As a parent of toddler twins, I know what it’s like to feel alone, exhausted, and not taken care of by the health system. In different ways throughout my career, my goal has been to help make things easier for others. I’ve done this through product development in the healthcare industry, running and growing a non-profit organization in East Africa, and now through Our Gathering Place. OGP was born out of my first-hand experience of how much effort it takes for an individual to receive care that feels informed and aligned to individual values.

Before I even became a parent to human* children, I struggled with infertility and loss. I was diagnosed with “Unexplained Infertility” which is inconclusive and unknown amidst an ocean of unknowns. As I embarked on my infertility and IVF journey, I crawled the internet and relevant organizations and desperately searched Instagram accounts and YouTube channels trying to find someone with the same infertility experience and IVF treatment as me.

My searches weren’t successful. No one online had my specific experience, I had to find my way to support groups with a common anchor, in this case an infertility group I found through a local non-profit and a parenting twins group that I organically built. I realized it wasn’t about the medical pieces and the treatment protocol. It was about shared experiences, feelings, needs, and desires. It was about the duality of joy and guilt in each moment. It was about finding people who “got it” without having to explain “it”.

That’s the power of a gathering place. It takes intentionality and purpose to create a gathering place worth sharing. Thank you for being here. You and your family have a place here waiting. I’m glad you found Our Gathering Place.

*Yes, I said “human children” because I have two dogs that are considered my first borns and are treated as such… until we had kids, but that story is for another day.