WELCOME TO OSHUN GRIOT!

Welcome to The Stories by Oshun Griot.

I decided to launch this newsletter about fertility for people of color right after Election Day because it feels like our wombs, hell, our whole reproductive lives are under attack, and I’m not sure it’s going to get better anytime soon with Donald Trump in the White House.

As someone who has fought with their uterus since the age of thirteen, pondered extensively about egg freezing, undergone multiple rounds of IVF, had several surgeries for endometriosis and fibroids, and had two very challenging pregnancies, I know the trauma, frustration, and pain that our fertility can bring. But I also know the joys. And I want everyone to experience that joy, that freedom, and that empowerment that we can feel around fertility, whether we want to birth kids, adopt, use a surrogate, remain childfree, or just aren’t sure. 

Even though people of color struggle with infertility more, for many of us, dealing with our fertility has always felt like a luxury. Things have gotten better--there are more stories and less stigma about people of color and heir fertility journeys. Still, I worry that the self-proclaimed “Father of IVF” who helped overturn Roe v. Wade and his vice presidential running mate who said it was “deranged” not to want children, mean trouble for our bodies. I worry that Congress will be a stagnant mess, the conservative justices on the Supreme Court will continue to take away our rights, and that state governments, particularly in red-leaning areas, will continue to assault our bodies.

No one should face fertility challenges alone.

I created Oshun Griot, named for the Yoruba goddess of fertility and the West African storyteller figure, as I was conducting research on fertility in the Black community. Many people I talked to as I worked on my book Fertility Noir (coming out from Ballantine in 2026) and film Infertile Ground (PBS, sometime) said that they never really thought much about their fertility until it was too late. Even the ones who knew about fertility interventions like egg freezing or IVF said they didn’t have the resources, money, or the community to help them figure it all out.

Others were worried about the legality of the treatments in their states. On top of all that, many people that I spoke with said that they believed fertility treatments were something that mainly upper-class White women utilize, even though there are some notable exceptions (thanks Michelle O and Eve).

I want to make sure that people of color have the support they need—a friend, a guide, a resource, a griot, when trying to navigate their fertility. So, I’m building a community based on distributing accurate information and creating empowering tools like this newsletter and our app that’s in development to help families of color manage it all. Our newsletter will feature expert advice from medical officials and doulas, a roundup of the most interesting articles about communities of color and fertility, too much popular culture, a bit of history, and more. 

Seriously, this sucks.

I want to say that it will be alright, that dark times aren’t ahead, that we aren’t about to relive an American nightmare, but I also want to be real. I can’t predict the future. Maybe the President-elect (ugh, I hate typing that) will really come through, maybe there won’t be a national abortion ban, and IVF will become free and affordable for everyone. But just in case he doesn’t, it will be critical that we all have a safe space from the dumpster fire that will surely arise from what we call our government.

More than at any point in my life, I feel nervous, anxious, and just plain old sick about the future. I am not sure that even our best leaders, despite their well-intentioned assurances, can fully protect our bodies, our wombs, and our embryos from the conservative Court, a Republican-led Congress, and right-wing state governments. Still, we can have faith. We can have hope. We can move FORWARD. But for now, I hope we all take a deep breath, laugh a little longer, rest a few more minutes, exhale, and then…get ready to fight.

In our next newsletter:

• What Trump and Vance mean for POC dealing with infertility 🇺🇲

• Ask A Doula: How to de-stress from politics after election chaos 🧘

• Childless cat ladies and aunties, one and the same? 🤔

For now, though, that’s it, and again, welcome! 

If this newsletter vibes with you, please share it with your friends or someone you know who’s struggling with their fertility. If you have questions or comments, want to ask our resident doula a question, or are interested in talking about our fertility app with my team, please reach out.