“Most women found that the few weeks after a miscarriage were extremely fertile, as if the body wanted to quickly rectify its mistake.”

“Stella nodded. She was so glad Janet had found a new doctor after all that suffering. One thing that had astounded her was how the women—smart, educated, strong women—never wanted to bother their caregivers. They silently suffered, trying to be low-maintenance patients despite their horrifying experiences.”

“Yeah, the majority head out after three or four meetings. They get pregnant again, mostly, or tire of grieving and just move on. Often their partners aren’t supportive of their sadness playing out too long. They guilt them into acting like they’re better.”

“Molar pregnancies like Janet’s are indeed rare, but they do happen. Over the last decade, frustrated and worried women have emailed me, asking why their doctors won’t pay attention to their symptoms, telling them to just “wait it out.” I think this happens because obstetricians see so many situations, and most of the time, it works out the way they expect—the recovery may be short, medium, or long, but will not require intervention. But statistics like one in five hundred are meaningless if you are the one. I always tell women who can’t get through to their doctors to start looking for one whose office responsiveness matches her needs. Not every doctor and every patient are going to be a good fit.”

“I lost our babies for us,” she croaked. “My body wouldn’t hold them.”

“Jake put his phone away and clasped her hand. “I think we should lobby for a bill to make it illegal for pregnant and non-pregnant women to be in the same doctor’s office,” he said.”

“One part of her knew this was crazy. But most of her didn’t care.”