Rebecca N. Thompson, MD
Family medicine and public health physician and author
Kimmery Martin, MD
Emergency medicine doctor and author of multiple works of medical fiction
Held Together: A Shared Memoir of Motherhood, Medicine, and Imperfect Love
BONUS AFTER-HOURS EVENT: Attendees who purchase a copy Held Together from FAN’s partner bookseller The Book Stall are invited to attend an AFTER-HOURS event hosted by Thompson that will start immediately after the webinar. Details on the webinar registration page.
Seventeen years ago, when family medicine and public health physician Rebecca Thompson, MD endured a string of life-threatening pregnancy losses and rare medical conditions, her training didn’t protect her from feeling isolated and overwhelmed. What she longed for was a community of women—or even one encouraging story—to reassure her that she wasn’t alone.
Deciding to create the community she couldn’t find in her own time of need, Thompson reached out to friends, patients, and medical colleagues and asked them to share the stories of their personal journeys to parenthood, as well as stories of how their families grew and changed and thrived as they faced challenges beyond those early years. Her new book, Held Together: A Shared Memoir of Motherhood, Medicine, and Imperfect Love, explores the intersections of these brave, resilient women’s lives with Thompson’s own as they encounter a vast range of unexpected turns and obstacles, including fertility issues, adoption, fostering, surrogacy, multiples, abortion, stepparenthood, chronic disease, mental illness, the death of a child, the death of a spouse, and so many moments where grief may threaten to consume us—until joy sometimes surprises us.
The extraordinary stories of ordinary women reveal that, while our individual circumstances may be unique, our experiences are universal in so many ways: we are creating life, raising children, and sustaining families, even as we search for reassurance that we are not alone in our struggles. Held Together offers a place of healing that welcomes every kind of family, a refuge where we make meaning out of our stories and embrace the belief that life can be beautiful despite—and often because of—all its complexities and imperfections. Our foundations may not always be strong, but together, we are.
Thompson will be in conversation with Kimmery Martin, MD, an emergency medicine doctor and author of multiple works of medical fiction. Martin holds a faculty appointment at the Wake Forest School of Medicine, where she teaches Narrative Medicine.
This event suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
Event Sponsors
- The Alliance for Early Childhood
- The Avery Coonley School
- Baker Demonstration School
- Beacon Academy
- Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School
- Brickton Montessori School
- British International School of Chicago, Lincoln Park
- British International School of Chicago, South Loop
- Catherine Cook School
- Chicago Jewish Day School
- Compass Health Center
- Countryside Day School
- Evanston Township High School D202
- The Family Institute at Northwestern University
- Family Service Center
- Foundation 65
- The Frances Xavier Warde School
- Francis W. Parker School
- Glencoe D35
- Glenview Public Library
- Gorton Center
- Haven Youth and Family Services
- Hyde Park Day School
- Illinois Student Assistance Commission
- Kenilworth D38
- Lake Bluff D65
- Lake Forest Country Day School
- Latin School of Chicago
- Leo Catholic High School
- Lycée Français de Chicago
- Morgan Park Academy
- Near North Montessori School
- New Trier High School D203
- North Shore Country Day
- Northwestern University Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations
- Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy
- Pope John XXIII School
- Regina Dominican College Preparatory High School
- Resurrection College Prep High School
- Rogers Park Montessori School
- Roycemore School
- Sacred Heart Schools
- Santa Clara University School of Law
- Science & Arts Academy
- The Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School
- Stevenson High School D125
- Township High School D113
- University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice
- Wilmette Public Library
- Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart
- Youth & Opportunity United (Y.O.U.)
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