22 | NOVEMBER 7 • 2024 J
N

W

hat does a meaningful 
life look like without 
children?
It’s a question Jewish therapist 
Madison Marcus-Paddison found 
herself unexpectedly facing.
After trying to conceive with her 
husband for five years, including 
several rounds of unsuccessful 
IVF (in vitro fertilization), the pair 
decided to stop their pursuit of 
building a family.
It had taken a major toll on 
Marcus-Paddison and her husband.
“We, like so many people, assumed 
it was going to go off without a hitch, 
and we weren’t going to have any 
trouble,” Marcus-Paddison, 37, of 
Ferndale, explains.
Yet when the pair came to the 
difficult decision, they found a lack 
of support and an even greater lack 
of information as to what comes next 
when choosing to stop the process.
Marcus-Paddison, who had ample 
support during the journey itself, 
suddenly found herself alone. “How 
do I accept a childless life?” she 
recalls. “Through my own work, I 

found purpose and meaning in other 
areas, and I recognized a huge gap 
exists once this decision is made.”
In fact, she says choosing to end 
the process of starting a family often 
isn’t discussed as an option. Instead, 
prolonging the fertility journey, or 

adoption or surrogacy typically come 
first.
Between guilt, grief, loss and 
ambivalence, it’s a scenario that can 
lead to an identity crisis.
“There’s so much shame associated 
with deciding to stop,” Marcus-
Paddison says. “I wanted to fill the 
gap in care to provide support after 
stopping treatments or stopping the 
process itself.”

LOOKING FORWARD
Born out of her own experience is 
Making Meaning After Infertility, 
a program that Marcus-Paddison 
hopes will serve as a guide for people 
wondering, “What’s next?”
“I’m hopeful it will help others find 
peace and purpose beyond the grief,” 
she says.
Through her career as a therapist 
at Bright Spot Counseling and 
background in social work, Marcus-
Paddison uses an evidence-based 
approach to help people process 
difficult emotions.
Making Meaning After Infertility 
includes several components that 

can be taken together or separately, 
including an e-course, monthly 
support group and workbook.
The e-course includes 12 sessions 
that can be completed at your own 
pace. Each session dives into complex 
emotions surrounding the decision to 
stop the pursuit of a family.
“We do a deep dive on the grief 
process, particularly related to the 
stages of grief in accepting life after 
an infertility experience,” Marcus-
Paddison says. “We spend time 
working toward separating from 
spiraling thoughts that tend to 
dominate our behavior or make us 
feel stuck.
“It’s not about ‘fixing’ anything,” she 
adds, “but about learning to live fully, 
even with the pain.”
The Making Meaning After 
Infertility support group will also 
launch with its first virtual session 
on Nov. 17. The support group 
can be joined without purchasing 
the e-course program. Marcus-
Paddison says the support group 
isn’t therapeutic, but rather a place to 
share.

New program supports those who choose to end the pursuit of starting a family.
Finding Purpose After Infertility

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

OUR COMMUNITY

Madison 
Marcus-Paddison

