Celebration: what it means to us

As you may have heard, our theme for 2026 at The Fruitful Hollow is “celebration”. To launch this series, we asked our team members to share what celebration means for them on an infertility journey. As always, their responses were colourfully varied and personal. 

C.J. (Director)

I was surprised at how many people in our leadership team were drawn to the idea of celebration as our theme for 2026! It forced me to look at how I viewed my life, and what meant the most to me. While I am generally cheerful, I cannot tell you how hard it is for me to shake myself out of a spiral when it comes to the isolation of infertility or a similarly hard part of my life. Knowing that about myself, I began to challenge myself to a small game: note at least one good thing about the day. Just being able to find something good each day in a world that can seem increasingly chaotic feels like a celebration, but in reflecting on the good things that happened each day, it makes me appreciate those moments and people I spent them with more deeply. The ice cream tastes just that much better, or the laughs and hugs, or the random flower or a sunset. 

While I have known the deepest pains of my life because of infertility, it has also made me feel the deepest joys and a more profound appreciation for things that otherwise would be taken for granted. So I’m celebrating the small wins that infertility will not take away from me. 

Katie S. (Editor)

Throughout our almost 10 years of marriage, we've always been keen on celebrating as a couple. As well as anniversaries, we mark milestones on our infertility journey, both happy and sad, because celebrating what we've endured and overcome as a couple brings us together.

A few years ago, we decided that we would mark our first date anniversary, engagement anniversary and wedding anniversary by each writing an account of our memories of that day. We now have a collection of letters recounting those incredible days from both of our perspectives to keep alive the excitement we both felt about taking our relationship to the next stage.

On a very different note, each year on the due date of our miscarried son, we celebrate the little life he had by donating a collection of items to a local "baby bank" charity for a child of the age he would have been. Delivering a lovingly compiled collection of essentials and gifts for, say, a 2 year-old boy on what should have been our son's birthday has turned a sad day into a celebration of his legacy.

We have made celebration a core part of our marriage through sickness and health, so that it continues to come naturally to us. I believe that if we had been blessed with a living child early in our marriage, we would have poured our time, energy and resources into celebrating them and we may not have developed so many traditions of celebrating in creative ways as a couple.

Sonia-Maria Szymanski (Theological Editor)

A miscarriage began our descent into the abyss we came to know as infertility. It became so familiar that it felt woven into our marriage. Yet, remaining faithful to our vows in sickness and in health, God revealed His plan for us to become parents through adoption. In just 26 months, we were blessed with three children.

As we journeyed through that barren desert, we began speaking at marriage preparation programs. We were amazed by how many engaged couples were already facing infertility and found hope in our testimony. Remembering our own darkest days, I felt called to help women carrying the same cross. That calling led me to The Fruitful Hollow, which offered compassion and truth to women suffering from infertility. Within weeks, I was trained as a mentor with the Sisters of Hannah, praying and accompanying women in their pain. I was then invited to write for the blog, which became a deeply healing experience. 

Celebration and infertility may seem like oil and water, but with God as our captain, they can coexist. Pain can give way to hope, and even infertility can become a place of grace and celebration.

Rachel Walters (Social Media Coordinator)

For almost eight years, my life has been defined by a singular, all-consuming hope. The constant presence of infertility can make every other accomplishment feel secondary, as if muted in comparison. When you are striving for something so immense, its shadow can stretch over everything. It can get to the point where nothing else feels worthy of celebrating. This has forced me to face a hard truth: I don’t know how to celebrate well anymore. 

It’s not for lack of gratitude. I have a gratitude practice that has sustained me for years, allowing me to notice the small, quiet joys that get me through the day. But celebration feels different. It feels more profound, like it demands a truly worthy milestone. And when one great hope remains unfulfilled, it’s hard to grant that worthiness to anything else. 

So perhaps this is my work for the year. To dismantle the hierarchy I’ve built between gratitude and celebration. Maybe celebration doesn’t have to be reserved for moments that feel validated. Maybe it can be an active, defiant extension of gratitude, a choice to honor the strength it takes to keep going, and to find worthiness not in the outcome but in the journey.

Kristin D. (Sisters of Hannah Coordinator)

When I think of the concept of a celebration, I liken it to the image of a bottle of champagne being opened up.  The experience of celebration in many respects is like letting the pent up air and bubbles in a champagne bottle out into the atmosphere. I think of celebrations like graduations, weddings and little milestones in between, how each one takes a great bit of effort and when the moment of celebration arises, we can empty ourselves of the stresses and open ourselves to the joy and goodness those efforts are building towards.

For a long time, my husband and I put many things on hold in pursuit of medical care and the adoption process, waiting for a baby. After an adoption match fell through, we finally gave ourselves permission to go on a much needed vacation. We live in the Northeastern US and decided to take a flight out to San Diego, California and visit my aunt and uncle who also experienced many difficulties with infertility. We splurged on a fancy red race car and for the first time in my life, flew first class. It felt weird to indulge at first, but when I decided to take stock of the emotional and physical efforts we had put into this journey, I felt it was a small and innocent way to celebrate what we had persevered through to that point. Yes, it is ok to dream, do novel things, and seize unexpected adventures together.

By giving ourselves permission to try something different, we lit a little spark. Celebration to me means recognizing where we put forth our work and didn’t settle with leaving life to chance. There is room for surrendering to God’s will and living in the freedom and will that He has given you. If you are faithful to what is true, good, beautiful, and pursue God’s will even when it is hard, you can  find meaning, hope, and a resurgence in your marriage and your life. Celebrate life: yours, your spouse’s, and all the people and things that make each breath another chance to dream and be.

Liz Mtunga (Sisters of Hannah Admin Assistant)

After reflecting on the theme of celebration and how it relates to my experience with infertility, I realized that who I am today, the work I’m doing, and where I am spiritually are all deeply connected to my infertility journey. Let me explain.

If I hadn’t gone through infertility, I would have never discovered The Fruitful Hollow (TFH) or the Sisters of Hannah (SOH). In 2024, during a season of deep pain, I chose Hannah to be my spiritual friend. Later that same year, I saw a post from TFH looking for an administrative assistant for SOH, and I immediately felt like Hannah was encouraging me to get involved with this ministry. I applied, they said yes, and soon I had a community of women who truly understood the weight of infertility and offered support and guidance. A year later, I became a SOH mentor, and now I have the honor of walking alongside other women carrying this heavy cross.   

If I hadn’t gone through infertility, I also wouldn’t have taken a deep dive into my own health or begun viewing my body, fertility and overall health through a more holistic lens. Even as a nurse, infertility opened my eyes to new perspectives and sparked a passion for more holistic medicine.  Because of this journey, I am now a Marquette Method Natural Family Planning instructor! I love teaching and helping women see their bodies and their fertility as incredible gifts!

And lastly, and most importantly, if I hadn’t gone through infertility, I may not have known real, raw, deep suffering. This deep suffering transformed my faith and transformed me in ways I’m still coming to understand. In a season that often felt hopeless, desperate and relentless, God was always present in the suffering and was working everything for my good (Romans 8:28) and for that I can celebrate!

Lauren Allen (Founder)

Our infertility journey has completely shifted the way I define celebration. I’ve learned that celebrations don’t only happen because of a positive event or life change; they can happen in the “and” of life. It’s been 6 years of marriage and I’ve still never had a positive pregnancy test; even after surgeries, medications, and the “luck” of adoptions (IYKYK). I’ve never had a positive pregnancy test AND I’m celebrating because celebrations are a choice. I choose to celebrate not because of a success; but because in every circumstance is an encounter with Christ. I am infertile AND He brought me The Fruitful Hollow; so I celebrate the gift that you all are. My surgery did not end in a pregnancy AND I’m celebrating because my cycles have become regular and my body is healthier than before. We’ve adopted three times and parenthood has been complex, messy, and harder than I ever imagined AND I’m celebrating because in the trenches I’ve intimately encountered Christ. My special needs son needs a lot of support AND I’m celebrating because I now see teaching and parenting through a different lens.

Carrying this cross has united me in suffering to Christ in ways I never imagined or wanted to experience AND I celebrate because He is with me in the midst of it all. Celebrate despite the circumstances because the truth is we get to walk with Jesus and that in itself is worth celebrating. 

Ellen H. (Resource Coordinator) 

While we certainly don't celebrate our infertility, we have definitely found ways to celebrate within it. For many years now, we have made a point to plan a summer vacation just for us as a couple. We look forward to the new adventure every year and enjoy reminiscing over the memories for years afterwards.

While holidays are often celebrated with extended family, we have fun celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving in October as a "just us" holiday by doing a day trip or an outing to enjoy the fall foliage somewhere and enjoy a tasty meal and treat together. Canada Day has become a "just us" holiday we enjoy celebrating as well - traveling to a small town nearby and taking in the patriotic parade, speeches done in old-timey costumes, festive cupcakes and fireworks.

We've recently begun trying to find ways to celebrate the Sabbath, experimenting with different ways to set the day apart and have fun during our family day for the two of us. We don't need to wait for children to enjoy the holidays or other special days - they are here for us to enjoy, right here and right now!