I Was Supposed To Have A Baby

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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.