The Self article, "Breaking the Silence on Infertility" by Jennifer Wolff Perinne gave me the push that I needed to start this blog. Please take a few minutes to read this article.
I have experienced infertility for over 5 years. There is a certain guilt associated with infertility. Women seem to find refuge in sharing information anonymously in forums and blogs (like this) but can't share their experience with their closest family and friends. I do understand...
I felt like I needed to get support from my family and friends and when I tried to explain the frustrations of treatment and my progress or lack of progress the conversation turned into an advanced science lesson about reproduction... what is a follicle, why does it matter that your estrogen wasn't increasing the way it should, etc. I ended up feeling like I was providing the support and spending so much time just explaining. This was NOT what I needed!
For the first few years I didn't talk to the women that were sitting next to me in the waiting rooms even though they were going through exactly what I was. After awhile I started to meet the women that I was sitting next to and across from. I started to form a support system with these women. We encouraged each other, we spoke the same language and we shared information. How can we better support each other in our journey? As tough as it is, we need to create a support system, whatever that may be. We need to take control.
Please share here what worked for you and what did not work for you.
I'm blogging about my experiences at http://thatonebasket.wordpress.com. It helps me to post to it daily, knowing that others could have the info and relate to the experiences. I have a lot of feedback from other women thanking me for my candidness and humor. It's a pretty raw blog, I've been very open about my struggles in it. Please stop by if you want, but know that blogging has helped me - I'm sure more than the women who have subscribed to it. Thank you for yours. I love the topic and think you're right on about it.
ReplyDeleteI second that. In fact, I went through the IVF cycles without telling even my closest friends. When I eventually opened up to one of my best friends, I have the impression that she didn't know how to react or what to say.
ReplyDeleteI think it's quite sad that we can't share it with the friends that we grew up with.
hey! this article spoke to me as well. here's my post on it: http://asfastasmybabycan.blogspot.com/2010/07/article-moved-me-to-come-out.html
ReplyDeleteit was so moving that i posted this on my facebook page as well and 'came out' if you will. i haven't had time to read through all of your pages, but were are you at in your journey?