Babies aren’t a Birthright (Pun Intended)

I’ve been thinking a lot about the notion of families – parents, kids, spouses, siblings – as I’ve been discussing my life up to this point with a variety of podcast hosts. Whether the outlet focused on writing, book lovers, memoir or grief, I noticed that I was unintentionally espousing one message again and again.

Families aren’t guaranteed.

There is no guarantee that…

Parents will live to see grandchildren

You’ll find someone to start a family with (not that that’s the only path toward parenthood)

Your firstborn will have a sibling

Your firstborn will ever come

I think it’s easy to overlook the fact that these roles and the people who occupy them are not promised to us. If you’ve been the lucky benefactor of such, chances are you know people who haven’t if you stop and think about it.

• There are women who, for whatever reason, never got to fulfill their dreams of being mothers

• There are only children who will never know what a sibling bond is like

• There are adult children who are navigating the chaos that is this world without a mom and/or dad

When this book publicity tour of sorts started, I never had the intention of this particular message being my narrative. And it isn’t…necessarily.