Main description:

Everything doesn't (always) happen for a reason.

Infertility and pregnancy loss can be devastating, yet both are often private sorrows for the one in six people who cope with the experience. This collection offers personal stories about what it's like to go through the emotional and physical facets of infertility, miscarriage, and pregnancy loss: the pain, sadness, and desperation, the hope, humour, and frustration.

Through, Not Around offers reassurance to those in the midst of their own struggles that they are not alone and that it is possible to find acceptance and strength on the other side of grief. The way forward is by going through the grief, not around it.

Allison McDonald Ace, Ariel Ng Bourbonnais, and Caroline Starr are co-founders of The 16 Percent, a website dedicated to sharing stories of pregnancy loss and infertility. To read or share your story, visit the16percent.ca.

Contents:

Introduction

1. How to be (Infertile) in The World by Wendy Litner
2. Against Miracles by Teri Vlassopoulos
3. A Quiet Funeral by Allison McDonald Ace
4. The Stars in My Sky by Neil McKay
5. It's Just Bad Luck by Amelie Roberge
6. Spring Birthday Parties by Melanie Orfus
7. Audrey by Meaghan Mazurek
8. Born Out of Stillness by Carine Blin
9. The Five-Year Plan by Sonal Champsee
10. Moving Out of Infertility by Sarah Coulson
11. My So-Called Infertile Life by Nicole Armstrong
12. 18 Eggs by Cynthia Cyr
13. Circular Infertility by Caroline Starr
14. The Pieces of Me and You by Neusa Arraial
15. Missed Conceptions by Kelly MacCready
16. Not a Sprint by Lauren Simmons
17. Nine Lives by Kat McNichol
18. Sideline Grief by Kyle Miller
19. In the Space Between by Charlotte Dobo
20. Miscarriage Ain't Easy ... But It's Easier with More Than One Partner By Your Side by Jenny Yuen
21. The Dandelion in My Belly Garden by M.K. Shaw
22. Round Two by Ariel Ng Bourbonnais

A Note of Thanks from The 16 Percent
Editor Bios and Acknowledgements