In her debut book, the renowned primary care physician offers a deeply moving narrative that celebrates the resilience of women as they navigate the diverse and complex journeys of building and sustaining families. Dr. Thompson intertwines her personal story of life-threatening pregnancy complications with the stories of twenty-one of her patients, friends, and medical colleagues. Together, they explore the complexities of motherhood, family dynamics, and health and healing, ultimately finding strength in imperfection. Through profoundly honest and emotionally raw accounts, “Held Together” creates a space for connection, delivering comfort and awareness to anyone touched by their own or others’ challenges in parenthood and family relationships. At its heart, “Held Together” aims to expand the understanding of motherhood’s true diversity, while advocating for empathy, inclusion, and improved support for all women and families.
Dr. Thompson will be joined in conversation by Kelly Burke, a fellow Oregonian and her former patient. Kelly’s deeply felt story touches on themes of navigating a chronic autoimmune disorder that threatens her personal and professional identities, talking to children about serious illness and death, and recognizing the ways that physical limitations and understandings of self shape the way we parent.