NR alumna Maddy Kearns writes in The Free Press:

What women’s bodies are capable of in producing new life is nothing short of miraculous. But even when we face tremendous obstacles, I have learned how resilient and responsive we are to proper treatment.

It’s a travesty, then, that so many of us aren’t given the care we deserve.

Maddy’s piece is a deeply personal one and also a critical report on what is possible when women are treated by doctors who truly care to find out what is wrong and find solutions. Too much of women’s reproductive health care has to do with Band-Aids — like birth control that masks symptoms while potentially doing more harm. And that’s not even getting to when a woman wants to be pregnant. Maddy describes her first pregnancy, which ended in a brutal miscarriage. She also talks about what a New York specialist thought of her and her husband’s Catholic beliefs regarding not trying IVF, even as a backup. (Not a fan.)

Maddy is on maternity leave with her newborn daughter now. But before she signed off, she provided a powerful testimony and education on the work of NaProTechnology and the clinic that helped her.

By the way, for anyone who doesn’t know: Maddy and her husband, Nick (Tomaino), met at National Review. (Maddy was a Buckley fellow.) I already told you today I love NR stories, period. NR love stories, of course, are a gloriously wonderful treat. And even more so for the growing families! (Maybe we should do that piece some Valentine’s Day.)

The other cultural scandal, aside from the medical scandal, is that we simply don’t tend to acknowledge what women go through physically — to prepare their bodies for pregnancy, to have babies. It’s remarkable. It’s also excruciating. And girls and women like Maddy who have severe conditions even long before they are thinking about motherhood are often dismissed as hysterical.

Share Maddy’s piece, especially with a couple having trouble conceiving or carrying a baby to term. And thank a mother today.