Twenty-one vivid, moving essays on caesarean birth.



'No one talks about C-sections as surgery,' writes SooJin Pate. 'They talk about it as if it's just another way—albeit more convenient way—of giving birth.' The twenty-one essays in My Caesarean add back to the conversation the missing voices of a vast, invisible sisterhood.



Robin Schoenthaler reflects: 'A C-section for us meant life.' And yet, women who don't give birth vaginally—by choice or necessity—often feel stigmatized. 'My son's birth was not a test I needed to pass,' writes Sara Bates. 'As if growing a human inside another human for nine months then caring for it the rest of its life isn't enough,' adds Mary Pan, herself a physician.



Alongside their personal stories, the writers—decorated novelists, poets, and essayists—address the history of the C-section as well as its risks, social inequities, impact on the body, and psychological aftermath. My Caesarean is a heartfelt meditation, offering much-needed comfort through shared experience.