The Dream of Parenthood and Lieve’s Loss

Nieuwe buren

This flow traces Peter and Eva’s shared desire for a child from hopeful attempts at conception through invasive treatment, Lieve’s stillbirth, and the grief that destabilizes their marriage.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Shared Family Dream A Shared Family Dream from "Nieuwe buren". A Shared Family Dream The promise of a child After Peter’s parents die, Eva promises that they will build a family together.

A Shared Family Dream from "Nieuwe buren". A Shared Family Dream The promise of a child After Peter’s parents die, Eva promises that they will build a family together.

A Shared Family Dream The promise of a child After Peter’s parents die, Eva promises that they will build a family together. The decision gives their grief a forward direction: a child might become the center of a future they can share. Hope before evidence They begin trying with enthusiasm, imagining that each act of intimacy might have made a baby. Their expectation is not merely that they will become parents, but that parenthood will make their marriage feel complete. That assumption later makes infertility more than a medical obstacle. It turns every failed attempt into a threat to the future they believed they had already chosen.

The Fertility Calendar The Fertility Calendar from "Nieuwe buren". The Fertility Calendar From intimacy to scheduling When pregnancy does not come, Eva and Peter seek medical advice and begin monitoring her cycle.

The Fertility Calendar from "Nieuwe buren". The Fertility Calendar From intimacy to scheduling When pregnancy does not come, Eva and Peter seek medical advice and begin monitoring her cycle.

The Fertility Calendar From intimacy to scheduling When pregnancy does not come, Eva and Peter seek medical advice and begin monitoring her cycle. Sex becomes organized around temperature readings and ovulation, with little room for spontaneity or mutual desire. The growing strain Peter misses the intimacy they had before trying for a child, while Eva experiences the child she longs for as too important to abandon. Their disagreement is not about whether they love each other; it is about how much of their relationship the pursuit of pregnancy can consume. The calendar makes hope measurable, but it also turns their private life into a series of deadlines. Each unsuccessful month tightens the pressure between them.

Treatment Takes Over Treatment Takes Over from "Nieuwe buren". Treatment Takes Over A diagnosis redirects the marriage Medical examinations reveal that Peter’s sperm count and motility are poor.

Treatment Takes Over from "Nieuwe buren". Treatment Takes Over A diagnosis redirects the marriage Medical examinations reveal that Peter’s sperm count and motility are poor.

Treatment Takes Over A diagnosis redirects the marriage Medical examinations reveal that Peter’s sperm count and motility are poor. The couple is told that assisted reproduction may be their only path to a child, overturning Peter’s hope that conception might happen without a medical process. Repeated attempts Eva undergoes fertility procedures while Peter contributes samples and supports her through the treatment cycle. Their efforts expand through IVF, ICSI, and donor insemination, each new option carrying renewed hope and another chance of disappointment. The treatments deepen the difference in what each partner bears. Eva endures the physical interventions, while Peter wrestles with shame about infertility and the possibility that a donor may father their child.

The Stillbirth The Stillbirth from "Nieuwe buren". The Stillbirth An emergency journey Eva wakes bleeding heavily and tells Peter that they are losing the baby.

The Stillbirth from "Nieuwe buren". The Stillbirth An emergency journey Eva wakes bleeding heavily and tells Peter that they are losing the baby.

The Stillbirth An emergency journey Eva wakes bleeding heavily and tells Peter that they are losing the baby. He scrambles for the car keys, then drives them through traffic toward the hospital as Eva’s condition and fear intensify. The final confirmation Doctors discover that the placenta has detached and that the baby’s heart has stopped. During an emergency caesarean, Peter and Eva wait behind the surgical screen before their daughter is lifted into view. They hold Lieve, dress her, and memorize her small features and scent. Bringing her home and arranging her burial gives them a way to honor their daughter, but it cannot protect their shared life from the shock of losing her.

A Year of Mourning A Year of Mourning from "Nieuwe buren". A Year of Mourning Grief without a common shape Eva visits Lieve’s grave almost every day and holds tightly to her identity as a mother.

A Year of Mourning from "Nieuwe buren". A Year of Mourning Grief without a common shape Eva visits Lieve’s grave almost every day and holds tightly to her identity as a mother.

A Year of Mourning Grief without a common shape Eva visits Lieve’s grave almost every day and holds tightly to her identity as a mother. Peter avoids the grave, carries his grief privately, and feels ashamed that his pain does not resemble Eva’s. The anniversary farewell At the first anniversary, Eva tells Lieve that she will stop visiting every day without ceasing to be her mother. Peter joins her at the grave and recalls the emergency and the child they had once expected to bring home alive. Their farewell offers a moment of relief, not a restoration. They still carry different understandings of loss, and the emotional distance between them leaves their marriage vulnerable to later pressures.

After Eva and Peter marry, before they begin trying to conceive

After roughly a year of trying to conceive

During the years of fertility treatment before Eva’s pregnancy with Lieve

22 juli, when Eva is about thirty weeks pregnant

During the year after Lieve’s death and at its first anniversary