Maybe This Will Be My Miracle?

Despite the fact that most (American) people I know who are my age are not having babies yet, my students think it's downright tragic that I'm a week away from 30, have been married almost 4 years and still have nothing to show for it. They don't know what we've been going through, but truthfully that's irrelevant anyway.

They used to be subtle about it.

"Teach-ah, married?"

"Teach-ah, have children?"

In their culture, those are the two most important things in life, and the second one should follow the first one rather quickly. Preferably within the first year or two, otherwise the wife runs the risk of her husband taking a second wife who can bear him a child.

My students are I, we're pretty tight these days, and their questions have become more transparent.

"Teach-ah, like children?"

"Teach-ah, husband like children?"

"Teach-ah, no like children?"

"Teach-ah, take medicine have baby?"

Today, after a particularly interesting discussion on shaman ceremonies and their effect on fertility, Kia looked at me hard, kindness in her eyes, and said, "Teach-ah, need shaman ceremony. Teach-ah have baby."

Why be coy? I nodded and said, "Well, maybe that's a good idea. Do you think shamans can help American people?"

She cocked her head and seemed to be considering this. She tapped her finger against her cheek thoughtfully until she replied.

"I don't know, Teach-ah. Maybe."

As far as I can tell, a shaman ceremony means watching a man jumping up and down on a table shaking bells, but I haven't had much luck with western medicine, so I'm willing to give it a shot. I've never met a Hmong woman without a brood of kids, so one must concede that they know what they're doing when it comes to fertility!