In this brave and devastatingly beautiful anthology, the illustrious poet and editor Aracelis Girmay gathers complex and intimate pieces that illuminate the nuances of personal and collective histories, analyses, practices, and choices surrounding pregnancy. Featuring the brilliant voices of writers such as Cheryl Boyce-Taylor, Patricia Smith, Elizabeth Alexander, and more, this book is a lighthouse--a tool and companion--for those navigating pregnancy,...

"As an adjunct professor of English with a draining and tedious courseload, Dorothy feels "like a janitor in the temple who continued to sweep because she had no idea what else to do but who had lost her belief in the essential sanctity of the enterprise." No one but her partner knows that she's just had a miscarriage, not even her therapists--Dorothy being the kind of person who begins seeing a second because she's too conflict-averse to break things...

"Anna Alcott is desperate to have a family. But as she tries to balance her increasingly public life as an indie actress with a grueling IVF journey, she starts to suspect that someone is going to great lengths to make sure that never happens. Crucial medicines are lost. Appointments get swapped without her knowledge. Cryptic warnings have her jumping at shadows. And despite everything she's gone through to make this pregnancy a reality, not even...

For most parents and families, pregnancy is a happy time filled with joyful anticipation and plans for the future. Losing a baby through miscarriage, stillbirth or neonatal death can cause feelings of shock, sadness and despair, and impact on every aspect of life. This 'Speaking from experience' DVD features seven people who share their experiences of losing a baby. It was produced in partnership with SANDS VIC.

"A gorgeous, darkly humorous memoir for readers of Cheryl Strayed about a woman overcoming dramatic loss and finding reinvention, as well as a portrait of a generation used to assuming they're entitled to everything--based on this award-winning writer's New Yorker article 'Thanksgiving in Mongolia'"-- "In 2012, at age 38, when she left on a reporting trip to Mongolia, Ariel Levy thought she had figured it out: she was married, pregnant, successful...

"More than a quarter of pregnancies end in miscarriage. Experiencing this loss, you may wonder why it happened, what happens next and what it means for your future. You may also feel incredibly alone. For more than 20 years, Dr. Kate has taken care of those navigating the physical and emotional pain of pregnancy loss. After experiencing two miscarriages of her own, she wrote [this book] to offer others the same compassionate conversation she has with...

"A deeply personal memoir on illness and infertility"-- Honest, warm, and witty, this memoir reads like a chat with a dear friend sharing her insight and taking us along as she heals. Complete with family stories over cocktails and a praying mantis named Claude. "I drive and say to myself, if I am dying, if this is how I die, then this is how I die." When N. West Moss finds herself bleeding uncontrollably in the middle of a writing class, she manages...

"Amanda Jackson has always longed to be a mother. The early weeks of her first pregnancy are a mixture of joy, anticipation, and uncertainty as she and her husband prepare for the journey ahead. Then comes a devastating loss. Even though her doctors tell her otherwise, Amanda believes she's still pregnant. Her diagnosis is a rare, mysterious condition called pseudocyesis. Betrayed by her mind and body and her marriage strained, Amanda turns to neuroscientist...

"A few months after Myriam Steinberg turned forty, she decided she couldn’t wait any longer to become a mother. She made the difficult decision to begin the process of conceiving a child without a partner. With her family and friends to support her, she picked a sperm donor and was on her way. But Myriam’s journey was far from straightforward. She experienced the soaring highs and devastating lows of becoming pregnant and then losing her babies......

Carolanne wanted a perfect wedding, a perfect husband, a perfect family--but her desire to control the uncontrollable ultimately becomes her undoing.