Today I went to a Menopause Workshop at work. (The exciting life I lead heh). But I’d heard good things about it, and I think sometimes I’ve brushed over my menopause, as the main focus since that diagnosis has been to get pregnant, and then of course, my wonderful little girl once she arrived. And it made me realise 1) that I’ve just been ‘dealing’ with a lot of the symptoms that come with menopause (or trying to ignore them), and also, 2) still how emotional all this is for me, even though it is very much the norm for me now. I thought I might be the odd one out there, with everyone else maybe a bit older, either going through the symptoms of peri-menopause or out the other side. But as everyone introduced themselves, I realised I was not the only one in the room who was interested in menopause for slightly different reasons than usual. Someone was having surgery soon and knew it would throw her into menopause instantly, someone else had gone through early menopause too and was having to have her ovaries removed. It made me realise I was not alone in my body disobeying the ‘normal rules’ and there was a real solidarity in the room. I am so happy and open now to talk about the early menopause and egg donation (I’ve always been happy to talk about it with the people that knew, but our decision to keep our egg donation to ourselves meant it was a very select group of friends and family). But when it came to my turn to introduce myself, I found myself getting choked up and only just managed to tell my (very abridged) story without breaking down. Everyone was really supportive and very interested in my story, but it just highlighted to me that, although this has been a hugely positive journey for me, and even by menopause standards I think I’ve escaped quite lightly with symptoms, deep down it is still very emotional for me, and my coping attitude has probably masked plenty of feelings that are just coming to the surface now. And I’m not sure those feelings will ever truly go away, but will probably surface when I’m least expecting them through the years. This afternoon’s session was not only hugely informative and helpful on all aspects of the menopause but also reaffirmed how important it is for us all to talk about what we’re going through, whether it’s with our closest friends or a room full of strangers.