The Weight Birth & Motherhood - "Grace Through Infertility" with Elizabeth Hagan
The Church needs to be a place where it is safe to share vulnerable stories, and this includes engaging the struggle of infertility. Unfortunately, many people who face this struggle have found shallow remedies or offensive expectations within communities of faith. How can we cultivate a more caring, helpful engagement with topics of motherhood that is inclusive of everyone’s experience, including those who struggle with infertility?
Elizabeth Hagan speaks to these issues from the perspective of a pastor, but also as one who struggled with infertility, miscarriage, and adoption loss for eight years. Along with 15 years of pastoral service as ordained minister, Hagan is the author of “Birthed,” a memoir that tells the story of her struggle. She also wrote the upcoming book “Brave Church: Tackling Tough Topics Together,” a guide on how to foster conversations about challenging topics.
Hagan shares her story with us and gives us a clearer understanding of the layers of grief that come with infertility that most do not recognize. Specifically, she speaks about ways that communities of faith can become some of the least safe places for people to deal with the struggle. Even so, Hagan also shines a light on how God’s grace can guide people through the struggle and how the desires we have to create families are God-given and should not be given up on. This conversation is purposed to inspire us all toward a more loving way of coming alongside those who struggle with this weighty topic of birth and motherhood.
Resources:
Follow Elizabeth on the web: https://elizabethhagan.com/
Read articles authored by Elizabeth on weighty topics: https://elizabethhagan.com/best-of/
Read her article in The Christian Century about her journey with infertility: https://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2016-09/waiting-eight-years-be-mother
Follow Elizabeth on social media:
https://www.facebook.com/revelizabethhagan/