Growing Through Loss

, , 4 Comments

Loss
Pablo Picasso. Young Girl Struck by Sadness, 1939

In the myriad emotions that wash over those of us who never get the precious gift of conceiving and delivering a child, the emotion I guard against more than any other is bitterness. It’s a state of mind that buys me nothing. And, let’s face it, who wants to listen to harsh rants?

My situation is what it is. Life isn’t fair. Most everyone must deal with some form of adversity or another, but rarely does adversity brings such waves of loss.

Working through the loss and emotions associated with it has taught me a great deal.  First I had to understand the dimensions of loss to grieve properly. Below are just a few types of loss that infertile couples encounter – some of these don’t apply to those who adopt. (But lest you think otherwise, adoption is not for everyone and it is not a sure thing. It can involve a huge amount of financial hurdles, red tape and heartache in its own right.)

 

 

The Sadness an Losses Are Many

  • Loss of innocence when you first realize that lovemaking alone will never result in conception
  • Loss of spontaneity…“hey, let’s make a baby tonight” for the very same reason as that listed above…
  • Loss of surprise when you miss a cycle and rush to the drugstore for your first at-home pregnancy test (infertiles are too busy counting days, taking basal body temperatures and investing in ovulation kits — everything is planned down to the second)
  • Loss of delight in springing the happy news on your partner, reveling in the idea that together you’re making a new life
  • Loss of feeling the baby move or kick for the first time
  • Loss of the miracle of seeing your baby’s face for the first time
  • Loss of bonding with those who move on to become parents … infertility is fundamentally hard on many friendships — the frame of reference for those on either side is impossible to fully understand
  • Loss of seeing your spouse, sibling’s, parent’s traits or talents live on in your offspring
  • Loss of life’s little milestones (your child’s first day of school, graduation, wedding, you get the idea)
See also  Promises, Promises

And, perhaps the hardest one for me, the loss in your spouse’s eyes when you both realize that you’ll never be pregnant together.

These and many other losses run from ordinary to profound. They are the backdrop of the book I’m writing about living with infertility. It is only in sharing some of these losses that I think those in the fertile world will begin to understand what we face. Infertility is not something you ever “get over.”

I shared the genesis of my book with a (fertile) colleague, and her first reaction once she got over the shock of me acknowledging my infertility was, “but won’t it be a sad story?”

Does a story have to be inherently happy to be a good story? No, I think the best stories are the ones that cause us to reflect and understand the world and our place in it.

 

4 Responses

  1. Ellen K.

    February 20, 2007 1:13 pm

    Great post… of course not all stories have to be happy; there’s so much room for growth and reflection in a sad or bittersweet story. Have you read the 1992 book “Never to Be a Mother” by Linda Hunt Anton? It’s pretty good. You can find it used on Amazon for just a few dollars.

    • Pamela Jeanne

      February 20, 2007 4:04 pm

      Thanks for the nice comment Miss E! Yes, I have read Never to Be a Mother. It’s one of many books I devoured trying to making sense of my situation. Hopefully Clare and Valerie’s story will land on the bedside of others (both fertile and infertile) trying to understand this life changing experience…

  2. Dana

    April 10, 2009 4:32 pm

    Thank you for this. Thank you for this website. I’m lost right now, but in reading these words that could come from my own heart I feel acceptance growing. Maybe that’s a good place to start. I’m just beginning this journey, and there’s still many opportunities for hope, but I have to move through my grief over our loss of the first four on this list. And my fear that the next five may never happen. It paralyzes me at times.

    • Pamela Jeanne

      April 10, 2009 6:39 pm

      Hi Dana,
      I’m so glad you find the words and thoughts here helpful. Infertility can be paralyzing. It’s compounded in many ways because we are forced to cope without much of the understanding that makes other losses that much easier to bear with. Ours is a grief and fear that many just can’t wrap their heads around…you’re not alone.

Comments are closed.