Content warning: This episode contains discussion of child loss and grief.

After a medical crisis that began just minutes after her son’s birth, Susan and her husband faced months of uncertainty that would ultimately lead to profound loss.

In this episode, we move beyond the hospital room and into the long and often unseen road of grief.

Susan reflects on what it meant to return home and continue living while carrying heartbreak. She shares how she grieved not only her son, but the future she once imagined, and what it looked like to hold both sorrow and hope at the same time.

We talk about how suffering reshaped her faith in steady, daily ways. Not through dramatic declarations, but through quiet dependence on God in ordinary moments. She speaks about discovering that grace is not something you prepare for in advance. It meets you in the exact moment you need it.

Susan also offers thoughtful perspective on supporting grieving families, speaking openly about children who have passed, and the strength she and her husband found in one another during their hardest season.

This conversation closes with a deeper understanding of what it means to trust God through both heartbreak and hope, and how even the smallest heart can leave a lasting mark.

Every life has a story worth telling. Follow Unspoken Lives Podcast on your favorite podcast app and join the conversation. Visit unspokenlivespodcast.com and follow @unspokenlivespodcast on Instagram.

Content warning: This episode contains discussion of infant medical trauma and child loss.

At 20 weeks pregnant, Susan and her husband learned their baby boy had a serious heart defect. They were given a plan and a path forward. Surgery would take place shortly after birth, and while the diagnosis was overwhelming, there was direction and preparation.

What they could not foresee was how quickly that path would change.

Just 45 minutes after Tommy was born, a nurse rushed into their hospital room with urgent news. In an instant, they moved from scheduled plans to a fight for their son’s life.

In this first part of our conversation, Susan shares those early days with honesty and depth. She speaks about sitting in uncertainty, hearing doctors prepare them for outcomes they never imagined, and holding faith alongside very real fear. She describes the profound peace that met her in moments she cannot fully explain, and the way her trust in God steadied her when everything around her felt fragile.

This episode traces the beginning of a story that would deepen her understanding of suffering, strengthen her reliance on God, and shape the way she walks through hardship today.

Part two will continue next week as we step further into what followed.

Every life has a story worth telling. Follow Unspoken Lives Podcast on your favorite podcast app and join the conversation. Visit unspokenlivespodcast.com and follow @unspokenlivespodcast on Instagram.

Content note: This episode includes discussion of infertility and miscarriage. Please listen with care if this topic is tender for you.

In Part 2 of this conversation, Shelley shares what happened beneath the surface. The grief. The anger. The wrestling with faith. The questions she never imagined asking.

After years of infertility and pregnancy loss, Shelley reached a point where the pain felt consuming. In this episode, she speaks honestly about what it looked like to wrestle with God, sit in disappointment, and slowly rebuild her sense of identity after loss.

Today, Shelley is a licensed professional counselor specializing in infertility, pregnancy loss, and maternal mental health. The very season that once felt defining is now the place from which she serves others with compassion, patience, and understanding.

This conversation is about grief that is often unseen, faith that is stretched, and redemption that unfolds slowly. It is a reminder that a chapter may shape you, but it does not get the final word.

If you have ever felt defined by a season you did not choose, this episode is for you.

Listen now to Part 2 of Shelley’s story on Unspoken Lives Podcast.

Resources mentioned:
• Moms in the Making, a Christian infertility support community
• RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association, offering infertility support groups and education

Guest: Shelley Stephan, Licensed Professional Counselor specializing in infertility, pregnancy loss, and maternal mental health

Website: https://stephancounseling.com

Every life has a story worth telling. Follow Unspoken Lives Podcast on your favorite podcast app and join the conversation. Visit unspokenlivespodcast.com and follow @unspokenlivespodcast on Instagram.