1 in 8 women struggle with infertility and a quarter of them also suffer a miscarriage. It’s a sad statistic and can be a difficult topic to discuss. One local woman is breaking the stigma however and she’s found people not only want, but they need the resource that she’s dedicating her life to. Elisha Kearns, accompanied by her husband Daniel and adopted daughter, shared the story behind Waiting for Baby Bird Ministries in a Thursday afternoon presentation. Rather than set the scene for you, she does it better than any reporter could effort.
Her blog is maybe surprisingly popular. Many businesses and even individuals get caught up in how many people they can reach, especially through social media. Just by sharing her story however and offering to be a resource to those who are struggling, her Waiting for Baby Bird facebook blog page has about 78,000 followers since she opened it about 7 years ago.
By definition, infertility is described as the inability to conceive after a year of actively trying. Kearns says that doesn’t come close to telling the story of what the individuals go through.
Among the services she offers besides giving others an outlet to share their story, Kearns sends out “Forget Me Not” pregnancy loss boxes, goes live most nights to talk to people who want to connect, and she also opens up her home once a month to women who come from a 5 state area to offer support. She doesn’t do it for money. As she says, her ministry doesn’t have money, but it does have her time. And it turns out, her time is incredibly valuable to the people who seek it out.
She is taking her ministry outside her home and beyond the internet. She recently purchased “the building with the green doors” better known as the former Michael O’Briens.
And for those reasons, she’ll be naming her brick and mortar site “Doors of Hope”. You can learn more about the ministry at www.waitingforbabybird.com, search her out on facebook where she has a page and an online support group, and soon, you’ll be able to visit her at the corner of Cherry and North Walnut.
