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The Struggle with Infertility
In my last post, I talked about how to make Mother’s Day better for those who mourn, including people experiencing involuntary childlessness. Now that Mother’s Day is behind us, let’s think about how to make church a more supportive environment for those experiencing infertility and pregnancy loss. Dr. Julie Shannon did her dissertation on remaining childless after infertility; I’ve published a few books on infertility and pregnancy loss. So Dr. Darrell Bock, host of The Table Podcast, sat down with Dr. Shannon and me to talk about this topic that is do near to our hearts. For more on how to comfort those experiencing infertility, see my post, Infertility: People…
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The Many Emotions of Miscarriage
October is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. This post is written in honor of those precious little ones we grieve, including two of my own. “So, do you have any kids?” It’s an innocent question, a social norm about as common as the handshake. Yet for over two years, this question was one I dreaded anytime I would meet a new acquaintance or strike up a conversation with a stranger. How in the world should I answer? Well, I have two in heaven I never got to meet… and a longing so deep that just you asking about children almost knocks the breath out of me. “No…no, I…
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Infertility: People Say the Dumbest Things
Yesterday I received an email from a former seminary student of mine who told me his 29-year-old wife considers the past twelve months her hardest yet. Why? Because they’re going through the martial, emotional, spiritual, medical, ethical crisis of infertility. Complicating the pain for many couples, this one included, is the dumb things people say. For some reason the subject of infertility, more than many other medical conditions, is surrounded by myths. So let’s lay a few to rest. Myth: Infertility and sterility are the same thing. Infertility is not sterility. Infertility is the inability to conceive after one year of unprotected relations and/or the inability to carry a pregnancy…