Category: Motherhood

A Different “Right to Choose”: America’s Cultural Denial of True Choice in Childbirth By Stacia Guzzo

The first time I became aware about my birthing choices was during a call to a local midwife to inquire about her practice. By this time, I had been diagnosed with PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome, uterine fibroids, a possible uterine septum, and had experienced a miscarriage two months before becoming pregnant with my son. On spiritual and psychological levels I didn’t trust my body, and certainly wasn’t experiencing the empowerment and holy wonder that I expected pregnancy to bring. Instead of feeling the strength of my ability to bear life, I felt the frailty of the threshold between life and death, and struggled with my body’s role in that space. I acutely felt my body’s assumed “brokenness.” I couldn’t access my inherent dignity, nor could I grasp the “hope [that] does not disappoint” (Romans 5:5). I was willing to let anyone tell me what I needed to do because I felt I couldn’t trust myself. I just wanted to be able to bring my baby to term and to have a healthy son.

During this time I didn’t even consider how the pregnancy or labor would affect me—emotionally, physically, psychologically, or spiritually. Yet my discussion with that midwife made me realize how deeply the experience of pregnancy was shaping me. The space God was carving out within me was incredibly powerful, and the closer I got to birthing my son, the more I realized how spiritually and psychologically charged the birth experience could be. It was laden with the potential for either transformative beauty or despair. Continue reading “A Different “Right to Choose”: America’s Cultural Denial of True Choice in Childbirth By Stacia Guzzo”

The Misbegotten Male: Male Sex-Selection & Female Abortion By Cynthia Garrity Bond

I turned away and, despite myself, the tears came, tears
Of weakness and disappointment; for what woman
wants a girl for her first-born?  They took the child from
me.  Kali said: “Never mind.  There will be many later
On.  You have plenty of time”
To our modern sensibility, the ancient Greeks understanding of procreation is as far reaching as say Nordstrom’s may be to any dollar store.  To the Greeks, men’s testicles had a particular function or job to fulfill: the left one produced girls with the right one producing boys.  For Aristotle, if you were willing to “man-up” and take the pain, tie off your left testicle during intercourse in order to insure the birth of a son.  In this formula, if something were to go wrong, even though you followed the correct game plan and a girl was born instead of the hope for son, something obviously went wrong at conception, thus the term “The Misbegotten Male,”i.e. a daughter, as the misbegotten.   Continue reading “The Misbegotten Male: Male Sex-Selection & Female Abortion By Cynthia Garrity Bond”

Women Standing as Sacred Witness to One Another By Stacia Guzzo

The following is a guest post written by Stacia Guzzo.  She received her MA in Theological Studies from Loyola Marymount University and is currently working toward a MDiv through Fuller Theological Seminary. She is also in the midst of completing certification in Childbirth Education and periodically serves women in her community as a labor doula. She has taught on the elementary and high school levels, led retreats, and spoken at regional congresses through the Los Angeles Roman Catholic Archdiocese. She lives with her husband, son, two dogs, two cats, seven chickens, and five beehives on a small homestead in Tehachapi, California.

“Hands!” The young woman gasped as the next contraction swelled. I quickly put the wet washcloth I had been using to dab her face back in the small bowl of water beside me and grabbed her hands. She squeezed them, moaning low. Her husband stood behind her in the birthing tub, pressing on her hips. Two midwives stood in the background, their encouragement silent and strong. The dim light of dawn was beginning to shine through the window of their home. In another room, the couple’s two-year-old son slept. Continue reading “Women Standing as Sacred Witness to One Another By Stacia Guzzo”

“Now Sarah, Abraham’s wife, bore him no children”: On Experiencing Infertility By Gina Messina-Dysert

Gen 16: 1 reads “Now Sarah, Abraham’s wife, bore him no children.” The simplicity of this statement fails to communicate the complicated and devastating situation Sarah faced. The woman who became the matriarch of the Judeo-Christian tradition was barren, unable to fulfill the one duty that gave her worth within her community.  While women were already devalued by society, the social status of a woman struggling with infertility was even further diminished.

Sarah is a woman I have come to identify with. I share her plight of infertility and feel a hopelessness that can only be fully understood by women in a similar situation. Like Sarah I have been desperate to become a mother and although it is the 21st century, as a woman I have felt pressure to do so. Feelings of inadequacy and lack of worth have been overwhelming at times as family members and friend have felt it necessary to not only acknowledge my struggle but also offer commentary on what exactly they think is wrong with me. Continue reading ““Now Sarah, Abraham’s wife, bore him no children”: On Experiencing Infertility By Gina Messina-Dysert”