motherhood
Book Musings
Strength Personified
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.” […]
Read More
Pop Culture
You Don’t Have To Be A Mother To Be A Loving Woman
Five years ago we made history. On September 28, 2010 Silent Sorority earned an award in the media capital of North America — New York City. There I was amid an unusual mix of a few celebrities, Reprotech industry sales people, clinicians, health advocates and RESOLVE representatives. In my acceptance speech I managed to hush […]
Read More
Pop Culture
Pope Francis: Let’s Not Promote Further Prejudice
I get the appeal of a world where there is no gray — only black and white. When there’s only one way there’s no pesky thinking required. The only problem is we live in a complex world where ‘choice’ isn’t always what it seems. And that’s where things get muddy. Amid the rash of stories […]
Read More
Tapestry of Voices
Keeping it 100: Identity Crisis and Emotional Cratering in a Mommy Mad World
In Part II of the ‘Bitter Infertiles’ podcast transcript (Part I here or listen to the podcast here), we talk infertility trauma, the assault to identity and misplaced mommy glorification… Mo: One of the big issues we discussed last month with a therapist was the devastating effect that infertility can have on the emotional well-being. […]
Read More
Pop Culture
Gather Round Women: So You Need Some Help With Your ‘Mommy Problem’
With an impish look on his face my husband innocently asked if I’d read The New York Times opinion section recently. Minutes later — with the requisite cartoon steam coming out of my ears — I was harrumphing my way through Our ‘Mommy Problem.’ I could also be heard grumbling and exclaiming loudly: Finally figured […]
Read More
Book Musings
Fortitude
Tapestry of Voices
Strong At The Broken Places
This week my TV viewing intersected with life in a meaningful way. Larger than life characters reminded me that in the long march of time, it’s how we cope with what comes our way that defines us. In turbulent times, sanity and clear thinking can be in short supply. That was made abundantly clear in […]
Read More
Pop Culture
Tapestry of Voices
“The No-Baby Boom” Nails Cultural Shift and Gloria Steinem Rocks On at 80
It was easy to walk a little taller on Sunday. Why? I had just consumed, back to back, articles on women fearlessly tackling stereotypes and unabashedly breaking molds. It was as though a light was switched on as I read, illuminating just how dramatically society has shifted in the past 50 years — in particular […]
Read More
Linking Around
Pop Culture
Strength Personified
Looking Out for Our Sisters In a World of False Fertility Claims
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 […]
Read More
Book Musings
News Reports and Studies
Tapestry of Voices
When Unexplained is the Modifier Assigned To Your Infertility
I’m more convinced than ever that women born between 1960 and 1970 came of age at a particularly weird time fertility-wise. Think about it. In 1960 the birth control pill was made commercially available for the first time, and by the time we were wrapping our heads around how babies were made (or not if […]
Read More
Changing Perceptions
Linking Around
How About a Time Cover Story on Women Who Aren’t Moms or Childfree?
In the past year Time magazine has run two cover stories (Are You Mom Enough? and The ChildFree Life: When Having it All Means Not Having Children) and managed to miss — both times — a notable segment of the female population: women who don’t identify either as “moms” or “childfree.” If you dropped in […]
Read More