The Charity

‘Where is all started…’

When Zoe and Andy Clark-Coates suffered the loss of 5 babies, they knew that they needed to help others who went through the same trauma and grief associated with baby loss, and so launched the organization ‘Saying Goodbye’ in the UK in August 2012.

They had personally experienced the stats that 1 in 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage with more lost through stillbirth, neonatal and in early years, so the scale of the problem was easy to see. They saw that the US sees over 1,000,000 lost through miscarriage & that globally an estimated 30,000,000 babies are lost through miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal loss and in infancy each year.

In March 2013, Zoe and Andy officially created the UK charity the Mariposa Trust and ‘Saying Goodbye’ became its primary division. Since the organizations launch, it has expanded exponentially, and the charity has systematically developed new divisions and services to provide support that reaches over 50,000 people each week. This has in turn led to expansion into North America & globally.

In 2018 Zoe Clark-Coates MBE was invites to co-chair and author the government’s ‘Pregnancy Loss Review’, which over 6-years recommended 73 ground-breaking changes that needed to be made to clinical and support practices nationally. These were all accepted by the UK government and are being implemented, including the ‘Certificates of Loss’ which are now available to millions of bereaved parents in England.

In late 2024, the charity rebranded to ‘Mariposa International’ to align with its global name. It also launched the Global Baby Loss Alliance, bringing together NGOs, Nonprofits, Experts, and Governments to improve clinical care and support for the bereaved. The charity has six key divisions which are:

• Saying Goodbye – Support for anyone who has suffered baby loss
• GrowingYou – Pregnancy support for people who have suffered baby loss
• Waiting For You – Support for people who have chosen to go through the adoption process
• Holding Hope – Support for people going through fertility treatment
• Love in Every Tear – Supporting those, who are supporting others through loss
• So Cherished – Support for those who’s babies have received a genetic or terminal diagnosis

The charity’s work is focused on care and support, and all donations and fundraising activities, from skydives and races to summer garden parties and bake sales, are to facilitate the rolling out of the organizations mission in the US and globally.