Some women seem to get pregnant in seconds while others struggle. But we can’t imagine the struggle of Yanira Garza, who recently told the story of her seven miscarriages to Mamiverse. She starts
“I am a Latina in her late 20s who should have eight kids by now. I’m not joking or poking fun at a stereotype when I say this. I have one child, born from my sixth pregnancy.”
After dozens of visits to doctors, Garza learned there was nothing wrong with her they could put their finger on. It was later she learned her own mother had suffered several miscarriages, but that didn’t make the pain any better. Especially when she lost the daughter she’d already named Grace. Garza was only 24.
“My first, second and third miscarriages were disappointing and depressing, but I held it together. My fourth broke me. We planned for that baby. Her name was Grace and though I never met her, I loved her. And I remember our ultrasound appointment where they had me waiting for 30 minutes with my heart in my hands for a phone call from my doctor. There was no heartbeat and they would have to do a procedure to get her out. They had to take my baby, or that is how I saw it.”
Fighting through depression and despair, she and her husband began thinking about other options. She suggested adoption but her husband wanted a child who looked like him and brought up surrogacy. But Garza wanted to experience pregnancy and didn’t want to share a moment with a stranger. Finally, her sixth pregnancy gave her a baby girl named Analiese, meaning Grace in French.
The Garzas still hope to add to their family, despite having suffered another miscarriages after having Analiese. But, bravely, this mom continues to fight:
“But I cope. I have to cope because my purpose still is to give Analiese all my love. I cope because I still haven’t given up hope of having a successful pregnancy again, because my husband still wants a second child—a boy, despite the fact that Analiese is probably the most spoiled Daddy’s girl ever. I cope because despite the fact that Latinas of my mother’s generation consider the topic taboo, I do not. I cope because my story brings hope, and I hope that my own selfish thoughts about surrogacy don’t prevent other women from going that route.”