maybe it's in the water

So apparently Nicole Kidman is gushing to celebrity magazines that she "fell pregnant" after swimming in some magical Australian fertility waters.

This would have been good to know before undergoing a relatively minor but nonetheless not-exactly-painless surgery last week. Hmmm...general anesthesia, or trip to the Outback? Door number two, please.

Part of me says this is a harmless story about a woman who is delighted to be a mother, and who has a relatively unscientific but sweetly innocent theory on her pregnancy.

And another part of me says this is yet another deceitful attempt to hide something which no one needs to be ashamed of, but which seems like something shameful precisely because you are unwilling to acknowledge it. How do all these 41-year old Hollywood moms get pregnant so easily? How is it that they so often have twins? I guess it runs in the family.

I know they have every right to privacy. They don't have to talk about their sex lives, or their fertility, to a magazine any more than I have to reveal that same sort of information to my congregation.

But you know, just for once, I would love to read about a famous woman who tried for years to have kids, went through treatments, was frustrated and sad and scared and tired, and says flat out, "this fucking sucks, and it's not fair, and I have all the money in the world to deal with it, and it still fucking sucks."

Not, "Oh, I went swimming in the magical Australian waters of fertility, and I fell pregnant at age 41. Imagine!"

On the other hand, I wouldn't mind a trip to Australia.