The Things We Do For Love

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains a discussion of pregnancy loss and child death.

Angie DeSaria longs to be a mother but struggles with pregnancy loss, infant death, and failed adoptions. It is only when she lets go of her all-consuming quest to become a parent that she attains her goal, realizing that she does not need a baby to fulfill this hole within her.

Initially, Angie’s obsessive desire to be a mother is destructive to her relationships, as well as her mental health. Her tunnel-vision causes her to forget everyone else in her life. When she and Conlan get a divorce, he reminds her that he wanted a baby, too. It is then that she understands the impact of her obsession: “She’d forgotten that in the last few years; Conlan had dreamed of fatherhood just as she wanted motherhood. Somewhere along the way, it had all become about her” (13). Mired in her own desires, Angie loses sight of her relationship with Conlan and his pain. Angie’s mother also illuminates the consequences of Angie’s fixation on motherhood. Maria advises, “God has given you an answer to your prayers, Angela. It is not the answer you wanted, so you don’t hear.