Pop Culture
Book Musings
Pop Culture
Friend or Coworker Clueless About Infertility?
A friend or coworker can exacerbate infertility pain out of sheer ignorance. A careless comment or mass email can magnify suffering in ways large and small. Some years back, I participated on an infertility chat board. The clueless topic came up. It led to a discussion about how Silent Sorority could be used as a […]
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Another Perspective
Pop Culture
An idea for Michelle Obama: Use 2019 bully pulpit to convey IVF risks, realities
Michelle Obama can help educate her audiences and followers about the reality of IVF and its risks.
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Movies
Pop Culture
Private Life Portrays Infertility Complexities, IVF Agony
Private Life breaks new ground by not flattening or sugar coating IVF. This film instead presents a multi-faceted story complete with the hellish, inhumane clinic experience and callous staff. Every ounce of the indignity that accompanies IVF is here to see. You will realize moments into Private Life that Tamara Jenkins, the writer and director […]
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Linking Around
Pop Culture
How Is This Not a Thing?
You know how you hear or read something, and your first thought is, “Huh? How is this not a thing?” In my case this response usually has to do with infertility-related topics. Thing One: Endometriosis How is a proper and timely diagnosis for endometriosis still not a thing? The superb Samantha Bee recently highlighted this […]
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Pop Culture
That Damned Uterus
The uterus. It’s just an organ but unlike other organs — a kidney, a bladder or a lung — it carries tremendous identity significance. Baggage, too — cultural and otherwise. Upon reproductive age, its power increases. Beyond a vexing way of making itself very evident every month, it also holds the promise of creation. If, […]
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Pop Culture
Strength Personified
Mother’s Day? It’s Complicated
Mother’s Day is far from black and white. For many it’s stress-inducing and, simply, complicated. I know. A decade or more ago around early May I would do my best to tune out. First I adopted a bunker mentality. Then came humor. In 2009 I solicited greeting card ideas for women who don’t fit neatly […]
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Pop Culture
Psychology
Human Nature Boils Down to This: We Want to Belong
Human nature — and the human ability to surprise through actions, words and deeds — never cease to amaze. Sometimes the results delight; other times not so much. We see both results amplified in today’s political climate. The increasingly polarized nature of society is troubling. Makes one wonder about civilization and what led us to […]
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Book Musings
Pop Culture
We’re Not Going to Sugar Coat Failed IVF: The Grief is Real
Updated 9/23/2016 with a link to The New York Times Letter to the Editor ~~ Welcome to the blog book tour for Avalanche: A Love Story The links (below) contain book reviews and opinions and insights on Avalanche by author Julia Leigh. Please share your thoughts on the ideas raised. Also, this blog’s readers were not […]
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Another Perspective
Pop Culture
How Honest Talk About Infertility Breaks Down Barriers
You want to talk about a loaded topic? There are few disclosures as emotionally charged as admitting that you were unable to conceive children. If you think it’s awkward for a woman, try wading into that discussion as a man. There are very few who possess the courage or emotional stamina to go there. As […]
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Pop Culture
Jennifer Aniston: Yes, Motherhood Obsession Needs to Stop
Jennifer Aniston grabbed the spotlight this week in a fiercely worded Huffington Post piece. In 913 words she accomplished what many women (yours truly among them) have spent years trying to do: bring attention to a pervasive tendency by society to look down on women who are not mothers. She was helped along in her […]
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