{"id":20660,"date":"2022-03-21T09:00:33","date_gmt":"2022-03-21T09:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ounews.co\/?p=20660"},"modified":"2022-03-21T09:00:33","modified_gmt":"2022-03-21T09:00:33","slug":"i-poured-my-heart-out-onto-the-page-writing-about-infertility-for-my-creative-writing-ma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/student-stories\/i-poured-my-heart-out-onto-the-page-writing-about-infertility-for-my-creative-writing-ma\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI poured my heart out onto the page writing about infertility for my Creative Writing MA\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Samantha Holmes signed up for an MA in Creative Writing<\/a> with The Open University as a distraction from the challenging IVF journey her and her husband were on. She used her writing to open up about their fertility battle, which she found cathartic, but which also raised awareness of infertility \u2013 a struggle faced by so many. By 2020, she was graduating with not only a Master\u2019s degree, but also a much longed-for bump.<\/p>\n

Samantha first had an ectopic pregnancy in 2017 \u2013 where the embryo implants in the fallopian tube instead of the womb. This was followed by years of struggling to fall pregnant as part of the couple\u2019s long journey to have a baby, including multiple rounds of IVF.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we decided we were going down the IVF route, I knew I needed to find a distraction. I\u2019d always wanted to do an MA and progress with my writing,\u201d she said. \u201cAs it turned out, most of my pieces for the course ended up being about infertility and our struggles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now she dreams of publishing a book on the subject, to help others going through what she went through.<\/p>\n

From teaching, to a Master\u2019s, and motherhood!<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Samantha already has a BA (Hons) in English Literature and has worked as a Teaching Assistant in secondary schools since 2009. Since 2012, she has specialised in English, and she also does private English tuition on the side. But writing has always been her hobby.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always knew I wanted to do more writing,\u201d she said. \u201cI teach creative writing as part of my job, so the school funded part of my qualification. I\u2019d had my own blog for years where I\u2019d share my life and experiences, and I have my own writing page on Facebook<\/a>. I wanted to work more on my writing.\u201d<\/p>\n

So in 2018, Samantha signed up to The Open University to complete an MA in Creative Writing, which she could do through supported distance learning around her job. She studied before work, after work and over weekends and school holidays to make it happen \u2013 even continuing when the pandemic hit.<\/p>\n

She specialised in non-fiction so she could write about her personal experiences, and focused on her journey of what had been deemed \u2018unexplained infertility\u2019 by experts. Little did she know when she enrolled that by the time she completed her qualification, she\u2019d finally have her little bundle on the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe course helped me to emotionally process what I\u2019d been through\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Samantha wrote multiple pieces on infertility during her course, including: \u2018An open topic\u2019 about her ectopic pregnancy; \u2018Non-Mother\u2019s Day\u2019 about the rollercoaster of IVF; and \u2018Book lover non-mother\u2019 about her ambitions of having a book published as well as having a child. Each piece aimed to raise awareness of infertility, but she found that writing was helping her emotionally, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was focused on getting infertility out there. You could say I was bleeding onto the page, and I found it cathartic writing about and sharing my experiences,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe course helped me to craft my writing, taught me new skills and showed me how to share my work with others and take on feedback. But it also showed me how to emotionally process, deal with and be open about what I\u2019d been through.<\/p>\n

“I loved the course and discussing mine and others’ work and experiences along the way. I became passionate about being open about infertility. Studying was such a positive journey and I very much enjoyed it.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Graduating with a bump<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"\"

Samantha with little Jacob<\/p><\/div>\n

By the time Samantha graduated, she was over the moon to finally be pregnant with her little boy, Jacob, who is now nine months old.<\/p>\n

Now she dreams of collating all her writing on infertility \u2013 along with new material \u2013 and then publishing it all in a book.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was doing a lot of reading when I was studying, and I discovered that there wasn\u2019t much out there where people were sharing their experiences of infertility. But what I could find inspired me and spurred me on, so I want to do the same for others,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t written much since Jacob was born as it\u2019s quite busy, but I\u2019d like to publish a book. The course content was great and there was a section on how to do this. I\u2019m also thinking of expanding my private tuition business to offer creative writing tuition to adults. Studying with the OU does make you think you can do anything!<\/p>\n

\u201cTo anyone in a similar position to what I was, I\u2019d say don\u2019t give up \u2013 there\u2019s always hope. Writing, or doing something else you love, can not only be a helpful distraction but it can also help you through the tough times.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so pleased that I got my happy ending. As I got my MA certificate through the door, I had a 30-week bump to go with it! I\u2019m looking forward to celebrating this achievement by finally getting to attend my graduation ceremony in May 2022.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Samantha Holmes signed up for an MA in Creative Writing with The Open University as a distraction from the challenging IVF journey her and her husband were on. She used her writing to open up about their fertility battle, which she found cathartic, but which also raised awareness of infertility \u2013 a struggle faced by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":20662,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[869,1525,1640,1643,2146],"class_list":["post-20660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-stories","tag-fass","tag-news-home","tag-ou-home","tag-ou-news","tag-students"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20660\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}