Infertility and childless folks are all around us, but we rarely capture the spotlight or celebrate reunions, anniversaries and creative breakthroughs. Before I get into a powerful in-person reunion, I want to share a giveaway you won’t want to miss. Longtime bloggers, now friends, from LifeWithoutBaby contacted me. Indeed, Kismet! Their email led to several…
Category: Strength Personified
When Did Infertility Get Cool?
Well, Hello there! It’s been a while, has it not? More than 7 months since my last post, to be exact. There’s quite a bit to catch up on, but I will save more of my personal news for a future post. First, I have a few important, timely items to share. Mark your calendars!…
Permission to Feel Emotions Deeply
Permission is a tricky thing. We frequently readily provide it to others but deny it to ourselves. That’s often because allowing ourselves freely to engage in activities such as sitting with our emotions can seem self-indulgent. But, in reality, it can be self-affirming. Reader Writes About Permission Denied It’s always gratifying to hear from new…
Let’s Flow Freely This Weekend
Late April, early May brings a certain incessant MD marketing madness. Serenity now, right? Curious to know your frame of mind as we approach the second Sunday in May this year. It could range from fragile to numbingly indifferent to WTF awful. All or none of the above or anything in between. There is no…
Kamala! Finally A Politician Who Sees Us
Kamala Harris won my heart for many reasons. Her Vice President acceptance speech, however, really resonated. Politicians (or their wives), for years, have harped on and on about their traditional families. Women politicians who have birthed a child, in particular, preface most of their speeches with “as a mother” or “as a mom.” It’s as…
Infertility and Childlessness in Focus
Many of my favorite women will gather in London to discuss infertility and childlessness later this month. Ten years ago we were little more than a silent sorority online. Today women (and men) are now stepping forward boldly to tell their stories. April 27: Community and Connection There’s a whole day of arts programming around…
21 Miles: Reconciling Grief, Love and Fear
21 Miles not only held my attention (no small feat in today’s distraction-addled environment), it fed my heart and nurtured my soul. 21 Miles recounts the story of Jessica Hepburn‘s valiant efforts to both swim the English Channel and answer whether “motherhood makes you happy” or whether “you can have a fulfilling life without children.”…
Mother’s Day? It’s Complicated
Mother’s Day is far from black and white. For many it’s stress-inducing and, simply, complicated. I know. A decade or more ago around early May I would do my best to tune out. First I adopted a bunker mentality. Then came humor. In 2009 I solicited greeting card ideas for women who don’t fit neatly…
The Human Side of Failed IVF
So for some time now I’ve been intrigued by the different ways countries treat the infertility experience. In the U.S. there’s a concerted effort by the commercial infertility industry to fund groups like RESOLVE and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. The objective: to grow the market and extend customer reach. In the eyes of…
Unspoken Reproductive Medicine Reality: Facing Life Without Children When It Isn’t by Choice
Eight years ago this week I emerged from obscurity because of faulty reproductive organs and the failure of reproductive medicine. My introduction onto the world stage for a prolonged, painful ‘unexplained’ infertility experience came with a fair amount of hyperventilating. It was, in a word, terrifying. As I wrote in Finally Heard, the ebook followup…