Infertility Survivors Finally Heard
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…
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 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…
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 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 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…
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…
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…
It doesn’t matter what age, what ethnicity, what country we hail from — we all desire respect, acknowledgment and acceptance. This very human need manifests itself on playgrounds, in communities and in our day-to-day encounters. It doesn’t need to be a grand gesture. In fact, it’s the gentle gesture that often leaves the largest impact….
While my gray roots benefited from a rich brunette color drenching in a new hair salon recently a younger stylist handed me a glass of champagne. She was not my usual go-to hair expert so there was the usual get-to-know-you chitchat. (Yes, I decided to splurge a bit this time around since it was the…