A condensed transcription of this interview may be read here.

In 2017, an MWP reader named Heather reached out to us suggesting we cover the topic of the end of childbearing. Her idea blossomed into our End of the Childbearing Years series, in which we published nearly a hundred stories from Mormon women about this important life transition. Meredith Nelson interviews Heather about her own story in this episode, beginning with her childhood in Salt Lake County in the 1970s and 80s where she grew up third in a family of nine children. They discuss some of the messaging Heather grew up with regarding womanhood and mothering, and how those messages complicated some of the pain and difficulty inherent in motherhood and in her particular story. Finally, we learn how Heather’s perspective and faith expanded through both the joys and challenges of her journey.