According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, In 2020 over 300,000 women underwent In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) cycles in the United States. Additionally, 19% of all women 15-49 have difficulty becoming pregnant and need specialized reproductive care (1).
I am one of these hundreds of thousands of women who was diagnosed as infertile, who had multiple miscarriages, and who needed emergency abortion care for nonviable pregnancies.
Photography has given me control. It is an ineffable tool to discover more about myself through the relationships I cherish. The photographs I make examine personal and cultural stigmas associated with female infertility; an extremely common medical diagnosis, yet still lacking in visibility and effective educational outreach.
Portraits of partner and self-administered injections celebrate a profound intimacy and self-empowerment which sharpened with each moment captured. The pictures have taught me that women are more than their reproductive potential, and meaningful connections with those you love can still thrive through loss.
I use my body, and my grief, as a site to reclaim a sense of self, and as a tool to reposition the conversation around women’s rights. The resulting dialogue provides space for everyone to learn more about women’s bodies; beginning to dismantle institutional and cultural gate keeping that still prevents us from effectively managing basic reproductive healthcare needs.
1.CDChttps://www.cdc.gov/art/artdata/#reports