Tik-Tokophobia
Unpacking the hidden epidemic of Reproductive Anxiety Disorder — through the lens of tokophobia, fear, and female mental health. This isn’t just a podcast about pregnancy and birth fears. It’s about the anxiety no one talks about — the kind that wraps itself around your identity, your relationships, your career, your future. And the kind that gets misdiagnosed, dismissed, or missed entirely. Tokophobia — the extreme fear of pregnancy and childbirth — is just the tip of the iceberg. What lies beneath is something bigger: Reproductive Anxiety Disorder (RAD). It’s an unrecognised condition that affects millions of women. And most of them don’t even know it. So why Tik-Tokophobia? It’s a nod to the relentless ticking of the biological clock — that internal panic women feel when society says “it’s time” but their nervous system screams “no.” This podcast is about what happens in that space. And how we can break free from it. Hosted by Alexia Leachman, world expert on tokophobia, creator of the Head Trash Clearance method, and former sufferer who healed her own fear. Alongside JJ Stenhouse, a veteran broadcaster who lived with tokophobia for over 40 years without knowing it. Together, they explore what unhealed reproductive fear really costs: Anxiety. Depression. OCD. Relationship breakdowns Fertility struggles and ambivalence Creative and sexual shutdown A lifetime of “I don’t know what’s wrong with me” Through honest conversations, healing insights, and lived experience, this podcast illuminates the two paths of tokophobia: 🔹 Door on the left: healing, clarity, self-trust, and choice 🔹 Door on the right: fear-led decisions, isolation, and emotional shutdown We’re here to change the conversation: To show why fear is quietly driving the fertility crisis To challenge the way mental health misunderstands birth trauma To name what women have always felt, but never had language for Whether you're a woman who's lived it, a partner trying to understand, or a professional who wants to do better — this podcast is for you. It’s time we gave reproductive anxiety the recognition it deserves. It’s time to name it. It’s time to heal it. Welcome to Tik-Tokophobia.
Episodes
What happens when your deepest fear hijacks your most important connections? In this honest and revealing episode of Tik-Tokophobia, Alexia and JJ get real about the ways tokophobia—the severe fear of pregnancy and childbirth—can quietly sabotage both romantic and platonic relationships. From silent avoidance to heartbreak, and from stalled intimacy to friendship breakdowns, this episode shines a compassio...
On this candid episode of Tik-Tokophobia, JJ and Alexia sit down with renowned phobia specialist Christopher Paul Jones (Harley Street, “Face Your Fears” author) for an eye-opening deep dive into what really differentiates fear, phobia, and anxiety — especially when it comes to tokophobia, the often-misunderstood and rarely named terror of pregnancy and childbirth.
Together, they ...
Tokophobia Healing Journey — What Real Tokophobia Recovery Really Looks Like
Struggling with the fear of pregnancy, birth, or motherhood? You’re not alone, and you’re definitely not crazy.
In this episode of Tik-Tokophobia, Alexia and JJ dig deep into what the healing journey from tokophobia actually looks like — from the messy first steps to the tough questions nobody wants to ask, all the way to a place...
This episode of Tik-Tokophobia is a truly groundbreaking one. Alexia and JJ make history by naming two central — but until now, unnamed — experiences of living with tokophobia and Reproductive Anxiety Disorder (RAD).
If you’ve ever struggled to find the words to describe what it’s actually like to face the gut-punch of a pregnancy test, or the collapse that can follow, you’ll find...
Is the fear of pregnancy and childbirth taking over your life — or leaving you feeling completely alone and broken?
In this episode of Tik-Tokophobia, Alexia sits down with Ramona, a mental health therapist, to lay bare what it’s really like to live with tokophobia and find healing on the other side.
Ramona unpacks her decade-long journey from silent pani...
In this groundbreaking episode of Tik-Tokophobia, Alexia and JJ introduce a term you’ve probably never heard before — Reproductive Anxiety Disorder (RAD).
Going far beyond the usual discussions of tokophobia, this episode digs deep into the world of persistent, visceral anxiety around anything related to reproduction.
Alexia and JJ shine a fierce light on...
Are you ready to go deeper into the real reasons behind tokophobia?
In this honest and eye-opening episode, Alexia and JJ confront one of the most overlooked (and misunderstood) realities for those living with a fear of pregnancy and birth: the trauma of your own birth. Forget everything you’ve been told about where anxiety “comes from”— because this one starts sooner, and runs deeper, than most of us ever realise.
Whether you know...
In this powerful episode of Tik-Tokophobia, cohost JJ Stenhouse steps into the guest seat and shares her personal journey with tokophobia—the overwhelming fear of pregnancy and childbirth.
Only recognising her tokophobia at age 68, JJ reveals how this hidden anxiety wove itself through her life, shaping her relationships, creativity, and even her sense of self.
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If you’ve ever felt a deep dread of pregnancy, birth, or anything connected to babies—only to wonder if you’re broken or mad for feeling that way — this episode will feel like coming home.
This week, Alexia and JJ turn the spotlight directly onto the messy, often misunderstood intersection between tokophobia (the pathological fear of pregnancy and childbirth) and mental health.
Sharing candid stories from ...
What exactly is tokophobia, and why does it matter far beyond the walls of maternity wards? In this bold, honest first episode, hosts Alexia Leachman—a specialist who has healed her own tokophobia—and JJ, who lived with tokophobia unknowingly for nearly seventy years, crack open the hidden world of reproductive anxiety. Together, they expose how this pathological fear of pregnancy and birth can silently sh...
What happens when pregnancy fear runs so deep it shapes your entire life? In this raw and revealing episode, co-host Alexia Leachman opens up about her own journey with tokophobia — the crippling fear of pregnancy and childbirth. With co-host JJ Stenhouse guiding the conversation, Alexia unpacks how this hidden anxiety disorder can blindside you, how she battled (and beat) her own fears, and why most women...
Welcome to the very first episode of Tik-Tokophobia. In this honest, unfiltered conversation, hosts Alexia Leachman and JJ Stenhouse break the silence around tokophobia – the intense, often hidden fear of pregnancy and childbirth.
Drawing from their own deeply personal stories, Alexia and JJ reveal how tokophobia can quietly shape a person’s entire life—not just their decisions ab...
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