Fox News medical commentator Dr. Nicole Saphier has turned away from writing about health care reform and America’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic to broach a subject that has loomed even larger in her life: motherhood.
In her new book, “Love, Mom: Inspiring Stories Celebrating Motherhood” (Fox News Books), Dr. Saphier draws from the recollections of well-known Fox personalities, such as weathercaster Janice Dean, anchor Ainsley Earhardt and reporter Jennifer Griffin, to tell stories about their lives as mothers.
Among the book’s other accounts is the story of young mother Allison Deanda, who’s raising three kids while staring down the prospect of hereditary cancers, and 92-year-old Emily Barron Smith, who knits “Joy Shawls” to comfort others in pain.
“There are many stories similar to mine, but I just wrote it down and I’m hoping that people can take a look at it and know that even if things feel overwhelming, even if it seems like the odds are stacked against you, all you have to really lean on is your faith, family and friends,” Dr. Saphier said.
“There is a way. Maybe it’s not the straightest path, maybe it’s not the easiest path. But if you [want] something, you’re going to get there, but you’re going to have to lean on those three things along the way,” she said.
Pregnant at 17, she was shunned by her church but maintained her faith. As a single mom, she graduated from high school in Gilbert, Arizona, and went on to earn degrees in college and medical school.
As a radiology resident at Maricopa Integrated Health Systems in Arizona, she met and married brain surgeon Paul Saphier. They had two boys, and she said her first son, Nicholas, was an uneasy stepchild at first but ultimately relished his role as the “big brother.”
Dr. Saphier said the rejection she initially endured as an unwed teen mother “didn’t just hurt my feelings. I was devastated. I was already feeling very lonely, very confused, scared — a lot of emotions and being cut off from something that I had felt such a strong bond to; it really, really hurt and certainly put me kind of more into a downward spiral of a bit of a depression.”
But instead of “deconstructing” her faith or turning away from belief entirely, she tenaciously held on to a rainbow-colored Bible her mother had given her, and dug in.
“I clung to that teen Bible at that time, even more strongly finding myself just looking through passages for any sort of strength, anything that I could pull strength from, and I did,” Dr. Saphier said. “The whole book is highlighted, and it’s color-coded. And I have little tabs on the side just for quick reference because at that time I was at, by the hour I was having different emotions and I just needed a quick inspiration, I knew where I could go.”
Dr. Saphier said she hopes readers will see themselves or a loved one in the book’s narratives, including her own.
Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated the location of Dr. Saphier‘s high school.
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