Last Saturday I was sitting in a large auditorium at Stanford University. The occasion was the closing session of my son’s Admit Weekend, where prospective freshman learned about what a Stanford education might mean to them. I held my wife’s hand as we contemplated the opportunity our child would have. It was a special moment.

The speaker was an alumnus who was very successful in the technology industry. At the end of his inspirational talk, he was asked if there was a motto or a saying that was particularly significant to him.

He told of a business trip he took to Europe. During some free time he visited a magnificent renaissance palace in Burges, Belgium, that has been well preserved. It was built by Lodewijk van Gruuthuse (Loys of Gruuthuse), ca. 1422-1492, an influential courtier of the court of the dukes of Burgundy. He had inscribed above the entrance to the palace the following motto: “Plus est en vous.” Literally the motto means, There is more in you.

There is a lot on the web about this – inspirational stories and blogs about how this motto can help you to hang on and try harder. I have thought a lot about this idea since then and the special meaning it had that day. I thought about our personal struggle to have and then raise a family. It was a long journey and it felt good to be sitting there that day.

What Mother’s Day means to fertility patients

What does this have to do with Mother’s Day? I guess the word “more.” Mothers know a lot about the word “more.” It seems like they are always expected to have it. To have more. To give more. To care more. To feel more. To love more. Motherhood is the epitome of “MORE.”

It also means a lot for the patients I see every day. All are hoping that there is more in them: their first child, one more child. Their quest however, often leaves them feeling that there is less, not more. Less hope. Less courage. Less strength.

We just posted a testimonial on our website from a couple that came through our program. I encourage you to watch it below. At the end of the video she sums up the “more” for my patients. She says, “Be strong.”

That is the “more” that is in you.

You are strong enough to do this. You are strong enough for the journey. You are strong enough to face whatever the journey will bring you.

You are in my office because you want to nurture a child. No matter how it happens, you want to take that long journey that will one day have you sitting in a large auditorium somewhere next to your child ready to send him or her off into the big world, knowing that child of yours is strong enough. That there is more in him.

This will happen because you are strong enough – because there is more in you.