Leah Campbell

I have a daughter I adore, a career I am insanely proud of, and a friend group I cherish. Maybe that’s enough.. Maybe this is how a spinster is made.

I never was able to get pregnant. And after five surgeries and two failed rounds of IVF, it was a dream I had to let go of at the age of 28.

When I was first diagnosed with Stage IV endometriosis and told that my fertility had become a now or never proposition, I didn’t know anyone else who had faced anything similar. All of my friends were at the point of marrying and having babies themselves. Several had gotten pregnant without even meaning to. Meanwhile, I was 26 and single, being told that it might never happen for me at all. The whole thing was crushing, perhaps even more so because I didn’t feel like there was anyone I could talk to about it. My friends couldn’t relate, and even those who were most empathetic and anxious to help were often at a loss for what to say.