In their new book, Dear Baby-Our Angel We Lost, Love and Honor Forever, authors Tani and John Leeper break the silence on pregnancy loss to help readers understand the impact of losing a baby. With stories and lessons they learned first-hand and as founders of the Jake’s Journey Foundation, Tani and John teach readers how to navigate through grief in a way that can lead to finding joy again—and perhaps even discover a new purpose—as they live out a new normal.
It’s a fact that one in four pregnancies end in a miscarriage. An alarming statistic, yet there is so much silence around the subject. When Chrissy Teigen’s pregnancy loss happened in 2020, social media posts on the story hit over 11 thousand likes and over 500 thousand comments. Even with every news media outlet and social media channel broadcasting the story, pregnancy loss happens to so many women and their losses are often unspoken or dismissed.
Whether through miscarriage, a stillbirth, an ectopic pregnancy, or neonatal loss, the pain of losing a baby is a heartbreak that is indescribable. The severity of grief is not dependent on gestational stage, whether it’s 4 weeks, 40 weeks, or 40 days, losing a baby shakes you to the core and shouldn’t be dismissed or ignored by society.
Author Stephanie Paige Cole described the experience well when she noted, “I don’t think most people truly understand how much is lost when a baby dies. You don’t just lose a baby; you also lose the 1 and 2 and 10 and 16-year-old he would have become. You lose Christmas mornings, loose teeth, and first days of school. You just lose it all.”
In Dear Baby: Our Angel We Lost, Love and Honor Forever, readers learn quickly that every loss deserves to be acknowledged and recognized. They’ll also learn how to resolve the “land-mine” issues in their lives by exploring their own motivations and breaking the silences we perpetuate—knowingly or unknowingly—every day. Dear Baby provides comprehensive guidelines on how to have conversations about challenging topics while on a healing journey, including:
- Understanding how men and women grieve differently
- Forming healing connections
- Navigating the first 12 months
DearBaby is a book of hope for those who have experienced, or for those seeking to support others through, pregnancy loss. You can find this powerful and insightful book on Amazon as well as Barnes and Noble, Flintridge Bookstore, and Vroman’s Bookstore.
Tani and John Leeper are the founders of Jake’s Journey Foundation, a non-profit organization providing assistance to the pregnancy loss community.
For several years, Tani and John have tirelessly led the In Loving Arms support group that empowers parents impacted by pregnancy and infant loss to find their voice while navigating grief. Having suffered two miscarriages and a stillbirth, they know first-hand the monumental heartache and the ultimate gift of finding hope, peace, and their greatest purpose.