Miscarriage is a common event in many women’s lives. Generally between 10 and 25 percent of known pregnancies end in miscarriage, but not many women talk about it, often leaving those who have gone through miscarriage feeling isolated and on their own coming to terms with the pregnancy loss.
Over the past year or so, a number of comic artist Ryan Alexander-Tanner’s friends experienced miscarriage. After talking with each of them, he noticed similar reactions – that the women didn’t know how common it was until it happened to them, that they had feelings of guilt and shame, and the experience was made much more difficult by there not being a cultural standard of how to talk about miscarriages.
“It seemed, to me, that miscarriage is an experience that many people share, and that if there were a cultural precedent for addressing this openly, it would be a considerable help with the healing process,” Ryan explained to WYSK. “I decided to create a comic that reflected my experience of talking with these women in the hopes that it would create a safe space for this conversation to be held on a larger scale. I want miscarriage to be an experience that is recognized and respected, and to share what I have learned by being an active listener.”
For further information regarding miscarriage visit Planned Parenthood.
All images © Ryan Alexander-Tanner, and published here with express permission.