Wellspring: How Our Reproductive Journeys Shape Our Lives

by Erin Connors, Lindsay Satchell (illustrator)

“Lyrical, penetrating, and compassionate … A radical act, and a comfort for every person whose body has ever made them feel like an island.”
—Claire Hansen, former reporter, U.S. News & World Report

Though our reproductive journeys often shape our life experiences, they can feel too private—or perhaps inappropriate —to share. But when Erin Connors began to ask people about their stories, her simple invitation unleashed a torrent from friends and strangers alike about how this one aspect of life influenced just about every partner relationships, faith and spirituality, family dynamics, careers, childhoods, and mental health.

Through interviews and personal essays, Connors artfully illuminates the themes that emerged from these individual accounts, as well as the connections among them. What she uncovers is that, despite our feelings of isolation, our silence, or our politics, we have more in common than we may believe. These challenges, it seems, weave together and branch, creating a silken web of experiences within ourselves and between one another.

And yet, what place do we have to share these truths? Wellspring sheds light on this paradox, inviting us to discard shame, judgment, and isolation in favor of raw honesty, unflinching complexity, and deep empathy.

218 pages, Hardcover

Published March 3, 2024

About the author

Erin Connors is a writer and educator whose work has appeared in various publications, including the Asheville Citizen-Times and the Journal for Understanding and Dismantling Privilege. Though she is not critically acclaimed, she did once win second place in a Lonely Planet travel writing contest. Then she had a family, with whom she now lives in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, where she rides her bike and blogs at writingforchocolate.com. This is her first short story collection.