I have had several miscarriages in my life, and the number of miscarriages I have disclosed is almost zero. While my inner circle knew some things, I was never comfortable sharing them publicly. but Why? Deep down, I know the real reason why I feel so weird about sharing some of the less glamorous moments in my life, like miscarriage, is because I just don’t want to disappoint people. But when did I get pregnant with my daughter? I can’t post on social media fast enough. I feel like I’m not alone, right?
One comedian, Jenny Yang, wants to change all that, and she’s calling for change in a very unsubtle, direct way.
In an August 2024 Instagram post, Young shared a series of photos holding the popular letter board. Often when these types of photos appear on social media, the board will carry information about a pregnancy or an engagement or some other type of exciting milestone moment.
Yang’s statement takes a decidedly different approach to the concept.
“TW: Miscarriage, IVF talk. Scroll to see my ‘failures,'” she wrote in the post’s caption. “What if we fail to share birth as a social ritual? Pleasure can be made public, but pain cannot?
“It’s so bad to try to get pregnant and fail. In IVF they will even say you failed because every embryo is scored – that’s an insult to me, I didn’t come to this country to get Bad grades! she joked.
“Not talking about loss makes me feel so alone. I’m tired of all the pain my body has been through since 2020. g-cide, birthrate drop. Gen Z doesn’t mess around. It’s like they’re saying ‘no more humans’ . We have had enough (and only certain humans are allowed to have life).”
Young noted that her mental health has suffered as a result of her fertility journey, joking “In this economy, mental health?” before noting that her bodily autonomy has become a talking point for politicians.
“Plus now they want to make not only abortion but IVF illegal???? Politicizing childless cat ladies? Something inside me just broke. So that’s what I did. I filmed these Photo. I don’t know if it makes you laugh or offend or what. I don’t even post that much creative content since 2020.
“If you have connections or think a friend could use a laugh. Tag them… If you express sympathy, I welcome your stories, supportive DMs and comments. No unsolicited advice, thank you. ♥️♥️🐣🐣👶 👶🙏🏽”
The post went viral, garnering more than 10,000 likes and thousands of comments in support of Yang, including one tree hill Alum, Sophia Bush.
“This is a battle we have to talk about more. For some, it ruins your life. It did for me. For others, it lets you know you’re in the right place because you’re Being held when it hurts. For others, I’m sure if we talked about it more, maybe the blow wouldn’t be so severe,” Bush wrote.
Comedian and actress Kristen Schaal also commented: “I could have used this when I was doing my fertility show. In the meantime, I unfollowed and then stopped Instagram because It’s hard to see the constant celebration here.
In a follow-up comment, Yang wrote, “Another fun fact: Due to logistics and life and separation during most IVF cycles, I had all my eggs retrieved without anesthesia, which will be interesting for the next few years.” The trauma!
View Yang’s full post here.
