Many of us know people who want to be moms but have faced challenges in making that dream happen. I actually was one of them, before our first child was born. It’s one of those things that people just don’t talk about, but really need a community to deal with, which is where Held Together: A Shared Memoir of Motherhood, Medicine, and Imperfect Love (HarperOne; On-sale: 4/8/25) by Rebecca N. Thompson, MD, an acclaimed family physician trained at Harvard, Stanford, and OHSU comes in. This is a heartfelt exploration of resilience, love, and the beauty in imperfection. Through deeply personal storytelling, Dr. Thompson shares her own life-threatening pregnancy complications alongside the diverse experiences of twenty-one women she has encountered as a doctor, friend, and colleague. This moving memoir shines a light on the strength found in life’s messiest, most vulnerable moments.
Held Together addresses:
- Infertility: Grappling with the heartbreak of reproductive challenges and finding strength in perseverance.
- Adoption, fostering, and surrogacy: Showcasing intentional paths to parenthood that redefine traditional family structures.
- Loss: Navigating grief and rediscovering hope after tragic losses of a child, spouse, or parent.
- Complex family dynamics: Celebrating the resilience found in non-traditional and chosen families.
- Healing the healer: Sharing lessons from a physician’s own experience as a patient and advocate for holistic care.
Motherhood is not one story—it is woven from a chorus of voices, each unique and important. By sharing her experiences and those of the incredible women who have trusted her with their truths, Dr. Thompson reminds us that we are never alone in our triumphs or in our struggles. Held Together transcends stories of motherhood to celebrate the universal threads of hope, resilience, and imperfect love that connect us all. Warm, inclusive, and profoundly inspiring, Held Together is an invitation to connect, reflect, and honor the many ways we define love, family, and motherhood.
About the Author:
Rebecca N. Thompson, MD is a family medicine and public health physician who specializes in women’s and children’s health. She trained at Harvard, Stanford, and Oregon Health and Science University and is always learning from her most influential teachers—her patients, colleagues, family, and friends. She lives in Portland, Oregon, where she spends her free time wandering through green spaces, reading in cozy nooks, playing unreasonably complicated board games, repurposing found objects, and accompanying her husband and children on all-weather adventures near and far.
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