The Paths to Parenthood

I've been thinking a lot about parenthood recently. Which makes sense because I have three small girls and parenthood is, at the moment, the lens through which I view the world. Also, I know so many people who are trying to become parents and are having a hard time. Infertility is a really common story. I know people who have been trying to conceive for months or years to no avail. I know people who are undergoing expensive and soul-straining reproductive interventions. I know people who have adopted or are currently in the process. I know people who have used surrogates. I know people who have experienced multiple or late-stage miscarriages. I know people who have welcomed beautiful children with health issues more subtle or serious.

The paths to parenthood can be long and winding. And hard.

I also know many many people who are now parents who went through largely private struggles to get there. Parents to children big and small and wonderful. You would never know by looking at these parents, and these families, that it took so much effort and perseverance and often heartache to make it all happen.

Looking back on our own experience, Husband and I feel very lucky. Yes, there was the miscarriage that absolutely devastated me and a few months of disappointment and anxiety and a few chemical pregnancies. But, for the most part, the paths were pretty smooth and we are thankful. Very.

I think in life we are often so fixated on the destination that when we arrive there, to that nebulous and exquisite There, we too easily lose track of the paths we paved and traveled to get there. This post? It is an ode to those paths. Because, ultimately, these paths are as much a part of who we are as where we end up, right?

Have the Paths to Parenthood been smooth or rocky for you and those you know? Do you agree that these paths are important to acknowledge and remember? If you have a moment, share your happy and hard stories here.