: 

• Can you raise children with your best friend?
• Should you raise children with a romantic partner?
• Why do women feel burnt out as wives and mothers?
• Has the nuclear family become outdated for women?
• Do you need men to raise kids?
• What are the challenges of raising kids with your best friend?
• How do communal living arrangements deal with money?
• How does dating work in a mummune?
• Why do women initiate household and child care more than men? 

What to listen to next:

What to read next:

Empty-nesters on how they 'fill the void' left by children

This episode contains references to child care, parenting, mothering, single mum, alternative family structures, romantic partner, heterosexuality, patriarchy, mommune, mummune, commune, shared living, alternative living, community, individualism, village.

It’s truth universally acknowledged that a single woman in the modern world has endured at least one truly disastrous date. It is, regrettably, a rite of passage. 

Author Alita Bryson has been on hundreds of them! One guy asked her if it was okay to marry your cousin, another trolled people online for fun while yet another literally drove off mid-date. 

While her dating life was catastrophic, Alita realised it made great fodder for entertainment and so she started the Instagram page Bad Dates of Melbourne, publishing anonymous submissions of terrible dates so that women could take comfort in each other’s suffering (and laugh at each other’s misfortune).  

Alita has some sage advice for anyone out there brave enough to date. 

Further information: How to date like a dangerous woman is published by HarperCollins. 

This episode will answer questions like: 

• How can I meet someone new?
• Is it ok to ghost someone?
• Should I pay for dinner on a date?
• Can I leave a date if I don’t like the other person?
• How can I meet a potential date safely? 

What to listen to next:

Jess Mauboy steps into her boss lady era 

What to read next:

Empty-nesters on how they 'fill the void' left by children

Why these women have never had a partner

These grieving mothers want you to say their babies' names

This episode contains references to Bad Dates of Melbourne, dating, dating apps, Tinder, Hinge, Bumble, relationships, sex, orgies, orgasms and how to date like a dangerous woman. 

At some point in life, we all lose someone we love. But losing a baby is an unimaginable heartbreak. Our children are not meant to die before us.

In the wake of that loss, families are left reeling. Navigating shock, confusion, and overwhelming grief as they face a future without a much-loved child.

Yumi Stynes meets two women who have experienced infant loss. They share how they moved through their grief, how they celebrate their babies, and how people in their life stepped up- or stepped away.

And registered psychologist, Rachel Ficinus explains how grief can be ongoing and the strategies to help you and your loved ones navigate a life-changing loss.

If you need help:

• Red Nose Australia offers counselling and support for anyone affected by the loss of a pregnancy, stillbirth, death of a baby or child. Their phone number is 1300 308 307
• Lifeline on 131 114
• Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636 

This episode will answer questions like:

• How do I deal with grief when a loved one dies?
• Who can I talk to when my child dies?
• What should I say to someone who's child has died?
• How can I help someone who's grieving?
• Where can I find support after I lose my child?
• Does grief have an end point?

What to listen to next:

What to read next:

This episode contains references to grief, child loss, infant death, bereavement and Red Nose Australia, organ donation, DonateLife.

One in three Australian women describe their births as traumatic.

Long labours, health scares, emergency interventions, feeling ignored, and lasting physical and psychological injuries can turn what's meant to be one of life's biggest moments into something deeply distressing.

Yumi Stynes hears from women still coming to terms with their birth experiences, sometimes years later, and finds out what can be done to prevent traumatic births. (R).

Featured in this episode:

• Dr Jessica Caudwell-Hall, Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Nepean Hospital.
• Sophie Carroll, Pelvic Health Physiotherapist, Enlighten Health Collective.
• With special thanks to Amy Dawes at Birth Trauma Australia.

If you need help:

• Perinatal Wellbeing Centre: (02) 6288 1936
• PANDA (Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Australia): 1300 187 263
• Beyond Blue: 1300 224 636
• Lifeline: 13 11 14
• Birth Trauma Australia organisation 

For most mums, the day their kids leave feels like a victory.

You might even be planning what you'll do with all that free time. No more mountains of laundry, arguments over dinner or acting as a free taxi service.

But for many women, an empty nest isn't just freedom, it's loss. When motherhood has shaped so much of your daily life and identity, the silence can be unsettling as you move around a house that was once loud, busy and joyful.

Yumi Stynes chats with women who have navigated the grief of their changing relationships with their kids, finding a deeper connection with themselves, and a renewed sense of self.

Plus clinical psychologist Dr Victoria Miller unpacks why the empty nest can feel so lonely, and the steps you can take to fill the child free void.  

This episode will answer questions like:

• How long does empty nest grief last?
• Is empty nest syndrome real?
• What happens to a marriage after the kids move out?
• How often should I contact my adult child?
• Why am I sad my kids moved out?

What to listen to next:

What to read next:

This episode contains references to grief, loneliness, purpose, empty nesting, leaving home, children, marriage, retirement

Jessica Mauboy was just 16 when she burst onto our screens, barefoot in the red dirt of Alice Springs, belting out Whitney Houston at her Australian Idol audition.

She may have finished runner-up, but it launched one of Australia's most enduring music careers including starring in The Sapphires and representing Australia at Eurovision in 2018.  

Despite two decades in the spotlight, fame hasn't changed Jess, and she's never lost touch with her connection to Darwin, returning between tours to reconnect with her family and culture.

Yumi Stynes sits down with Jess to talk about her Indigenous roots, the strong women who shaped her and how their influence is guiding her as she raises her daughter, Mia and steps confidently into her boss lady era.

This episode will answer questions like:

• What year was Jessica Mauboy in Australian Idol?
• Where did Jessica Mauboy grow up?
• Who does Jessica Mauboy play in The Sapphires?
• How old is Jessica Mauboy's daughter?
• What is the name of Jessica Mauboy's record label?

What to listen to next:

What to read next:

This episode contains references to NAIDOC, Australian Idol, Jessica Mauboy, Jamally records, Bran nue dae, The Sapphires, Darwin

When we're dating someone new, the rush is electric. The pull towards sex can feel immediate, an almost magnetic urge to rip each other's clothes off.

But as the years stretch on and the demands of life ramp up, sex becomes just one more activity on a chaotic checklist; competing with the demands of chores, kids and sleep.

And when the urge does strike, it's intimacy vs. doom scrolling in bed, and somehow, the phone wins every time.

Yumi Stynes meets women who are trying to wriggle free from a sex rut and carve out time for more and better sex. Plus, sex therapist Georgia Grace shares advice on how to bring sexual intimacy back into the bedroom.

This episode will answer questions like:

• Why do people have less sex in a long-term relationship?
• Why is my partner distant?
• Can romantic relationships survive without sex?
• How can I reignite my sex life?
• Should I see a sex therapist?
• What is phubbing?

What to listen to next:

What to read next:

This episode contains references to sex, relationships, intimacy, pleasure, technoference, avoidance

Botox, vampire facials, bone smashing and now cadaver fat fillers: the beauty industry is expert in selling extreme (and painful) treatments in our endless pursuit of perfection and eternal youth.

For years, Jess DeFino worked at the heart of this machine as an assistant editor for the Kardashian family. She saw firsthand how the goalposts of beauty are constantly shifting, making it out of reach, no matter how much time, money and energy we pour in.

Now Jess is calling bullsh*t on the beauty industrial complex and the ever more bonkers methods being employed.

This episode will answer questions like:  

• What is looksmaxxing?
• How do beauty standards change over time?
• Do children need skincare?
• Is the beauty industry growing?
• What’s it like to work with the Kardashian-Jenner’s
• Why is skin care so expensive?
• Is the beauty industry designed to make you buy more?
• Can you trust skincare reviews?
• Is the beauty industry built on insecurity? 

What to listen to next:

Is your attachment style messing with your love life?

What to read next:   

Why these women have never had a partner 

The joys of having babies in your 40s

This episode contains references to beauty, looksmaxxing, beauty industry, Kardashian, Jenner, Clavicular.  

We live in a sexed-up world. From chiselled fictional teenagers in steamy high school dramas to Sabrina Carpenter’s innuendos, it feels like everyone’s doing it. But what happens when adulthood arrives and you're still a virgin? 

Plenty of women haven’t had sex. Some are waiting for the right person, some are waiting for marriage, and some haven't had the opportunity.  

Virginity has gone from being something women were expected to protect to something they feel they have to explain. So how do we ditch everyone else's expectations and figure out what we actually want? Yumi Stynes speaks with women navigating adulthood without sex. 

Featured in this episode: 

• Amanda McCracken, writer on love and limerence 

This episode will answer questions like: 

• How does it feel to be an adult virgin? 
• What’s dating like as a virgin? 
• Why do some people wait to have sex? 

What to listen to next:

Building a village means showing up even when it feels hard, says Esther Perel

How swapping a husband for a wife made this economist better off

The power of one: the single ladies owning it 

Why are we exercising less than men?

What to read next:

Why these women took marriage sabbaticals — and how it went

Building a village means showing up even when it feels hard, says Esther Perel

This episode contains references to sex, sexuality, dating, relationships, virgins, religion, shame, psychology. 

This episode was originally broadcast in April 2024. (R).