"You’re too fat to have children"

After last week's pregnancy announcement, as well as sharing my medical journey with PCOS, I now want to show you a piece I wrote before I found out I would have a baby.

Pregnancy announcement

“You should try weight loss injections.”

That’s what the disembodied voice on the phone cheerily told her. “How?”, Rhiannon asked and the GP she had never spoken to before rustled with some papers on their side of the line. “Well, I see here we can’t give them to you. Your blood count is too healthy.”

Rhiannon couldn’t suppress the scoff, turning beet red as it came out. Thankfully this wasn’t a video call. There had to be one advantage to never seeing your doctors in person.

“So, in conclusion, you’re saying I am healthy, but I need to lose weight to be considered for fertility treatment?” she asked incredulously, rolling back her eyes. Her whole life she had dealt with this bullshit. People making her feel inadequate over how she looked. Rhiannon had done the work though. Had fought for her self-acceptance. Now this GP was again telling her that she was inadequate.

At ten years old, her aunt used to tell her: “Don’t wear those clothes, dear. They’re too tight. They make you look like a sausage.” Translation: You’re too fat for nice clothes.