1 in 8: Fighting Our Way Through Infertility

05/14/2023

Mother’s Day is one of the hardest days when you are struggling with infertility. Think of all you, especially today.

Check out “A Mother’s Day Letter To My Infertility Sisters”

https://pregnantish.com/mothers-day-letter-infertility-sisters/

05/14/2023

Happy Mother’s Day to all the women out there who don’t have a child to hold in their arms. Today is your day as well because you are already a mom. You have a heart and soul of a mommy and you are enduring more then anyone will ever know and understand. 💗

12/19/2022

Telling someone who has lived or is living through a worst case scenario not to worry, will never help them feel safer. In fact, it only does the opposite. When someone is working through trauma they live in minute by minute safety increments. They reach one milestone and it feels safe momentarily, then they instantly go to the next. They will obsess about small details and worry about what if. The way to help is to validate the fear and talk about it. To walk them through it. Sit with them emotionally and help them carry the anxiety of it. Don’t make them feel ‘irrational‘ or ever second guess what they are feeling.

12/15/2022

How do I stop grieving infertility? While grief is not linear, support is critical. Vivian Nunez shares the difficult realities of infertility grief.

12/01/2022

Holidays are so hard when you are struggling to grow your family. Don’t be afraid to reach out to someone you know who could use some of your positive support. 🧡

How To Support Someone Struggling With Infertility During The Holidays 🌈🧡

1. Let them know you care. Ask how you can best support them during this time and offer to be an ear
to listen so they can vent and feel validated.

2. Don’t minimize their struggle or diagnosis. Infertility is not the same as a reproductively healthy couple taking longer than expected to conceive. Minimizing statements include:

“You just need to relax, you’ll get pregnant in no time.”

“You’re so young, you have plenty of time.”

“Are you sure you’re going it right?”

“You must be too stressed.”

3. Never offer unsolicited advice. If you’ve never struggled with infertility or are not their fertility
specialist, please never offer unsolicited advice. Again, struggling with infertility isn’t the same as a reproductively healthy couple trying to conceive.

4. Don’t complain about your children or pregnancies around someone you know who is struggling with infertility or life after pregnancy loss. Of course, your feelings are valid and you may need someone to vent to, but someone who is struggling with infertility is not that person.

5. Always ask if they are up for talking about their journey before asking questions and wanting to know more details. While they may be open about their journey, sometimes they are not always in the mood to talk about it.

6. Understand their decisions. No two fertility journeys are the same. Trust that they are choosing to do
what is best for their family. This can also be applied to their decisions on attending holiday gatherings or family events. Understand that they are making the right decision for their mental health.

7. Check in on your friends and family struggling with infertility and ask how you can best support them.
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10/05/2022

34 years ago on October 15, 1988, President Ronald Reagan declared October to be recognized as Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Month.

On that day he said: “When a child loses his parent, they are called an orphan. When a spouse loses her or his partner, they are called a widow or widower. When parents lose their child, there isn't a word to describe them." This month recognizes the loss so many parents experience across the United States and around the world. It is also meant to inform and provide resources for parents who have lost children due to , ectopic pregnancy, molar pregnancy, stillbirths, birth defects, , and other causes.

We know the loss you've experienced isn't just recognized during one month. However, it is an opportunity to join together as a community to break the silence and stigma of pregnancy and infant loss. For so many of you who have loved and lost, we see you. 🧡

09/22/2022

Yep, that pretty much sums it up.

People with infertility are beyond exhausted.
Mentally.
Emotionally.
Physically.
Financially.
Spiritually.
That’s it. That’s the whole awareness message.
Exhausted.

05/07/2022

If you have a friend who is a mom in the waiting or is a mom with empty arms, reach out to her. Let her know she is in your thoughts and that she is not forgotten.

Mother’s Day and infertility is a hard one. Yes, it may be one day but, when you live every day longing to grow your family and have a child of your own this day only amplifies your hurt and longing.

Mother's Day when navigating infertility and TTC

05/02/2022

05/02/2022

To all of you, I see you. 💞

04/30/2022

Day 5



Two years ago, I started a infertility support group through RESOLVE and it was one of the best things I could have ever done. I am so glad to be in community with other women who know my heart and struggle with infertility. These women still support me in being a first time mother after infertility.

Infertility will always be apart of our story in growing our family. Infertility is still something both my husband and I will struggle with. I will still forever feel the struggle of our infertility before our daughter and I fear the struggle we may face trying to grow our family again.

Yes, infertility does not define you but I do believe it is apart of you. How will you choose to live life with your infertility?

04/28/2022

Day 4

Infertility is heartache and loss.

Experiencing infertility is a repetitive cycle of heartache and loss. However, with hope, you still pray that one day you will have the child you have been praying for. Day in and day out, you live life through the lens of not being able to have children.

You experience heartache by not showing up to friends or family members children’s birthdays, baby showers, vacations, or holidays because there are days you can’t stand the emptiness of the child you long for. You experience loss through every negative pregnancy test, miscarriage, or cycle that isn’t going as planned. You experience loss through dreams not coming to fruition.

The heartache and loss I have experienced caused me to become depressed, angry, broken, and alone. However, through counseling and starting an infertility support group, I have been able to work through these emotions.

04/26/2022

Day 2

I have been blessed with many people who have been willing to share their story with me and I am so thankful for each one of them!!

In my third year of teaching, I was blessed with some good friends who were all willing and open in sharing their stories with me as I began our fertility treatment. Over the years, I have made more connections and friends with those who understand the hardship of infertility. I am so thankful for everyone who I have encountered and supported me along the way.

Thank you for those who have been their in the littles ways and the big! Thank you to our families, friends, co-workers, church families, our doctors office staff, infertility support group, social media friends, and the random people we have met.

I realized the more willing I am to share our story, the more I realize I am not alone.🧡

learn from each other, in our stories, shared experiences, and community of support. Who has helped you learn and grow through infertility? Tag them in the comments below 🧡
https://resolve.org/get-help/

04/25/2022

Day 1

After six years of trying to conceive naturally, through IUI’s, and IVF, which all resulted in negative pregnancy tests or miscarriage, we had the opportunity to adopt two embryos. We never thought of using an egg or s***m donator and we never thought of adopting embryos.

Two years ago, we received a phone call from our fertility doctors office asking if we would be interested in adopting two embryos. After talking to my husband, we called the office the next day and signed the papers to receive the two embabies as if they were our own. We were so blessed to have been chosen by our doctor to receive our embabies. We were/are so blessed that a couple out there wanted to give up their embabies to help grow someone else’s family.

December of 2020, we transferred one of those embabies and were blessed with our rainbow baby Miss Harper Elaine. She is a tue miracle in every essence of the word. We pray that our sweet girl’s embryo sibling will one day be in our arms, when the time is right. 🧡

04/25/2022

It's common for people diagnosed with infertility to experience a range of emotions like stress, anxiety, sadness, and grief – similar to those experiencing other serious diseases, like cancer.

Together, in partnership with First Response Pregnancy®, we’re (re)building our support group communities and helping you (re)gain your emotional strength. When COVID-19 hit in 2020, it had a huge impact on our support groups. Some, not all, began to meet virtually. Today we’re rebuilding our support group program to help continue and grow our reach nationwide.

Learn more about our partnership here ⬇️
www.resolve.org/firstresponse

04/24/2022

Today we officially kick off ! empower change- through our stories, advocacy, awareness, supporting others, and educating the public.

National Infertility Awareness Week®, ( ) is a movement, founded in 1989 by RESOLVE. Its mission is to empower you and change the conversation around infertility. All too often myths and misinformation appear in media stories or influence lawmakers and companies to enforce policies that create barriers for people who need help building their family. And still, people feel isolated when they struggle to build a family, so we want to empower them to share their story and find a community that cares.

When the community comes together and talks about National Infertility Awareness Week®, we will:

🧡 Enhance public understanding that infertility needs and deserves attention.

🧡 Ensure that people trying to build a family know the guidelines for seeing a specialist.

🧡 Educate lawmakers about how infertility impacts people in their state.

Learn more about and how you can get involved here ⬇️
https://bit.ly/3Oo7fz9