It’s National Infertility Awareness Week!
Here is the website with more info about NIAW– resources to share, hashtags to follow, colors to wear (orange on Wednesday!)
Zero of my friends trying to get pregnant want to hear from me, someone who was “devastated” for the three cycles it took to conceive. While those feelings were real, I can look back now that my tears were shed over my lack of control/ things not happening on my exact timeline vs. the truly gut-wrenching, soul-searching “why can’t my body do what it’s ‘supposed‘ to do” rollercoaster of feelings over infertility. So instead, I’ll be following the hashtag #WhatIWantYouToKnow and learning from people so I can be a better support to my many friends who are 1 in 8.
Every time someone “comes out” with their infertility story, my husband and I wonder, “why didn’t they say anything?” But we’re naive, and we have no idea what they’ve been through, and maybe we’re not great listeners. We know so many people who have conceived via IVF, people who had adopted after failed IVF cycles, and people who have been trying to conceive for years but fertility treatments are expensive. There’s a whole lot to be said about intersectionality and privilege and non-hetero couples, but I am 0% qualified to speak on any of that. So go read and learn and listen to people who are different than you!
Shameless plug for my cousin’s Instagram— their first was conceived via IVF in 2018, and they’re currently publicly sharing their journey for a second. Oversharing must be in our shared DNA 🙂
Things I Wish I Knew 