The Other Miraculous Pregnancy of Advent

As a historian who has spent a career studying pregnancy and birth, I always look forward to Advent. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, the scripture passages read aloud in Christian churches feature not just one, but two stories of miraculous pregnancies that end in safe and happy births. The more famous, of course, is the story of Mary’s pregnancy with Jesus.

After having spent 15 years writing a book about miscarriage, though, it is Elizabeth’s story I find most poignant…

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