I Had a Miscarriage by Jessica Zucker (classic books to read .TXT) 📗

me through what to do and how to do it over the phone that day, I likely would’ve been transported in an ambulance to the emergency room, flush with strangers, while giving birth to death. Instead, her professional prowess and astute emotional awareness allowed me to endure the loss of my daughter with dignity.

Valerie is a touchstone. An arbiter of compassion and revelatory understanding, she reminds me of my capacities and my humanity. I am humbled to know her.

My life partner and best friend, Jason, is the one who witnessed my unfolding and stood by me all the while. It is in the context of this relationship—and the trauma we endured—that I have come to understand that love can morph into even deeper iterations after surviving the unimaginable.

Thank you to my sweet Liev and Noa for making me a mother. Thank you for loving with abandon, for being teachers, and for redefining the word “love.” Thank you for your sensitivity, sense of humor, soulfulness, and creativity. Thank you for being. Thank you for being you.

And to Olive, for making me a mother, too. For cracking me open and for requiring me to reconfigure emotionally in the deepest possible way—looking directly into the eyes of sheer vulnerability. For introducing me to the people and community I only met because I lost you. You are loved and remembered, not only by our family, but by countless women around the world who know our story and understand it too well.

I am grateful to my parents, and for the support of my sister and brother, for helping to lay the groundwork for becoming a storyteller. For instilling courage, an inner compass, and a joie de vivre.

Finally, thank you to all the people courageously sharing their stories and to those who opt to remain private about them.

About the Author

DR. JESSICA ZUCKER is a Los Angeles–based psychologist specializing in reproductive and maternal mental health. She is the creator of the #IHadaMiscarriage campaign. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, New York Magazine, and Vogue, among other publications. Dr. Zucker holds a master’s degree in public health and a doctorate in clinical psychology.

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