Motherhood gets a lot of attention in the Church, as well it should. Sometimes, though, that can be difficult when women ache for children and cannot have some of their own. Read two women’s stories about their struggles with infertility, and about how they came to understand how they could be mothers even when they didn’t have children of their own…that mothering is a characteristic as well as a specific role.
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Sheri Dew: Of all the words they could have chosen to define her role and her essence, both God the Father and Adam called Eve “the mother of all living” (Moses 4:26))—and they did so before she ever bore a child. Like Eve, our motherhood began before we were born. Just as worthy men were foreordained to hold the priesthood in mortality, Alma 13:2–4, 7–8 righteous women were endowed premortally with the privilege of motherhood. (See Spencer W. Kimball, “The Role of Righteous Women,” Ensign, Nov. 1979, 102.) Motherhood is more than bearing children, though it is certainly that. It is the essence of who we are as women. It defines our very identity, our divine stature and nature, and the unique traits our Father gave us.
Those stories were so beautiful. Thank you for sharing them! They brought me to tears. Having never suffered through long term infertility, it is hard for me to completely understand what it would be like to endure. I admire their strength and their faith, and I’m so grateful that they have been able to find peace in the reality that we can all be mothers! Thank you…