"And how long have you been experiencing these feelings of disconnect?" Dr. Matthews asked, her pen poised over a notepad.

Emma glanced at Alek beside her on the therapist's cream-colored sofa. Two weeks of marriage counseling had brought them here, to a sleek office overlooking Boston Harbor, attempting to rebuild what had fractured since the hospital.

"Since losing the pregnancy," Emma answered. "Though honestly, maybe even before that. We never really discussed having children beyond 'someday.'"

"We both assumed it would happen naturally when the time was right," Alek added. "Then the ectopic pregnancy forced immediate decisions we weren't prepared to make."

Dr. Matthews nodded thoughtfully. "Reproductive trauma often reveals...