Infertility grief: influencer narratives and user perceptions of a disenfranchised loss on TikTok

This article examines how infertility grief, a disenfranchised or less recognised form of loss, is articulated on TikTok through a case study of an influencer account called @uniquely_knitted. Drawing on qualitative content analysis, it investigates how digital narratives of reproductive loss are shaped through the structures of platformed influencer culture. The analysis shows how infertility grief becomes organised around shared practices of hope, also simultaneously revealing the gendered expectations that structure whose suffering is made visible. It considers how experiences of reproductive loss destabilise identity, positioning the grief as emotional pain and a disruption of anticipated futures and social belonging. As personal testimonies circulate within and through TikTok influencer economies, the article highlights a complex intersection in which community-building, commercialisation facilities, and culturally embedded norms of reproduction collectively shape how infertility grief is given meaning online.