witness my story project
A Safe Space for Shared WitnessingThis is a space for stories of fertility, pregnancy, birth, loss, and parenthood to be shared and witnessed. A place to speak what has been lived and to find connection through the voices of others. This circle exists for awareness, validation, and shared human experience—nothing more, nothing less.
before you share...
Witness Statement
I am here. That is what I say to the people in front of me—the young women and birthing parents who stand in the fear and hope of giving birth, being pregnant, wanting to be pregnant, or experiencing pregnancy loss. I am here. These words are followed by, I am really glad that you are here. I am glad you have found your way to support and are reaching for it. Tell me what you feel. Help me understand your story so you can begin to define what you need. Tell me so I can hear you, so that you can receive the validation and support you need. Share with me what it is like for you. Allow me to hold this safety for you to rest in as you navigate this new internal landscape. Allow me to witness you grow and recognize your strength and authority as you discover agency over yourself and your new world.
This experience of being a counselor for the perinatal population helped me to recognize the need for a place for the stories to live. Here is a space for you to share your experience. A place to tell the story. To be heard in a shared experience with others telling what they have lived. This is an invitation to join the circle, and in doing so, create the circle. You are invited. Your story is important and valuable. Help us maintain safety for all who join the circle. This means telling your story clean—no identifying information, first names only. Others in the family might be an important part of the story; let them remain nameless. Refer to them by relationship only. An example would be “mother-in-law” instead of “Linda.” This helps us respect boundaries and keeps the focus where it is intended to be—on the storytellers. Entering this circle and sharing your story is a decision to simply enter a shared, safe space. It is a place where all who participate can find validation through the sharing and reading of stories. This is the sole purpose of the circle. It is simple witnessing.
It is not an offering of treatment, a diagnosis, or an intervention of any kind. It is the creation of awareness through shared lived experience. Awareness is powerful enough on its own and does what it is meant to do—it allows light to enter where there was darkness. There is no question that each person who shares and enters this circle has many needs. The need this place can meet is providing witness. Help us keep this circle a safe space and honor its intention: to witness and to be witnessed. What kind of story is being asked for? There are many situations that fall under the perinatal experience. It includes, trying to conceive, pregnancy loss, pregnancy, birth, postpartum, parenthood and non-birthing partners, experience as well. It includes sisters and brothers and grandparents and aunts and uncles. All who have a story to tell about how a birth or perinatal experience touched their life. This space is asking to give a voice to those who are living or have lived in these spaces.
Below is a link you can use to share your story. It will be sent to my email. I will read it and might edit content to maintain privacy and safety for those sharing. If it fits within the scope of this project it will be added to this site.
This is where the stories will be shared. Read below to witness and step into the circle.her story...
To begin, in the 1970s having a baby was very different than it is now. I was so young and immature when my two girls were born, unsure of myself and uncertain about how to handle not only the birth of a child, but how to care for them and be a good parent. The births themselves took place in a very sterile, harsh environment. The doctors and nurses were in control, and the mother had little to no say in how things were done. I felt alone and scared.Physically, the births were easy for me; that was not the difficult part. It was afterward, when my baby was placed in my arms and I realized I was responsible for the care and well-being of this new life. I was still very much a child myself, with two babies a few years apart, and I was not at all equipped to manage that responsibility. Looking back, I wish I could have done things differently—and of course, better. Over the years, I have tried to grow into a better parent to both of my girls and to let them know how deeply proud of them I am. Life is full of lessons, and they have been my teachers for many years.
AboutThis space is held by a professional counselor whose work has been centered on supporting individuals, birthing people and their partners, and families navigating fertility, pregnancy, birth, loss, and the transition into parenthood. Through this work, it became clear how often parents carry their experiences in isolation—mothers, fathers, birthing people, and their partners moving through profound transitions, grief, hope, and loss without a shared language or community to witness them.This project was created to offer that witnessing. Not as treatment, instruction, or intervention, but as a place where lived experience can be named and held with care. Story has the power to reduce isolation, build awareness, and reconnect us to one another in moments that often feel unspeakable.This circle exists to honor those experiences and the strength of those who live them.