Spring Equinox Virtual Spiritweavers Gathering
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March 18th - 22nd, 2021
IUD Awareness Story
Discussion with Tamara Wilder
(exact date & time to be confirmed)
Coming in a few weeks from March 18th - 22nd, 2021, the Spring Weave will offer the virtual platform for inspiring, connecting, healing and empowering workshops and presentations.
IUD Awareness is proud to once again be hosting the IUD Awareness Story Workshop
All are invited to join us there!
Soon after I got my IUD removed, I heard about a really interesting event that was happening in June near my home in Mendocino County, Northern California called Spiritweavers. Upon inquiring more, I learned that several friends of mine were already involved and spoke very highly of this annual weeks long women’s gathering; so I asked them if I could attend and host a discussion table and workshop about IUDS.
The organizers were supportive and I committed to being there for both weeks. Being just a month after removal, I was still in a very fragile state and hesitant about having to camp for two weeks back to back, but since the event would not happen for another 7 months or so; I decided to make it happen.
The result was phenomenal. This gathering draws a large number of younger people, many of whom jumped to share their own IUD stories with me. I was completely unprepared for the intensity of their tales and the prevalence with which the hormonal IUDs (both Mirena & Skyla) had been pushed on them, not just for birth control but often at very early ages like 13 or 14 in order to help control painful bleeding or problematic cycles! Many of these young people were now in their early 20’s and were still struggling to recover from the effects these devices had wrought on their bodies and minds. Some of them still struggled with irregular cycles and had never been able to gain any kind of regularity. Some of them reported that they had battled with severe emotional problems during the time they had the IUD, which had included several being committed to institutions for a number of years!
Some of them had already made the connection between their problems and their IUDs, especially in relation to physical issues like bleeding changes & weight gain; but most had not quite drawn the connection between the IUD and their emotional problems. Upon hearing my story, that link was often made immediately and they would then have lots of pent up emotion, anger, and astonishment to process. The pieces would all fall into place and the struggles which had seemed like islands to themselves were suddenly re-woven into the complex web of the IUD experience.
The most common response that we have upon “making these connections” is of to ask ourselves “Of course! How could I have not see this before?” It all instantly makes sense and there is absolutely no doubt in our minds that there is a strong relationship between having an IUD and our “psychological issues”.
Besides the people in their teens and twenties, there were also a good number of other ages as well, especially in their 30’s to 60’s. Those who had been using birth control in the late 1960’s to mid 1970’s had a large number of IUD stories to share with me, using IUDs that I had never heard of like the Copper 7 and the Lippes Loop as well as one that I did know about called the Dalkon Shield. My own mother had gotten pregnant soon after getting Dalkon Shield. At the time, carrying a baby to term with an IUD in utero was considered to be very high risk; so the doctors recommended removing the IUD, which had very high odds of terminating the pregnancy. Looking back at other stories, she actually feels fortunate that she took the IUD out after so little time, as she did not remember experiencing any other problems.
Check out the History of the IUD Page for more information about the Dalkon Shield & Copper 7 lawsuits and their subsequent removal from the market.
Of those people then in their 60s, a number of them had never been able to conceive after using the IUD, most having experienced numerous miscarriages. A large number also had histories of breast cancer, endometriosis, fibroids, etc….., which they suspected were due to their use of IUDs when younger. When they heard my story and discovered that IUDs were once again popular, their response would invariably be “What!?! We learned our lesson with those things a long time ago!” They would then recount to me their own traumas and struggles as a result of using an IUD so many decades before.
There were fewer stories from those in their 40’s & 50’s as IUDs had been more taboo when they had been starting to use birth control, but a large number of stories from those in their 30’s, because they had been starting to use birth control at a time when IUDs were being re-designed into the Paragard, Copper T & Mirena, re-born and re-marketed. Of a group of around 600 attendees at the event, at least 250 shared a story with me, either their own or that of someone close to them.
Among those in their 20’s-40’s, a number of them still had the IUD inside their bodies. Some were totally happy with it while others were drawing the connections between their IUD and their current health challenges for the very first time. There was an empowerment counselor there who had experience with self-removing IUDs and at least 10 IUDs were removed during the course of the first week, with those who had been newly freed expressing deep gratitude and a sense of profound relief at having it gone.
The second week pretty much followed suit with hundreds from all ages sharing similar stories over and over and over again. Membership in our IUD Side Effects Support Group on Facebook, jumped dramatically in the weeks following as those in attendance joined the group and become a core part of our community. There were so many voices telling their stories that I decided to do what I could to create an online platform where their stories might be both better heard and more openly received. The immense support that was given during the course of that gathering, both that year and the next, resulted in the Instagram Page being created, the IUD Awareness Website being designed and IUD Awareness becoming more interconnected on the web than ever before.
Many of the attendees and instructors work with women’s health and had regular practices where they still share the IUD Awareness story far and wide.
That second year at Spiritweavers, I was both saddened and heartened to be approached over and over and over by those who had not shared with me the year before, but whom had subsequently either made the connection in their own experience or shared it with someone else close to them who had been struggling. This phenomenon has continued as the years have passed, with participants reporting in to me with healing stories from their own lives. The common refrain is “They took it out and now are feeling so much better! Thanks so much for sharing your story.”
Kiki’s Custom Cycle Tracking Kit complete with thermometer, guide book, charts, pen and condom.
In the years since, the Spiritweavers Gathering has moved to the town of Cave Junction in Southern Oregon where I have continued to host an IUD Awareness Info Table and offer an IUD Story Discussion for two weeks in early June. As it is a large international event which draws people from all walks of life, the stories shared continue to be at moving and dramatic as that first year.
Numerous other workshops are presented each year on the topics of reproductive health, cycle tracking and learning Fertility Awareness Methods; so those instructors and I often join together in presenting several forums which give further insight into the benefits of tracking and staying in tune with our cycles.
Several of the regular attendees also have their own blogs or podcasts, two of whom have interviewed me on the topic of IUD Awareness.
Ode to Tamara😎
You are a bright luminescent gem
that caught my eye.
Shining your light
Uncovering what was holding
a strong grip on my life.
No doctor could discover it.
Or cared to.
You shined your light onto my darkness
You freed me from the chains
holding me
from living my purpose.
Now I am free!
I only see light.
And it shines so bright!
The words of gratitude are immeasurable.
So I will simply begin with
Thank you.
Each year a large number of participants share their stories with me, ask me about my own experience and leave empowered to change their lives for the better, take control of their own health and advocate for their own well being. These stories are often built around common main themes with both physical and emotional issues, but each on is as unique as the person sharing it. There are many that still catch me by surprise. It is a delight to connect year after year with those same friends who had their IUDs removed in previous years and see how much their health has improved since that time. It is hard to describe in words the deep chasm between how we were then and where we are now, but we are linked by a common understanding of those experiences.
A few years ago, one such person who had been struggling almost a decade wrote me this beautiful poem which so accurately reflects this sentiment.
Last year, due to Covid-19, the Spiritweavers Gathering had to move online as the Virtual Weave and I decided to do my IUD Story Share using that online platform which was different than meeting in person, but powerful nonetheless. The platform allowed us to wander around the virtual world and enter different “rooms” which were much like Zoom rooms for each workshop or booth. During the course of my workshop a number of participants came and went and we were all touched by the stories shared across the ethers.
