Shapes of Grief
Just a handful of examples of the different types of grief a person may experience on their fertility journey.
All painful. All valid.
Holding space for you all.
Grief Comes In so Many Shapes And Sizes
Circumstantial Grief: Grieving your life circumstances that prevent you from having a baby. You haven’t met your partner yet. You are still awaiting medical clearance. You are still saving up to cover the costs of treatment.
Ectopic Grief: Grieving your baby that was alive, but growing in the wrong spot and would never survive. Maybe you are also grieving the loss of a fallopian tube.
TFMR Grief: Grieving the fact that you had to terminate a pregnancy for medical reasons. The heartbreak of losing a baby in this way is devastating and the grief is so complex.
Adoption Grief: Grieving the fact that even though you have your beautiful child, they do not share you DNA. Happiness and love cna coexist with grief and disappointment.
Surrogate Grief: Grieving you body’s ability to get and stay pregnant. And the fact that you won’t experience pregnancy and childbirth.
Hysterectomy Grief: Grieving the loss of your uterus and with it the ability to have (or carry) more children.
Childless Not By Choice Grief: Grieving that you are not where you want to be. You’ve tried for so long, but your arms are still empty.
Family Size Grief: Grieving the family size you dream of, or the spacing between your children you always hoped for.
“I Can’t Believe This Is My Life” Grief: Grieving the fact that you are even on this fertility journey. You thought it would be easy and simple to expand your family—you never thought this would be a part of your story.