A last gift for your Mother

With Mothering Sunday approaching, it truly is a beautiful moment to pause and honour our Mothers — however that looks for you. That may be your birth mother, a cherished mother-figure, or even Gaia — our Mother Earth herself.

It feels no coincidence that Mothering Sunday falls in spring, when the earth is awakening. Just as seeds begin to stir beneath the soil, Gaia nurtures new life from her protective, patient womb. The season mirrors motherhood in its quiet strength, endurance, and renewal.

No matter what your relationship with your mother is like, this time of year can still hold meaning. For some, it’s a joyful celebration. For others, it may be complicated, tender, or even painful. Gratitude can be simple — even if it’s only for the gift of life itself. Your mother carried you, nourished you, and allowed her body to change forever so you could arrive here.

And yet, it’s equally important to remember: shared blood does not automatically require lifelong loyalty. Love and respect are nurtured through care, safety, and reciprocity. We are also allowed to choose family — the friends and companions who show up ethically, lovingly, and consistently. They deserve celebration too.

One of the most fascinating aspects of motherhood is a biological phenomenon known as Fetal Microchimerism (FMC). During pregnancy, cells from the baby pass through the placenta into the mother’s bloodstream. These cells can settle in tissues such as the breast, thyroid, skin, and even the brain — and remarkably, they can remain for decades, sometimes up to 38 years or more.

Researchers believe these cells may play complex roles in the mother’s body. They have been found at sites of injury, suggesting they may assist with tissue repair. Some studies propose they could influence immune regulation, and they may even contribute to detecting abnormal or cancerous cells — though science is still exploring exactly how and why this happens. Pregnancy can also temporarily improve certain autoimmune conditions, possibly due to immune system shifts during gestation.

In a poetic sense, it means a child leaves a lasting imprint — a quiet biological echo — within their mother. Even before birth, there is a profound exchange.

What many find especially moving is that fetal cells can also persist after miscarriage. For some, this brings comfort — the idea that those tiny cells may remain as a physical reminder of a brief but meaningful connection.

If your mother has passed, you may honour her in your own sacred ways: visiting her favourite place, filling your home with flowers she loved, cooking her recipes, or simply speaking to her in quiet moments. However you remember her, love has a way of continuing its presence.

And if you share a loving bond with your birth mother — as I’m grateful to — you may already have given her a lifelong gift without realising it. Through the extraordinary exchange that happens in early pregnancy, part of you may still reside within her, woven into her very tissues.

Motherhood, in all its forms, is layered, biological, emotional, spiritual, and deeply human.

However you choose to mark Mothering Sunday — with celebration, reflection, boundaries, remembrance, or gratitude — may it feel authentic to you.