I Had a Miscarriage: A Memoir, a Movement

Psychologist Zucker delivers an illuminating discussion of miscarriage in her strikingly intimate debut memoir. A doctor specializing in reproductive and maternal mental health, Zucker miscarried her daughter during her fifth month of pregnancy in October 2012. Despite her own professional experience, grief “took over my body, seared my insides,” and she sank into “an unnerving sense of vulnerability.” In the aftermath, Zucker writes of being hurt by a friend who was revolted by a photograph Zucker showed her of her miscarried fetus, suffering from acute PTSD, and seeking help from a therapist who uncovered “visuals and physical feelings associated with death occurring in my body.” She situates her own story within the bigger picture of miscarriage, noting that one in four pregnancies in the U.S. end in miscarriage (for an annual total of more than 3 million), and identifying “a strident trifecta” of silence, stigma, and shame that “obstruct[s] conversations... and isolate[s] those who experience it.” For Zucker, comfort came in the form of a visit to Japan’s Unborn Children Garden, which is “dedicated to those lost to miscarriage,” and the birth of a second daughter, her “rainbow baby,” in 2017. Zucker’s story is a profound personal reflection, and her remarkable storytelling sheds new light on a difficult topic. Miscarriage survivors will find affirmation and hope in this stirring account. (Mar.)