The Australian Women's Weekly March 2017

When my daughter was born, her great-grandmother sent her a little card, welcoming her to the family. A thoughtful if unremarkable gesture, you might think, until you know the backstory: that this incredible 85-year-old hadn’t yet met my daughter, hadn’t met me and was fully aware that my daughter had been conceived via IVF when my now husband – who was working overseas as a foreign correspondent – was approximately 10,000 kilometres away. Even for our generation, that takes a fair bit of getting your brain around and I had people of all ages scratching their heads. Yet Mama never faltered. She opened her arms and welcomed us to the family with unconditional love, a fact for which I will always be grateful. As my husband says, at her age,…

Your letters Letter of the month Like Anne’s daughter, Sandra, (The Secret I Hid For 50 Years, AWW, February) I too wanted to know where I came from. Going to the doctors and being asked family history and not knowing was difficult at times. I discovered my birth mother had married my father and had seven children. Finding out I was the eldest of eight was quite a shock. It’s now more than 20 years since I made contact with my birth family and the relationship has been rewarding. But people do look at me oddly when I say I’m an only child with seven brothers and sisters. Maureen Shanks, Earlwood, NSW. Underwater inspiration Thank you for your story on Valerie Taylor (Swimming With Sharks, AWW, February). I remember underwater…

Royal heads together The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry joined forces to tackle the stigma around mental health with a campaign hitting headlines around the world. It’s the royal trio’s biggest project and one they’re passionate about. Heads Together unites The Royal Foundation and other charities to target mental health. “Through their work with young people, homeless charities and veterans, Their Royal Highnesses have seen unresolved mental health problems lie at the heart of social challenges. They’ve seen people afraid to admit they’re struggling. Fear of prejudice and judgement stops people getting help,” a Kensington Palace spokesman told The Weekly. “We want to normalise mental health; to get people talking about it,” said Prince William when he joined – with Catherine and Harry – a training day…

Michelle Obama The former First Lady was the most inspiring presence of the Obama era, planting the first White House vegetable garden since Eleanor Roosevelt, campaigning to end childhood obesity and championing women and girls. Emma Watson Actor, UN Goodwill Ambassador and convenor of Our Shared Shelf, an online book club focusing on work by women. Angela Merkel “We are stronger than terrorism,” said the German Chancellor, walking a tightrope between compassion and resolve. Nadia Murad The 22-year-old Iraqi activist escaped Islamic State (IS) slavery and is working with Amal Clooney to bring IS before an international court. Meryl Streep In her staunch, quietly spoken way, Meryl carries on defending human rights and artistic freedom, and chalked up her 20th Academy Award nomination in 2017. Hillary Clinton Former US Secretary…

I Quit Sugar queen Sarah Wilson, the woman who helped to establish a worldwide shift away from sugar consumption, cannot remember a day in her life when she did not suffer from some kind of anxiety. Even as a little girl, growing up on a rural property outside Canberra, Sarah worried obsessively about almost every aspect of her young life. “When I was a teen, my anxieties came out in obsessive behaviours and for me it was mostly about showering and going to the toilet,” says Sarah, sitting in her favourite inner-city cafe and calmly recounting one of the most difficult periods of her life. “I would shower and shower and shower, and then I would wash my hands and then wash them again and then again. Then I’d check…

“ I’m like a broom in a ridiculous dress with a wig. ” I look back now and can see that every major step forward in my career has been driven by my anxiety. It leads me. It’s my internal traffic light system that tells me “go” and “stop”. When I feel the anxious choke at my throat, that urghhhh, I know something is not for me. Stop! it screams at me. In this way my relentless anxiety – and my awareness of it – has helped me make big, important decisions along the way. I think anxiety pushes us. It exists to do so – it helps us friggin’ fire up. Even when it makes us stall with terror, it eventually makes conditions so unbearable that we ricochet off…