Who pulled at your emotions and ripped your childless heart apart? Their words or actions may have been intentional or completely hidden under a pronatal blanket. A comment said without considering its impact. An action that excluded or rejected.
Was it a doctor who showed no empathy or understanding, a partner who changed their mind about parenthood, a parent who treats you different from your siblings, a work collegue who undermines your ability as a non-mum, or a complete stranger?
Share your story and RELEASE YOUR ANGER, disbelieve, confusion and rage.
Join Jessica Hepburn, Robert Nurden, Tara Lal and Chris North, four writers as they sit down together over coffee to talk trauma, tactlessness and the therapeutic power of writing to the person who hurt us the most. To send or not to send that is the question!
When we think about the cathartic power of writing we often associate that with authors sharing their stories, but how else can we use words? In this webinar Bindi Shah who loves to journal will be joined by Kate Millington a poet and Steph Penny a blogger, author and singer/song writer. They'll talk about how writing has helped them to express emotions and release the grief of childlessness.
I have an elephant.
She is enormous and dreadfully heavy.
She sits on my lap and holds me down with weight.
“I’m seeing some things that aren’t good,” she said like you were anything other than absolutely everything perfect and right
‘Motherhood is the greatest gift,’
You say,
Piercing me
From where you sit on stage,
And I recoil
Dear you, You turned into your mother. You may have looked up to your father, but your father's qualities are in those you choose to hurt by your actions and lies.
“You can't even do what a woman is supposed to do and get pregnant.” Being married to a full blown narcissist is not easy, as many of you may know. Luckily, this one is my EX husband. Years of emotional abuse ended with those 14 words.
I still have a lot of anger about how I was treated by multiple doctors in the process of trying to conceive. The process was very dehumanizing, not person-centered.
Hi, it’s me,
I know you are asking “Why am I receiving this letter?”
I’m writing to remember who hurt me the most.
To the ex who broke up with me because I couldn't have biological kids,
I guess the desire for a good relationship with you is something I was born with, but I lost any hope I had for that possibility.
“Why would I want to have a baby with YOU?” - I’ve forgiven or forgotten many of the things you said and did as our marriage slowly collapsed, but those words are burned into my memory as the most hurtful thing anyone has ever said to me.
My great family doctor is on a year-long sabbatical when we conclude that trying to conceive a baby on our own isn’t working and we need medical help, so my husband and I go to see his doctor for a referral to the fertility clinic.
Writing this letter is going to be very therapeutic for me because I’ve never fully dealt with what happened.
Dear Best Friend, I wonder if you remember this moment: It’s two years since I found out I would be permanently childless.
We are all different and varied with our childlessness, and we all come together in the wildflower garden.
To Mom, I am writing this letter to you as you haven’t contacted me for more than 8 months, but it is more than that...
How dare I, Ask to be supported in my suffering;
Share that I am grieving, For children I can never have?
You hurt me for so many years. Your torments, your unkind words, your continuous doubts. You forced me to live in the shadows.
For a long time, I could only see what ‘The Person Who Hurt Me Most’ took from me..
You probably don’t remember me, do you? I’m the IVF “poor responder”. Remember you told me you “never know what to do with people like me”?
She said ‘people say they weren’t sure if they wanted children, but I don’t believe them.’
To whom it may concern, Actually, I know who this concerns. It’s you. Yes, me. I have been given license to express my feelings. I really need to. I’m angry.