3Polite Fights

Rob and Amanda Parker were a very loving couple,” their psychologist told us. “They weren’t at each other’s throats like many of the couples that I see. And yet they just couldn’t find a constructive way to discuss the problems that were tearing them apart.”

The past few years had been extremely stressful for the Parkers. Rob and Amanda had two healthy daughters (ages five and seven) but had always wanted a larger family, and their attempts to have a third child had ended in disappointment. Over the course of three years trying to conceive—including many aggressive and invasive fertility treatments—they had exhausted all possible options. Now, in addition to their grief, they were also struggling with the loss of romance in their ...

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