When Barton and I published our book, Ink in the Wheels: Stories to Make Love Roll, we were fearless, breaking down barriers, and sharing pieces of our story that resonated with others for a variety of reasons. Marrying a man with a disability is considered taboo in our culture. But there is a taboo even greater than that.

A women’s identity revolves around children.
And what if you don’t?

Many women who are childless not by choice may grieve, question their value, feel isolated and shunned by our society. I can’t tell you how nervous I was to share this post with my own community. I broke my silence.

“Getting raw and real. Opening up today about my journey with Childless Not By Choice (CNBC) for World Childless Week. There is an arch in my journey, as I have found joy in my life. But our journey was not without loss and excruciating ethical decisions (for us around adoption). But it is the social isolation can leave women struggling to find purpose in their lives, to wonder why we are here. Poetry is where I live. Sharing my most unspoken journey after a medically necessary surgery a few years back, for women who may be grieving to know that they are not alone, there is support, there is a community who understands, that through grief there can be healing.” #worldchildlessweek

Read my poem Unfolding here. 

What I learned from posting this creative expression, is that the approach, and the ability to put words to emotions resonated with other women, who had children and didn’t have children. I was amazed at the response.

There are times when we are called to be vulnerable.
To share pieces of ourselves for those who may feel alone and lost, so that they know there are those who have travelled the journey before and with them.