S9 E7: Mission: Motherhood — How Cheri Bergeron Created Her Own Happily Ever After
What does it really take to let go of the fairy tale you were raised with and create a life, and family, that’s truly your own? In this episode, I sit down with Cheri Bergeron, Austin author, single mom by choice, and passionate advocate for women navigating new paths to motherhood.
Cheri's journey has included fertility challenges, marriage and divorce, donor conception loss, and ultimately, building her family in unexpected and deeply intentional ways. Her story is raw, emotional, and so relatable for anyone who has found themselves facing a future far different from the one they once imagined. We talk honestly about the push and pull between career ambition and the dream of motherhood, and what happens when timelines, biology, or relationships don’t line up the way you hoped.
Cheri shares the lessons she learned about advocating for yourself in the fertility world, building non-traditional village support, and making empowered choices no matter how many pivots your journey requires. We also open up about the real fears so many single mothers by choice face: Will our children be okay? What will people think if we have kids “later”? And how can intentional community shape the way we (and our kids) experience solo motherhood?
In this episode, we talk about:
Cheri's path from a “Prince Convenient” marriage to solo motherhood by choice
The realities and surprises of using donor eggs and navigating IVF in your 40s
Grieving the losses that come with fertility challenges and transitions
Why clarity around your values can guide even the hardest decisions
Rethinking what your village looks like, and building a non-traditional support system
Handling judgment, both real and imagined, from family and yourself
How to hold space for kids’ questions and thrive as a single-parent family
Connect with Cheri:
Looking for other single mothers by choice who share your city, career, identity, or stage of motherhood? Join the SGC Directory
