Monthly Archives For May 2009

Growing Pains

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Uh, oh. I detect some growing pains. The signs are all there. You know, when you wake up and get the sense of being torn in different directions? It’s not simply a question of bagel&hellip

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Going Up!

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An an infertile (that’s right, all you “as a moms,” … we infertiles can invoke superiority, too!), I’m happy to report that there’s finally a movie coming to theater near you that contains
a story line that portrays infertiles as endearing, not selfish … sweet, not reviled or pitied.

Time magazine says the movie, Up, will
prove to be one of the most satisfying movie experiences of the year. Hallelujah! It’s about freakin‘ time. Hollywood has some serious making up to do for consistently negative story lines
about my people. Time‘s Richard Corliss writes:

“Spanning two continents and seven decades, Up begins in a 1930s movie theater. A newsreel tells us that famous explorer Charles Muntz (voiced by Christopher Plummer) is just back
from South America’s remote Paradise Falls with the bones of a prehistoric bird. Denounced as a fraud by archaeologists, Muntz vows to retrieve a member of the species and bring it back alive. In the
audience, wearing aviator goggles atop his thick-rimmed specs, is young Carl Fredricksen, who is enthralled by Muntz’s motto, ‘There’s adventure out there!’

“On the way home, Carl finds a kindred spirit: a girl named Ellie, as vivacious as he is stolid, who harbors the same dream of visiting Paradise Falls. It’s love at first sight, and in a
tender montage, Up shows us their life together: the wedding, the fixing up of their home, the quiet walks, their respective jobs at the local zoo (she tending the animals, he selling
balloons), their eager preparations for a child they later learn they can’t have, their need to defer the big trip to pay for home improvements, then her slowing pace and death. This series of
vignettes is played without dialogue and underscored by Michael Giacchino’s wistful waltz. It’s the sweetest, saddest 4 1⁄2 minutes you’ll ever see on film.”

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Envy and Equanimity

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Some remarkable milestones to report:

1) I was pea green with envy yesterday, but not for the usual reason (that’s right folks, pregnancy was not involved!) ….

2) A new work acquaintance asked me if I had children and my first instinct was not to throw something at him.

I think both episodes show signs of progress, yes? Okay, the details.

I’ve been working a few days a week at a really interesting startup where the only downside is that it requires 60-90 minutes of drive time each way. Since I abhor long, slow commutes I try to
distract myself with NPR stories. Yesterday’s feature had me wrestling with the ugly green monster.

Why? The guest was a new author talking about her book chronicling her experience, at 37, to freeze her
eggs
. Ah, you say, you envy her the access to a new, promising reproductive technology? No actually, I envied her the slot she scored on NPR’s Talk of the Nation discussing her new book.

I laughed at the realization that I’d graduated from pregnancy envy to book envy. In each case I have had to work harder to get fewer results. You’ve got to admit the parallels are ironic. First, I
couldn’t get pregnant while doing everything required and then some while everyone around me was getting knocked up right and left. And, now, at a time when I finally delivered my book about the hidden tolls of living in an era of designer babies and clinics marketing fertility for all, I’m reminded again that mainstream media
has a fascination with making babies, but they’re less interested in what happens when all the whiz bang technology doesn’t deliver on its promise.

Ah well, I’m getting very comfortable being the Rodney Dangerfield of reproductive technology outcomes (and books about them).

Now, for item numero dos. For years I avoided any and all social and work situations that might land me in the middle of small talk with new people. I was expert at the handshake and run. It was my
way of self protection and a sure fire means of avoiding the evitable question about …

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mother's day ban

Mother’s Day: From Meh to Arrghh!

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Newsflash: Non-moms do not represent a unified voting block, as evidenced by the 46 responses to my recent request for non-mom perspectives about Mother’s Day
on HARO. Much of the differences in opinion stemmed from the circumstances that led to being a non-mom (e.g. those who chose not to have
children vs. those who wanted children but weren’t able to).

Sure there are some — yours truly being one — who find the over-the-top mommy marketing palooza hard to stomach, but other non-moms take a more zen-like approach. Where we can all agree, though,
is around the idea that all women — not just mothers — deserve a nod for all they do for their families, communities and the world at large. Here, in their own words, are more thoughts from
non-moms on Mother’s Day.

Thank you!! It is nice to see someone willing to acknowledge that there are woman not called ‘mother’ out here. Gritting my teeth is exactly the way I get through it. Every commercial
for mother’s day has me running for the remote control. Any other channel will do. I feel anger at the assumption that all women must be or will become a mother. My mantra becomes soon another
‘holiday’ will be here and they’ll forget all about this mother’s day business.But it is all around you. In the magazines, on the TV talk shows, ‘news’ shows, entertainment; talk about who is
pregnant, how awful it would be to not experience the wonderfulness of pregnancy and having children. It seems when the childless woman is mentioned it is as the butt of jokes or with a sad shake of
the head, if she gets thought about at all. I wish there was a better way to get through it than Haagen Daas, Hershey’s and trying to close it out of your hearing and your mind.
–Lee

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