The Miracle Seekers: An Anthology of Infertility, 1987
Unknown, 1946-
The Miracle Seekers: An Anthology of Infertility, 1987
Rare Books and Manuscripts Library
PS3563.A7599 M5 1987
Motherhood Denied.
Pregnancy and childbirth have long been seen as rites of passage for women. In some eras, their ability to bear healthy children has been used as a measure of their worth, proof that they are fulfilling their purpose. Today, with greater options for women outside of marriage and the accepted use of birth control, whether a woman has children is largely seen as a matter of choice. But what about women who desperately wish to be mothers yet cannot conceive? This seldom spoken of side of reproduction is a devastating reality for many women - and men - and has been from the beginning of time. The inability to conceive one’s own child is harsh in its own right, but it is often compounded with societal shame, even in today’s more liberal worldview.
Mary Mason funnels these frustrations and griefs into an anthology of fictional short stories that convey the very real experiences of countless couples desperate to become parents. She explores the experience from discovery to bargaining to acceptance to alternatives, such as adoption, and the ever-present haunting of infertility. While this volume carries the fairly plain style common to books of its era, the content it addresses cannot, and should not, be left out of any discussion of the experiences of women and pregnancy.