Small changes

By Alice Mason

I'm sorry to say that when I was younger, I was one of those people who was not very sympathetic towards women who were despairing because they couldn't have children. In fact, the idea was ludicrous to me. Afterall, the world is overpopulated, so why can't they just adopt? (This was my teenage mind.) By the way, you can keep your serious, troubled looks, doc, for someone who needs them...But, I have changed.

Also, as a teenager, I watched a woman burst into tears in the waiting room at the doctor's office. It was just so...uncomfortable. None of us knew her. Why was she bursting into tears? What could anyone do to help her? (I know what I imagined. I imagined she was being told she couldn't have children.)

It does seem unfair that some people have to go through this, and  that many are treated as if what they are experiencing does not count. They are treated as if it is unimportant, just something to be swept under the rug. I am sorry for the attitudes of my younger, teenage self. I was that way, because I was afraid. I believe will never be that way again. I would like to say that I have changed, and I will not squash down other people's pain for the sake of my own self-preservation. At least, not the extent that I used to.

By Alice Mason