Childless by Marriage

Sue Fagalde Lick spent many years as a newspaper reporter, photographer and editor before retiring to become a full-time writer and musician. She has published books about Portuguese Americans, childlessness and life on the Oregon coast. A graduate of the MFA program at Antioch University Los Angeles, she has taught writing at Oregon Coast and Chemeketa community colleges and at conferences and workshops across the U.S. On weekends, she puts on her music hat to sing and play piano and guitar at St. Anthony's Church in Waldport, Oregon and performs wherever people are willing to listen. She lives with her dog Annie in South Beach, which, like everyplace she has ever lived, is in the flight path of the local airport.

First you marry a man who does not want children. He cheats and you divorce him. Then you marry the love of your life and find out he does not want to have children with you either. The three he has are more than enough. Although you always wanted to be a mother, you decide he is worth the sacrifice, expecting to have a long happy life together. But that's not what happens. This is the story of how a woman becomes childless by marriage and how it affects every aspect of her life.This is the book of my heart, the one I had to write. Ever since I realized I was not going to have children, I have felt recurring grief and an emptiness in my heart. I am different from most women, but I have found that I am not alone. There are many of us childless women, and I think it's important to share our stories about what it's like when you don't have children in a world where most girls grow up to become mothers. I hope this book offers comfort to those who are childless and understanding to those who are not. If it makes you smile here and there, even better.