Held Together : A Shared Memoir of Motherhood, Medicine, and Imperfect Love

""Rebecca Thompson’s moving collection of narrative voices proves that there are as many different pregnancy and birth stories as there are mothers—a personal, compelling reminder of why women’s reproductive health care matters, and why one size does not fit all.”—Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author

""Immersive, compassionate, and vulnerable, Rebecca Thompson’s Held Together invites us to walk with her as she navigates her own journey to parenthood and the beautiful, messy, uplifting stories of the families she cares for along the way.""—Lori Gottlieb, New York Times bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone

A primary care physician's moving memoir of navigating a complicated path to motherhood, interwoven with the stories of twenty-one of her patients, friends, and medical colleagues—and sharing the intimate truths of their diverse perspectives on being part of all kinds of families, born and built and chosen.

Seventeen years ago, when Rebecca Thompson endured a string of life-threatening pregnancy losses and rare medical conditions, her training as a physician didn’t protect her from feeling isolated and overwhelmed. What she longed for was a community of women—or even one encouraging story—to reassure her that she wasn’t alone.

Deciding to create the community she couldn’t find in her own time of need, Dr. Thompson reached out to friends, patients, and medical colleagues and asked them to share the stories of their personal journeys to parenthood, as well as stories of how their families grew and changed and thrived as they faced challenges beyond those early years. Held Together explores the intersections of these brave, resilient women’s lives with Dr. Thompson’s own as they encounter a vast range of unexpected turns and obstacles, including fertility issues, adoption, fostering, surrogacy, multiples, abortion, stepparenthood, chronic disease, mental illness, the death of a child, the death of a spouse, and so many moments where grief may threaten to consume us—until joy sometimes surprises us.

The extraordinary stories of ordinary women reveal that, while our individual circumstances may be unique, our experiences are universal in so many ways: we are creating life, raising children, and sustaining families, even as we search for reassurance that we are not alone in our struggles. Held Together offers a place of healing that welcomes every kind of family, a refuge where we make meaning out of our stories and embrace the belief that life can be beautiful in spite of—and sometimes because of—all its complexities and imperfections. Our foundations may not always be strong, but together, we are.