Childbirth, Guilt & Forgiveness, Pregnancy, Self Love

How I Stopped Being Ashamed of My Reproductive System

When a large cyst was found in my left ovary, a cyst that might be the first whisper of endometriosis, I felt shame: shame that I might not be able to conceive again, shame that this cyst had grown without my knowledge, shame that I must be broken.

Shame sauntered into that examination room, handed me a cold platter of pity, and said, “Infertility issues, huh? You should probably feel like less of a woman.”

And I did. As I walked out of the clinic I felt like a shaving of the whole woman who had walked in an hour prior. I eyed the other women in the waiting room, wondering what messages shame was feeding them.

After two hours crying in my car, and being the life of a raging pity party, I called bull.

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Career, Childbirth, Guilt & Forgiveness, Mind-Body-Spirit, Pregnancy

Entertainment Host With Softball Sized Fibroids Send Important Message to Women Everywhere

While the reproductive system has the capacity for so much magic, it also has the potential to cause debilitating physical pain and emotional suffering.

A common source of this pain and suffering is uterine fibroids. According to a study done by the Academic Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Birmingham, 20-40 percent of women will develop uterine fibroids during their reproductive years.

Erin Robinson, entertainment host at Defy Media’s Clevver brand, became part of this statistic after unknowingly growing 13 uterine fibroids, some ranging in size from golf balls to softballs, over a period of five years. She finally discovered these tumors after being rushed to the emergency room with excruciating pain.

The journey that followed is portrayed in Clevver’s new docuseries, It Got Real.

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