On 29 December 2022, author and podcaster Elizabeth Day received a text from a stranger calling her 'mum'. She was in a rental car with her husband Justin, returning from a fertility treatment trip to Los Angeles where they had just had an embryo from an egg donor transferred. The text, which she initially saw as a sign, would ultimately lead her to a psychic who changed her life.
Day had spent 12 years trying to conceive, including two rounds of IVF in her first marriage and a miscarriage at three months. In her current marriage, she had pursued further fertility treatments and turned to superstition and spirituality for hope. She consulted a shaman, wrote letters to her future child, and looked for signs in nature, such as a robin redbreast in her garden.
Despite the text being a wrong number, Day replied with kindness, believing it was a test of her maternal love. She later reflected on the years of grief and the decision to use an egg donor. The embryo transfer did not result in a pregnancy, but a subsequent call with a psychic helped her let go of her dream of motherhood.
Day now says she has come to terms with not having children, finding peace in her life as it is. She describes the journey as one of acceptance, moving from a place of desperate hope to a state of contentment.
