Call for the Wailing Women: A Wail for The Pain of Infertility
Come Join Our Wailing Women Workshop & Prayer
Saturday, October 13th from 8:00-9:30am ET
Having four children of my own, and now blessed to even have grandchildren, I’ve never known the pain a woman might experience when she discovers she is unable to bear children. Children are a blessing form the Lord and they add to a home many memorable experiences.
“Infertility means not being able to get pregnant after one year of trying (or six months if a woman is 35 or older). Women who can get pregnant but are unable to stay pregnant may also be infertile. About 10 percent of women (6.1 million) in the United States ages 15-44 have difficulty getting pregnant or staying pregnant,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In the bible days, children were very important to carry on the lineage and inheritance of a family name. It was deemed so crucial to continue a bloodline that wives who could not bear children would be replaced or had to endure another woman coming into their home and bearing children for her husband’s name to be carried forth into the next generations. The bible mentions a few women who were barren and the grief they endured because they could not conceive.
Sarah was probably the first recorded woman in the bible that could not bear children. She was well up in age, and I’m sure was no longer thinking about bearing children, when the Lord spoke to Abraham. She then became concerned about it again. When another woman is brought into the picture, it causes Sarah a lot of heartache. Hannah was another one who underwent the reproach of infertility by another woman. No matter how much her husband loved her, it was not enough to fill the void of having her own child.
Today, there are many medical advances to treat infertility, but they do not come without expense; financially or emotionally. Studies show that emotions associated with infertility come from both the inside and out. In many communities, the demand to have children is instilled at a very early age, often with a sense of urgency from those who will remind you that the "clock is ticking." Oftentimes, we in the church community tend to fall into this category. We encourage and sometimes pressure young women to marry and “hurry up” and have children “while you’re young.”
We need to be sensitive to women who struggle with infertility. We do not need to try to give well-intended advice such as, “you can always adopt” or “maybe the Lord didn’t mean for you to be a mother.” Let us lend our support and a listening ear to those that want to share the grief and heartache they may face. This month let us wail for our sisters who are unable to bear children and may be dealing silently with feelings of guilt or inadequacy. Let us pray that the Lord sustains them and makes them feel whole.