Matrescence, the transition into motherhood. In progress

When a baby is born, so is a mother — but the natural (and sometimes unsteady) process of transition to motherhood is often silenced by shame or misdiagnosed as postpartum depression. In a cross-disciplinary project at TED Residency in collaboration with Alexandra Sacks (M.D. Reproductive Psychiatrist) and  Angélica Dass (photographer) we aim to explore visually the breaks down the emotional tug-of-war of becoming a new mother — and shares a term that could help describe it: matrescence. It was a personal journey around New York City to visit the homes of mothers who volunteered to share their stories with us for narratives as well as photography and video. We went from the Bronx to Manhattan to Brooklyn to Queens, visiting pregnant women, breastfeeding women, women with school-aged children, women who had experienced miscarriage and loss, single women, married women, and LGBTQ+ women… And so, our “Motherhood Unfiltered” project was born.

We aim to continue exploring this conversation in Madrid and in Rio de Janeiro.