Love in the Time of A.I. Companions

"When I came home, my son, who was about four or five at the time, walked up to me and said, 'What happened to your stomach? Where's the baby?' I had nothing to show for it. I felt like I was just living it over and over."

"At the funeral, the gravedigger told the family he had never seen such a small casket. Brookins attended support groups and therapy, but they did little to alleviate her grief."

Adrianne Brookins, a 34-year-old lifelong San Antonio resident from a deeply religious Baptist family, experienced profound loss when her daughter Desirae was stillborn in 2017. After years of working multiple jobs and building a stable family life with her husband and young son, the unexpected tragedy left her devastated and searching for meaning. Traditional grief support, including therapy and support groups, provided little comfort as she struggled with recurring trauma. The loss created distance in her marriage, as her husband remained reluctant to discuss Desirae while managing demanding work schedules. Brookins left her job at her mother's day care, finding the environment too painful, and sought solace in her Baptist faith community.

Read at The New Yorker