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What to do when you feel unraveled
Infertility breaks your heart in places you didn’t know could crack. It’s the quiet disappointment after each cycle, the sadness that shows up in moments that were supposed to feel happy, and the way it creeps into your thoughts when you least expect it. If you’re reading this, you already know the pain. What you may not know is how much your mental health matters while you carry this cross.

Dana Nygaard, LPC
10 hours ago3 min read
21 views


When fertility is gone: infertility to menopause
It felt like it vanished without a trace. I went from having periods to no periods at all. Yes, I knew I was in perimenopause. Yes, I...
Sonia-Maria Szymanski
May 74 min read
107 views


When fertility is gone: frozen at 19
Nearly 10 years later, I still think about that version of myself that had to sit there and begin to process the reality of my complete infertility. There is still a part of me that has been frozen, stuck in that doctor’s office. And I avoided that 19 year-old as much as I could over the near decade. My fertility was gone and, with it, my worth. Or, at least that’s the lie I told myself.

C. J. Parke
May 13 min read
166 views


Carrying the cross that transforms everything
I sat down to write a piece on Easter Sunday and inevitably I am brought first to Good Friday. For just as Venerable Fulton Sheen wrote, “Unless there is a Good Friday in your life, there can be no Easter Sunday,” without the painful cross of infertility, our family would not be the miracle that it is. My womb never bore children, I remain infertile almost eight years after my husband and I said “I do”. This might look like an abject failure, like the absence of a miracle, bu

Katie Gallivan
Apr 233 min read
240 views


Good Friday and infertility: death and resurrection
Then, Easter changed. It became a season of darkness and perpetual death. This darkness settled in my heart after we miscarried our first and only biological child. I was left barren and fruitless. Although Jesus died and resurrected, I remained dead inside because my fertility was dead and would never resurrect.
Sonia-Maria Szymanski
Apr 186 min read
146 views


Lingering on Holy Thursday
There's a beautiful juxtaposition on this night between anticipation and dread, the not yet and the soon-to-be; the long-awaited and much-feared, a holy tension.

Shelby Gambino
Apr 173 min read
142 views


As a non-Catholic, I stood between my wife and IVF
As his wife, I vividly recall the day his words about IVF made me realize that pursuing it might create an unbridgeable gap

thefruitfulhollow
Mar 265 min read
227 views


RESOURCE: Discernment as a couple
Discerning next steps can be challenging enough on your own, but discerning as a married couple is sometimes even harder. When it comes to..

Ellen H.
Mar 185 min read
196 views


Fostering fruitfulness through at-home date nights
This year at The Fruitful Hollow, our theme is "fruitfulness in your home and marriage". We are exploring ways we can exercise ...

Kathleen and Jesse LeBlanc
Mar 124 min read
134 views


Fire by Night
The wilderness is upon us. Our sandals are worn and our feet are dusty from the journey we have traveled thus far. We stand on the...

Danielle Thompson
Mar 53 min read
152 views


The Battlefield of Infertility
Understanding these weapons and why they're targeted helps us recognize the enemy's tactics and stand firm in our faith. Each time we choose

Rachel Walters
Feb 265 min read
280 views


Lost
The same feeling I have had many times throughout my life is here again. I’m lost. It is extremely hard to watch other families live a...

Brad Piecuch
Feb 195 min read
491 views


Nurturing your marriage
At the foundation of every couple’s union is the art of communication. Through the spoken word, physical cues, and rituals of affection...

Kristin D.
Feb 124 min read
159 views


Be fruitful beyond "multiply": cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit
Infertility is deeply painful but can be fertile ground for nurturing these fruits of the Spirit. Spiritual fruitfulness is no less valuable
Rachel Walters
Feb 55 min read
178 views


Becoming a mentor with the Sisters of Hannah
With the expanding needs of the infertility community, our team is hoping to welcome and train new team members to join us on this most...

thefruitfulhollow
Jan 223 min read
144 views


True love is always fertile
Love centered on Christ is always fruitful. It is transformed in Christ. Dietrich von Hildebrand explains that “the love of the beloved lift

Ann Burns
Jan 153 min read
150 views


Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
V/. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary, R/. And she conceived of the Holy Spirit. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you;...

Regina Harty
Jan 14 min read
85 views


Notes of Love
Seasons greetings! It’s tradition in many parts of the world during Advent to send Christmas cards to friends and family members with wishes

thefruitfulhollow
Dec 18, 20249 min read
103 views


Held in the mantle of Our Lady of Guadalupe
I remember seeing her image, a huge six-foot portrait hanging on the wall of the Catholic church where I attended grade school, and feeling

Faith Downing
Dec 12, 20243 min read
148 views


Wishing only wounds the heart: I'm not that girl
I’ve been a die-hard Wicked fan ever since I first saw it on stage in 2007 so the lyrics to those incredible songs were not new to me when..

thefruitfulhollow
Dec 7, 20245 min read
293 views
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