Tracy Mayo is the author of the new memoir Childless Mother: A Search for Son and Self. She lives in Boulder, Colorado.
Q: What inspired you to write this memoir, and how was the book's title chosen?
A: I was inspired to write this memoir soon after reuniting with my son (who at the time was 23), but I waited until I had retired from a demanding job and also after my parents had passed away — so essentially 20 years later.
The title was chosen because, although I had been childless for 23 years, I had always viewed myself as a mother.
Q: Did you need to do any additional research to write the book, or was much of it drawn from your memories?
A: I did some research on the history of Florence Crittenton (the maternity home to which I was sent — they were all across the country) but 99 percent of the content was drawn from my memories.
Q: What impact did it have on you to write this memoir?
A: It was a tremendous exercise in resolving trauma. The deliberate retrieval of painful memories is a prerequisite to processing trauma. It was a search for myself.
Q: Given the end of Roe v. Wade, what do you hope readers take away from your story?
A: That sadly, after believing for almost 50 years that we had evolved as a culture, had confirmed the value of a woman’s life and agency, we have regressed to that former time where women’s rights were conditional, like a child’s.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: Contemplating learning the craft of poetry!
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: One of the overarching themes of my book is the healing that can come from immersion in the natural world. That practice cannot help but bring about a broadened perspective, e.g., “I am greater than my pain.”
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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