41: Jessica Zucker on Normalizing Hard Things; Her Miscarriage Story; The Cycle of Silence, Stigma, Shame
Content Warning: This episode contains detailed and sensitive discussion of pregnancy loss, miscarriage, and medical trauma. Please take care of yourself while listening. In this deeply moving conversation, I sit down with Dr. Jessica Zucker, a Los Angeles-based psychologist specializing in women's reproductive and maternal mental health, to talk about one of the most silenced experiences in women's lives: miscarriage. Jessica is the creator of the viral #IHadAMiscarriage campaign and author of two groundbreaking books: I Had A Miscarriage: A Memoir, a Movement and Normalize It: Upending the Silence, Stigma, and Shame That Shape Women's Lives . Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vogue, and Harvard Business Review, and she's been featured on NPR, CNN, The Today Show, and Good Morning America. This conversation is raw, honest, and necessary. Jessica shares the deeply personal story of her own miscarriage at 16 weeks—a traumatic experience that happened while she was home alone and led her to create a movement that has helped millions of women feel less isolated in their grief. We explore why women's reproductive experiences remain so stigmatized, what it means to truly meet people where they are in their most vulnerable moments, and how speaking our truth—even when it's uncomfortable—can create profound healing and connection. What We Discuss How silence, stigma, and shame shape so much of women's experiences across the lifespan The detailed, traumatic account of her 16-week miscarriage that happened at home Why she chose to be so direct with the words "I had a miscarriage" How her first New York Times piece launched a movement How her second book expands beyond pregnancy loss to address all the ways women's experiences are silenced The humanity behind the expert—how therapists and doctors are navigating their own complicated lives too You are not alone—but more importantly, find the spaces and people that help you feel like you're not alone. Whether that's therapy, support groups, online communities, or simply writing it down for yourself, healing comes when we move experiences through us rather than keeping them locked inside. About Jessica Zucker Jessica Zucker, Ph.D., is a Los Angeles-based psychologist specializing in reproductive health and the author of the award-winning books Normalize It: Upending the Silence, Stigma, and Shame That Shape Women's Lives and I Had A Miscarriage: A Memoir, a Movement . She is the creator of the viral #IHadAMiscarriage campaign. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, New York Magazine, Vogue, and Harvard Business Review, among others. She's been featured on NPR, CNN, The Today Show, and Good Morning America. Jessica earned advanced degrees from New York University and Harvard University. More about Jessica: Instagram: @ihadamiscarriage I Had a Miscarriage book Normalize It book This episode is for anyone who has experienced pregnancy loss, loves someone who has, or wants to better understand how to hold space for grief that often goes unspoken. As always, we meet you exactly where you are.
