By Lisa Manterfield
We talk a lot in this community about the power of telling our stories, of hearing other people’s stories, and of having our voices heard in a world that doesn’t want to talk about uncomfortable topics like infertility, loss, and childlessness.
A couple of weeks ago, I had the honor of talking to Cathy Broadwell on her wonderful new podcast “Slow Swimmers and Fried Eggs.” Cathy has been writing a blog by the same title for some time now and recently convinced her boss to fund a podcast. What’s so powerful about the work Cathy is doing is that she writes in partnership with her husband, and their blog is hosted on the website of a fertility hospital.
Not so long ago, it was almost unheard of for an infertility blog to even entertain the idea that the infertility journey could end without children. I remember discovering a forum for “Life After Infertility” on one well-known resource’s site, only to realize it was full of discussions about teething and the best kind of baby stroller to buy. Another popular blogger, who went on to have children, continued to serve the infertility community, but managed to alienate all her readers who had “given up” on having children. Cathy’s blog marks a BIG step forward for our community, a step towards inclusion and genuine, frank conversations about the realities of infertility.
You can hear my conversation with Cathy in the latest episode of her podcast, here.
Be sure to also check out her earlier conversations with Sarah Chamberlain of Infertility Honesty and our own Kathleen Guthrie Woods.
And a big thank you to Cathy for having the courage to help shatter the stigma.
I still haven’t listened to any of Cathy’s podcasts, but I AM going to get around to it!! You’re reminding me to hop to it. (Did you get the Easter reference there? lol)
PS. I started reading your novel today.
Nice Easter pun. Egg-sactly what I needed to hear. 😉 Hope you enjoy the book.
Thank you so much for posting these here I’ve listened to Sarah and Lisa’s so far and going to listen to Kathleens one soon. They are so helpful to listen to.