A journey to motherhood…

“One in six women suffer with infertility. Why don’t we see their stories? Their grief. Their anger. Their courage. Their longing. Their patience. Their hope. ”

“I look at my daughter now and I am so truly amazed at what she and I went through to meet each other. I am in awe of the universe. I am certain she was meant for me. I am so grateful to have our lives not only intersect, but overlap.

I asked AlisaMarie to document my body pre-baby. I wanted to capture the beauty and strength I saw in myself for having climbed that infertile mountain. As I neared full term, I wanted to capture the new strength and beauty I saw in my body as it literally grew and stretched to be a vessel for an entire other soul. After birth, I have these photos with my newborn... each of us learning how to breastfeed and exist as separate strong beautiful creatures.

After 4 years of infertility, I learned to appreciate how fragile becoming a parent can be. I grew up believing that it was easy to make a child and difficult to raise one. I grew up fearing that the birth of a child was the death of my own life. Once I softened to the idea of motherhood though, I was met with the cruel realization that making a child is not natural for everyone. Learned that growing a child to term is a gift to be cherished and to meet your child is a gift often taken for granted.

AlisaMarie helped me capture that, as well as my transformation to motherhood. Maybe my photos can normalize the fragile and fickle nature of becoming a parent. Help to see hope... and support our village.”