Grieving From the Womb: Meaning Construction in Response to Father Loss Before Birth

Congenital loss: Loss of an immediate family member prior to or during one's birth

The loss of a family member is often conceptualized as a disruption in one's life story. However, when a loss occurs prior to, or during, one's birth, the bereaved life stories are not interrupted by the loss, but rather begin with loss. The paper offers a new conceptualization of these losses as "congenital losses" and captures the core aspects of this phenomenon. A qualitative phenomenological analysis of 34 in-depth semi-structured interviews with offspring and siblings whose family members died before/during their birth revealed four main challenges presented by congenital loss: incoherency and fragmentation; story-ownership; bond-establishment, and; identity challenges.

"Empty Chairs at Empty Tables": Disenfranchisement by Association

The rise in research publications over the last few decades about disenfranchised grief has deepened our understanding of this field. Importantly, it raises awareness and validates human experiences of bereavement, which are often socially ignored, muted, and stigmatized. However, while researchers in the field actively engage in the task of "enfranchisement," as they present their work at scientific conferences, they might experience what we term disenfranchisement by association in the academic sphere. Based on our own experience, this article will demonstrate the parallel pathways between disenfranchisement of bereaved individuals and disenfranchisement of disenfranchised grief researchers, as it emerges in three main expressions of disenfranchisement: reluctance to listen, shame and guilt inflicting, and demand for euphemism. A conclusive note on how to address this kind of disenfranchisement is suggested.

Designing in-depth semi-structured interviews for revealing meaning reconstruction after loss

The recent upsurge in the use of qualitative empirical studies, aiming to provide a deeper understanding of human reactions to loss, requires a methodological account of how to conduct better qualitative research with regard to data collection. This paper offers six general interview guidelines aimed at assisting researchers to achieve quality interviews in qualitative bereavement studies, based on the theoretical framework of meaning (re)construction in loss.