Seleni Institute Archive

Infertility Etiquette

Accepting Childlessness After Infertility

Surviving infertility in an era when celebrity and news magazines, TV programs, Facebook pages and ‘mommy blogs’ routinely and glowingly share family-building successes isn’t easy. In today’s noisy celebration of motherhood, the voices of those unable to have children are hard to hear. That’s what made Silent Sorority unusual and refreshing when it debuted. It became the first memoir about confronting infertility not written by a mother. Silent Sorority is irreverent as well as moving in relating what happens when nature and science find their limits.

Outside of the physical reckoning there lies the challenge of moving forward in a society that doesn’t know how to handle the awkwardness of infertility. With no Emily Post-like guidelines for supporting couples who cannot conceive, most well-intentioned people miss the mark. Silent Sorority offers an unflinching and insightful look at coming to terms with a life unexpected and navigating a path forward in an era of designer babies and helicopter parents. The memoir and blog led to Finally Heard: A Silent Sorority Finds Its Voice, published May 1, 2015.