What: A lovely, thought-provoking essay from writer Laura Barton on unexpectedly becoming a mom at 45, after years of trying through miscarriages and fertility treatments.
Why it matters: There are lots of good lines, but this paragraph stuck with us.
Three years ago, when I wrote about IVF, repeated miscarriage and terrible relationships, I realised that in so doing I had made myself part of a distinct social set: sad, lost, childless. People greeted me with a head-tilt and a tone of almost unbearable sympathy. This changed once I was pregnant. I felt a sudden rush of warmth from the world. I was no longer one of the sad ones, the career-focused, the selfish or the tragic. I was not exiled to the outskirts of the village. Instead I found myself welcomed back in, friendships rekindled, those I felt had dropped me once they became parents suddenly inviting me round for tea. I was, at last, one of them.
Source: The Guardian