Maybe This Will Help With Insight

I follow several blogs of women who are also struggling with infertility. Unfortunately, I did not read one until much later than I should because I found out that there is a Utah Infertility Awareness Conference. How I wish I had known about this early enough so that I could have gone, if nothing else to be able to be around other people who are going through this since often I feel very much alone. (My state soooooooo needs to get some of these resources. Even a support group would be nice.)

Anyway . . . . Lindsey from "The R House" was kind enough to share some of her notes from the conference. Here are my favorite since it helps to so eloquently put what women dealing with infertility go through:

Infertility has as great a psychological impact on women as someone dealing with a life-threatening disease.

"The problem is that infertility affects every aspect of a woman's life. It affects their relationship with their husbands because men and women don't respond to infertility in the same way. It affects their sex life because they're told when they can and can't have intercourse. It affects relationships with friends and family because everyone else seems to be getting pregnant effortlessly. It affects jobs because they have to miss tons of time for doctor's appointments and procedures. It can send them into a spiritual crisis. They feel cruddy because they're going through all these invasive tests and procedures which hurt. And it costs a ton of money."
-Alice Domar, health psychologist, Director of the Mind/Body Program for Infertility at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School

If there is anything I wish that people would get is the psychological as well as the physical effect infertility treatments have on a person. Going through treatments just plain sucks. You feel cruddy all of they time and never mind the stress involved hoping that FINALLY it will all work.

I can't tell you how many meetings, appointments, or outings I have had to cancel or skip out on because frankly I just felt awful. Unfortunately, I have had to deal with some people who do not have any clue so there have been some hurtful things said and done because of my inability to function. Since they get to have children the "normal" way, they truly do not get it. Oh well. It is what it is.

Maybe that is my new calling in life, to educate and perhaps get something together for my state. Who knows? I am still in the grieving period so that is something to consider in the future. Guess we will see.