Strength in numbers

Strength in numbers
Originally uploaded by shersteve.

Yes, coming together around a common issue or problem is generally a big help. The Boston Globe Magazine (free registration required) has an article today by Patti Hartigan that illustrates this point.

Patti writes:

Meet my friends, the members of what we affectionately call the Mind-Body, or MB, group. We've been gathering like this since 1999, when we met at an infertility support program at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Back then, I can safely say, we were all functioning basket cases. We'd all been subjected to embarrassing tests and invasive procedures (thus the motto), and, at the time, if a doctor told us the only way to conceive was to stroll down Newbury Street naked, we would have stripped on the spot. Thankfully, it didn't come to that.

Nine of us stuck together over the years, and, all told, we have 20 children, including one set of quadruplets and two sets of twins. Some of us conceived with the help of science, some of us adopted, and others hit the jackpot the old-fashioned way. Among us, we've suffered 15 miscarriages and consulted a realm of experts, including reproductive endocrinologists, immunologists, acupuncturists, geneticists, and, in one case, a shamanic healer named Cleveland. We've lit candles, meditated, prayed, cursed, cried, and, sometimes, laughed uncontrollably. Through it all, we forged an inextricable bond.

A heart-tugging story... read the whole thing here.

Photo credit to Erik Jacobs of the Boston Globe.