Impossible Motherhood

Testimony of An Abortion Addict

By: Irene Vilar, Robin Morgan - foreword

Narrated by: Susannah Jones

Irene Vilar was just a pliant young college undergraduate in thrall to her professor when they embarked on a relationship that led to marriage - a union of impossible odds - and 15 abortions in 15 years. Vilar knows that she is destined to be misunderstood, that many will see her nightmare as an instance of abusing a right, of using abortion as a means of birth control. But it isn't that. The real story is part of an awful secret, shrouded in shame, colonialism, self-mutilation, and a family legacy that features a heroic grandmother, a suicidal mother, and two heroin-addicted brothers. It is a story that looks back on her traumatic childhood growing up in the shadow of her mother's death and the footsteps of her famed grandmother, the political activist Lolita Lebrn, and a history that touches on American exploitation and reproductive repression in Puerto Rico. Vilar seamlessly weaves together past, present, and future, channeling a narrative that is at once dramatic and subtle.

Impossible Motherhood is a heartrending and ultimately triumphant testimonial told by a writer looking back on her history of addiction. Abortion has never offered any honest person easy answers. Vilar's dark journey through self-inflicted wounds, compulsive patterns, and historical hauntings is a powerful story of loss and mourning that bravely delves into selfhood, national identity, reproductive freedom, family responsibility, and finally motherhood itself - today, Vilar is the mother of two beautiful children.

©2009 Irene Vilar. Foreword © 2009 Robin Morgan (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Irene words were powerful until español blando

This book does an amazing job at explaining the plights of the history of Puerto Rican womxn in the age of Operation Bootstrap. It sheds light on how the effects of such a government run operations and media propaganda still to this day affect the Puerto Rican community as a whole.
The generations of trauma is seen through the writing of Irene and her exploration into her own addictions were the key take away from this book. Recovery is our own, healing is our own, and this book helps the readers see how Irene actively broke from her negative tendencies. As a descendant of that beautiful and prosperous country, I felt so much of the history and see to this day how that time period for Puerto Ricans still has lasting effects.
I felt part of her experience until listening to my hometowns and not recognizing them because of the pronunciations. It’s time to remake with a Latine/ Spanglish narrator. This would have made the audible more inviting.
Beautiful story!