Shaffer: A closer look at InDepth

Each Wednesday, a group of SheSays staffers and I sit down over brownbag lunches to plan out future sections and stories.

I’m sure the rest of the newsroom wonders what on earth is going on in our little conference room, as our conversations occasionally digress into cackles of laughter.

Some of the topics the moms in our group propose can confound those of us without kids. “Wait … what’s a breast pump for?” I once had to ask.

But the meetings also reach poignant points at which we share personal experiences with issues every woman will face at some point in her life.

One thing we’ve realized is that there are certain topics we just can’t stop talking about. We eventually discover it’s so complex and multifaceted that we simply won’t be able to tell the story in one article.

That’s how our idea for “InDepth,” a multi-part series that will start the first Sunday of every month, was born.

Starting today with Sherri Richards’ five-part, three-day series, we delve into the topic of infertility: its causes and treatments, and the emotional and financial toll infertility takes on everyone involved.

Each month, we’ll bring you a new issue – including eating disorders, alcoholism, mental illness and domestic abuse – that our readers have told us is important to them and the women in their lives.

But we’re always looking, so feel free to tell us your story or what you’d like us to take an in-depth look at next.

Tags: heidi shaffer, shesays, indepth, columns