Honoring Missed Motherhood: Loss, Choice and Creativity

Millions of women go through life hiding or denying the feelings that result from the loss of a pregnancy through miscarriage or abortion, the inability to conceive, giving up a child for adoption or the choice not to have children. Roughly 75% of women in the U.S. fall into one or more of these categories of missed motherhood, although many have a child at some point. Rather than being able to explore and express their feelings and receive the support they need to integrate their losses and create joyful lives, these women often suffer in silence, and so does our entire society.

The authors two sisters use their own experiences, along with those of 12 other women, as a starting point for a much larger story. Their healing journeys are followed by specific steps that readers can take to create a culture of understanding and support so countless women can move out of the closet, grieve their losses, experience their wholeness and move into joy.