Is there a stigma surrounding women who don't have children, either by choice or because it just didn't happen for them?

Today FM's Muireann O'Connell knew from the time she was in secondary school that she didn't want to have children, and she says many people didn't understand her decision.

"People weren't very impressed. I was told 'don't give up hope', or 'don't be so silly, of course you'll have children.'"

Journalist Andrea Smith liked the idea of having children, but there was still a stigma at the time surrounding single mothers: "It's something I definitely would have liked to happen, but I was terminally single and that was a factor."

However, she is happy with how things have worked out.

"I'm not disappointed in the way I presumed I would have been. Your life goes in different directions."

To catch the full chat press the play button on the image on the top of the screen