Brittany Kelley
DRIFTWOOD — After facing infertility for more than a decade, Anh Nguyen decided to turn her “pain into purpose” by opening a cottage bakery and writing a book.
Nguyen explained that her journey began after she was newly married and wanted to start a family. While visiting an obstetrician-gynecologist, she was encouraged to undergo exploratory surgery to determine whether she had endometriosis, which is “a disease in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus. It can cause severe pain in the pelvis and make it harder to get pregnant,” according to the World Health Organization.
“When I went to my first surgery, he said the words, ‘It looked like a bomb went off in your body.’ [It took] multiple surgeries to clean that up,” said Nguyen.
She explained that she endured several more surgeries, where it was discovered that her ovaries were fused together to the fallopian tubes, eliminating her ability to have kids. So, she underwent a full hysterectomy at 38.
“That thrusts women into a lot of things and for me, it was depression,” she said. “I think the extra layer of cultural complexities played a role. I’m Vietnamese and infertility is unheard of in our community and so, not having that emotional support from your loved ones because they don’t understand it fully [was difficult] … The men [also] don’t fully understand the journey women go through, as well, so I couldn’t lean on my husband for that support either.”
After struggling with depression and suicidal ideation, she chose to “turn her pain into purpose” by opening a bakery called Heart of the Batter, with the motto “sweet treats with a sweet purpose.”
“I have been baking for 20 years. So, when I first started, it was just an outlet,” Nguyen said. “I started out doing it for fun, just for family and friends, but it birthed into something more as the years came by and I finished my whole infertility journey. I’m like, ‘There’s a different purpose out there that I need to service. What does that look like?’”
Launched in 2023, Heart of the Batter specializes in cakes, cupcakes, cake shooters, cake pops, mini loaf cakes and — Nguyen’s favorite and best seller — French macarons, all of which use recipes she has perfected throughout the years.
From her sales, she aims to create kindness care packages, which provide a “moment of joy” for children going through hardships.
Nguyen explained that her love for children is what sparked the idea: “I couldn’t have my own, right, and so, just looking at these little human beings and warriors [that] are going through the toughest part of their journey in their life and they might not have long to live. Why not? Why not bring joy to those folks?”
These care packages amount to approximately $250 and include fun items, such as personalized graffiti shoes, toys, grocery gift cards or whatever the child and their family might need.
So far, Nguyen has given out 15 kindness care packages to those nominated to her through friends and family or simply through community members that have shared their stories.
Additionally, she noticed that while she was on her journey, that infertility and depression were taboo subjects for people. So, she told herself that if she went through this journey and ended up without children, that she would write a book about.
“It’s not just infertility, it’s depression, it’s suicide, it’s trauma and being able to draw inspiration and learn from them has really [taught] myself to love myself and to honor myself and my journey,” the author shared.
"Wings Unfolded: Emerging from Infertility to Flourishing” was released in April and details Nguyen’s story along with inspiring letters to the reader at the end of each chapter, which include words that she wishes someone would have told her when she was going through infertility.
“I’m sharing my testimony to help someone free themselves from their own prison,” Nguyen emphasized. “I use the metaphor of a butterfly because that is in my book — transformation goes through you. So, everyone goes through that. It’s just on their own timing. It’s their own journey and they need to own that because everyone has a unique path.”
Ten percent of the proceeds from her book also go toward the kindness care packages, she said.
More information about Heart of the Batter can be found at heartofthebatterll.wixsite.com/hotbllc. Nguyen’s book can be purchased on Amazon at bit.ly/4mVSEft.
