“To the Girl Who Hated My Pregnancy Announcement”

Infertility is a silent struggle that all too many women wrestle with. Time after time of trying, followed by time after time of disappointment, a hollowness that screams “unworthy” and “unfit mother” reverberates through their empty wombs.

While that may seem dramatized for those who never battled with wanting a baby so badly only for your body to fail you, Amber Stone Williams knows exactly how accurate that painful reality is.

The 476 days she spent desperately trying to conceive may as well have been a lifetime. Ecstatic to finally break the news that she was carrying a little miracle inside her tummy, Amber made her joyous pregnancy announcement on Facebook.

But nearly as soon as she did, she recalled her own grueling journey of infertility and just how hard it was to watch friends announce their pregnancies while she yearned for their blessing. She was once “that girl”. And she could not so easily forget.

Not every pregnancy announcement stirs feelings of joy in those who read it. For some, it ignites resentment, jealousy, anger, or simply indescribable sadness.

So she followed her announcement with a heartfelt letter of apology and acknowledgment to women currently experiencing the pain of waiting that was in her not-so-distant past… and it has since struck a chord with mamas in waiting across the web:

“TO THE GIRL WHO HATED MY PREGNANCY ANNOUNCEMENT…

I get it. I know the feeling.

That gut-wrenching, hard to breathe feeling.

Because I was that girl. The girl that saw yet ANOTHER pregnancy announcement on my newsfeed and just rolled her eyes. The girl that felt sick to her stomach because it wasn’t me doing the announcing. The girl that was so angry that you didn’t even have to try… It was an ‘accident’. The girl that would cry behind closed doors because my heart was so broken that my body wouldn’t produce a miracle like yours would.

I get it.

I’m so sorry.

I know seeing a pregnancy announcement yet again has made you an emotional hot mess.

I’m so sorry.

I know your heart is breaking into a million pieces all the while you are digging way down deep to express just an ounce of joy for the parents to be.

I’m so sorry.