Introducing Season of Survival

You can feel it. It's getting colder. The holiday decorations are going up. The holiday season is gearing up. But for those of us navigating infertility, the holidays can feel less like a season of joy and more like a season of survival. And this year feels especially heavy. Cities are being invaded, the political climate is hostile, everything feels uncertain, and the fertility space, whether it's IVF restrictions, pronatalist pressure, or restorative reproductive medicine, remains more political than ever.

And then you have to deal with nosey aunties, questioning mamas, pics of RiRi's perfect little babies (no shade, congrats), and all those holiday pregnancy announcements. It can just feel overwhelming when you're seeing even the dog in those perfect family pajama photos when you want that to be you... and it's not.

That's why we're launching Season of Survival: a healing box and companion Substack series.

The Substack explores what it means to survive this season: the grief, the hope, the complicated feelings that come with wanting something so badly while the world keeps making it harder.

And if you need something tangible to hold, we created the Holiday Healing Box with:

• Warm quote scarf

• Funny fertility candle

• Delicious hot chocolate

• Body care

• Affirmation cards

• Retro survival zine (see above)

• Worry dolls

• Snarky mug

• Stickers

Shop the Holiday Healing Box | Also on Etsy. Pre-order now. Boxes ship in November.

The Holiday Healing Box is part of our larger healing collection.

Why This Matters Now

The fertility landscape is shifting fast, and it's complicated. Recently, we read a piece in The Guardian by epidemiologist Jerel Ezell that stopped us in our tracks. He writes about the connection between racism and declining Black fertility rates. The numbers are striking: only 37% of Black respondents in a Harvard poll said having kids was important, compared with 51% of white people. Black fertility rates decelerated more than twice as much during Trump's first term compared to Obama's second term. Nearly half of Black people aged 18-39 feel that racism will get worse over the rest of their lives.

As Ezell writes, this isn't just about economics. This is philosophical. This is about prospective parents weighing concerns about the kind of world they're bringing children into. Actor and comedian Tiffany Haddish captured this in a 2020 interview: "I would hate to give birth to someone that looks like me knowing that they're gonna be hunted or killed."

Read Season of Survival on Substack

And yet, Black Americans already face higher rates of infertility, are significantly more likely to die during pregnancy, and experience more adverse birth outcomes. We're dealing with biological barriers, financial barriers, healthcare barriers, and now the philosophical weight of wondering if we should even try. Meanwhile, the political fight over fertility care is heating up. Right now in Congress, debates are raging over IVF coverage for military personnel and the rise of "restorative reproductive medicine" (RRM). Republicans are marketing RRM as a conservative alternative to IVF, focusing on treatments like medication, lifestyle changes, and surgery while excluding IVF and other assisted reproductive technologies.

And though liberals are basically losing their shit over this (and perhaps rightfully so, as many researchers say this is not a good alternative treatment to infertility), folks of color have long heralded natural cures and treatments for fertility. So taking out the partisan politics: is RRM something we should consider alongside other treatments, or is it being used as a tool to restrict access to IVF? We don't know, but we'll be exploring it over the next few months.

Fewer births shouldn't mean fewer dreams. That's why this work matters. That's why Oshun Griot exists.

Stay strong,
xxx Reniqua
Founder + CEO, Oshun Griot

P.S. If this newsletter vibes with you, forward it to someone who needs it, subscribe if you haven’t already, sign up for our substack and buy a healing box! We love to hear from you, so contact us at [email protected]. Your feedback drives everything we do.