At night, the thoughts arrive uninvited: “My five-year-old is going to run into the street.” “My sixteen-year-old will be pushed in front of a subway train.” “I am not the parent my children need." These aren’t fleeting worries—they are persistent mental loops that keep me awake. I’ve been through early parenting before, but this time, the anxiety feels different. Sharper. Heavier.

What I didn’t realize, at least not right away, was that this season of heightened parenting stress wasn’t just about my kids. It was also about me, and more specifically, my body entering perimenopause.

Perimenopause, the years-long transition leading up to menopause, often begins in a woman’s 40s and brings with it major hormonal shifts that affect nearly every system in the body. While the cessation of menstruation may seem like the defining feature, researchers now understand that estrogen plays a critical role in mood regulation, sleep, cognition, and even identity (Mosconi et al., 2021). This is........

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