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Infertility in the Jubilee Year of Hope
I am somewhat ashamed to admit that when I first learned that the theme of the Jubilee Year was “hope”, I just about physically gagged. My relationship with the idea, the virtue, the gift of hope, after 10+ years of infertility… let’s just say it’s a bit rocky.

Chelsea Voboril
Oct 212 min read


Friendship with the archangels
Through prayer, we find ourselves relying on saints and angels that hold specific missions or roles to help us heal and navigate our struggle. Through tears, prayer became my solace and comfort. I found saints I may never have encountered had it not been for infertility. I also realized angels and archangels could be powerful allies and friends. As we celebrate the feast of the archangel this week, I have chosen to take each archangel and show how they can be a great friend t
Sonia-Maria Szymanski
Sep 236 min read


RESOURCE: Navigating the emotional rollercoaster
Trying to conceive while dealing with infertility comes with intense emotions. Each new treatment, supplement or surgery can fill us with the possibility that “this, surely, will be the month!” often to only be met by deep despair when we see that, once again, this month is not our month for the pregnancy we have longed for for so long. How do we continue forward in hope, leaving room for the possibility for God to work a miracle, all while not setting ourselves up for an emo

Ellen H.
Sep 176 min read


When infertility, toxic positivity and prosperity Gospel meet
One particularly painful manifestation of toxic positivity and prosperity Gospel in Christian infertility circles is the emphasis that every couple in scripture who experienced infertility eventually had a child. We should remember that for every barren woman turned mother in scripture, many others were never blessed with children. When we present only the “success stories,” we inadvertently suggest that those still waiting simply haven’t waited long enough or prayed hard eno

Rachel Walters
Aug 135 min read


Everything I have is yours
I am never content with the blessings that I have, but I see the next step, the next milestone, the next blessing I want. I'm single minded in my prayer, only talking to God about what I think I need. I fail to take into account all the blessings I do have, ignoring the fact that I used to pray for all the things I have now. I feel as if God is holding back from me the very thing that will make me happy, holy, the best version of myself.

Marial Arnold
Aug 53 min read


Saints Joachim and Anne: the power of prayer
I have learned from Joachim and Anne that persistent prayer changes us more than it changes our circumstances. After seven years of praying for a child, I’ve discovered that some of my most profound moments with God have come when I’ve run out of words. Like old friends who can sit together without speaking, I’m learning to simply be in God’s presence with my longing. Joachim and Anne must have experienced this too.

Rachel Walters
Jul 235 min read


Roll away the stone: Pope Francis’ words of hope
In my journey through the Christian life, certain spiritual mentors have guided and shaped me in profound ways. In college, it was St....

Katie Wilson
Jun 244 min read


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 Wilson
Apr 223 min read


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 176 min read


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 opposite shore of our deliverance, the enemy defeated, yet our work has just begun. We understand that our God has set us free. Our Lord? The One who calls us “chosen”. There is still so little we know of Him, though He has already revealed so much. Have we forgotten the God of our fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Our chosen people. Nevertheless

Danielle Thompson
Mar 53 min read


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


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


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


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


Healing in His name
As we begin Advent and prepare for the coming of Jesus, I wanted to share about the power in His holy name. I had intentions of finding all these examples in the Bible showing the importance of Jesus’ name and how often they proclaim power in it… but I am not a detailed person, and I have a deadline and a word limit, so… Go read all of Acts! There are too many examples even in that one book to share. Here is one verse I personally love: “And whatever you ask in my name, I wil

Marie Justin
Dec 4, 20245 min read


Adoption Diaries: when a child grows within me
It happened again the other night. I had put my oldest son to bed and was headed into my youngest’s room when I heard a faint whisper...

Lauren Allen
Nov 27, 20244 min read


Surrendering to God’s will in the midst of infertility
That question caused the greatest spiritual struggle for me. Couldn’t God see that I was suffering? Why would God’s will be to cause me...
Dominique Tomaino
Nov 6, 20245 min read


Judith’s call to action: being fruitful where God places you
Society tends to define a woman's fruitfulness by her ability to bear children. This concept of fruitfulness is narrow and can leave those..

Rachel Walters
Oct 1, 20245 min read


Insights to hope
That pain stayed in my heart throughout the trip. I prayed the Lord would meet me here, in the mountains, in my suffering, but I felt...

thefruitfulhollow
Sep 17, 20245 min read


Waiting with St. Anne: trusting God’s timing in infertility
When I learned that St. Anne and her husband experienced infertility before the birth of our Blessed Mother, it made me realize that God's..

Rachel Walters
Jul 23, 20245 min read
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