My Caesarean

No one talks about C-sections as surgery, writes SooJin Pate. They talk about it as if its just another wayalbeit more convenient wayof giving birth. The twenty-one essays in My Caesarean add back to the conversation the missing voices of a vast, invisible sisterhood. Robin Schoenthaler reflects: A C-section for us meant life. And yet, women who dont give birth vaginallyby choice or necessityoften feel stigmatized. My sons birth was not a test I needed to pass, writes Sara Bates. As if growing a human inside another human for nine months then caring for it the rest of its life isnt enough, adds Mary Pan, herself a physician. Alongside their personal stories, the writersdecorated novelists, poets, and essayistsaddress the history of the C-section as well as its risks, social inequities, impact on the body, and psychological aftermath. My Caesarean is a heartfelt meditation, offering much-needed comfort through shared experience. Contributors include: Catherine Newman, Judy Batalion, Nicole Cooley, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Lisa Solod, Misty Urban, Jacinda Townsend, Mary Pan, Robin Schoenthaler, Elizabeth Noll, Jen Fitzgerald, Tyrese Coleman, SooJin Pate, Daniela Montoya-Barthelemy, Cameron Dezen Hammon, LaToya Jordan, Sara Bates, Susan Hoffmann, and Alicia Jo Rabins.