The Right Century

Growing up, I loved reading books set in historical time periods. Louisa May Alcott's Little Women and Francis Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess and The Secret Garden were some of my favorites. Currently, I'm reading a newly discovered author (to me, at least) Sarah Dunant, who wrote Sacred Hearts and Birth of Venus, both set in in sixteenth century Italy. Because of my fascination with stories set in times past, I've been fond of claiming that perhaps I was just born in the wrong century. Sure, I love our modern day conveniences (thank you, indoor plumbing and Jamba Juice), but something about the romantic elements of the past speak to me.

Since I've saturated myself with stories from earlier decades or centuries, I often read about the plight of women during these times, and musing on this reality has caused me to rethink my yearnings for the past. For example, I often wonder as I read, how would I have been treated as an infertile woman in the sixteenth century--or even the mid-twentieth century? Surely, I would have received pitiful glances from women who pop out a baby every other year and perhaps whispers about her "sad condition" might have followed in my wake. But what about the more practical problems?

In seventeenth century England, I would attempt (and fail) to produce an heir for my husband. In eighteenth century New England, I might have been labeled a witch and hanged for my inability to conceive (for surely some dark power is at work in such instances, right???). In nineteenth century Midwest, I would have tried to compensate for my "problem" by working hard alongside my husband to establish land that no one would inherit.

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome was not even a term until the 1930s, and semen analysis (despite the fact that males historically received NONE of the blame for infertility issues) did not arrive on the scene until the 1920s. And, ultimately important to us, the great wonder of IVF was not even an option until the early 1980s. In light of these truths, I salute my fertility-challenged predecessors who walked through this journey without the kind of help, support, and options that I possess today. I am grateful for their struggle and perseverance that has helped lead to the modern-day advances that welcome another precious little-woman into this world: My Macie Grace. Thanks to these would-be mothers who have become a generation of "demi-mothers" to all of us who follow in their steps.