Born From My Heart

Myth: As soon as you adopt, you’ll get pregnant. Resolve  is an amazing organization sponsoring National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW) to shine the light on this devastating disease.  As their website states: RESOLVE’s goal is to increase the conversation about infertility and to inform the public that: *Infertility is a disease that affects 1 in 8 couples of reproductive age *There are many ways to build a family  *Help reduce the stigma by bringing attention to the details/issues/costs surrounding all ways people diagnosed with infertility can build a family. *Understand when to seek the help of a specialist One big way this can be done is to tackle some of the myths associated with Infertility.  I remember all too well how frustrating it was to try to explain to the people in my life what I was going through while actively trying to get pregnant.  Virtually everything others tried to say to help ended up being hurtful and aggravating and only ...

As much as I love animals and support their humane treatment, I've never been a fan of the organizations that are more talk, pomp and circumstance than they are direct help for animals (PETA, Humane Society of the United States - NOT to be confused with individual local humane societies with actual shelters, etc.). I've often shaken my head at the tactics, antics and cultish behavior I've seen from such organizations. Well PETA has managed to touch a nerve with me and I had to speak up about it. Their latest campaign is Win A Vasectomy where " In honor of National Infertility Awareness Week (April 24 to 30), PETA will give one free vasectomy to a man who has recently had his companion cat or dog neutered."  A voluntary vasectomy for a man I have no issue with.  The neuter of a companion cat or dog is awesome.  It is the "In honor of National Infertility Awareness Week" that ticks me off. PETA says, "Human overpopulation is crowding out animal lif...

It just flat out does.  No matter if or how you become a mommy, you always feel the weight of being "broken".  A web board friend who I watched go through many a heartwrenching cycle and various treatments is about to deliver her first baby (YAYYYYYYYY!).  I follow her blog for updates and was very touched by one of her many posts on infertility.  She says it perfectly - the shadow of IF.  It sucks!  Thanks Lucy for writing this awesome post !  And I can't wait to see pictures of Little E after his safe arrival!  Congrats!!!!

I have shared the following items with several close friends and family and thought I'd put them up on the blog for other folks to see. Innocent comments and genuine showings of support can become more hurtful than helpful at times so it's nice to be able to put a little perspective into things. I've never felt as though anyone said hurtful things on purpose because I do understand that most things in life just aren't fully comprehensable unless you've been there and done that. So, to give a little peek into things infertile couples hear often that just aren't helpful, here is a compilation of things gleaned from the internet. Comments Infertile Couples Hate to Hear Guess who's pregnant--again! It will happen when you're ready. So-and-so prayed, and they got pregnant right away. You're being too sensitive, or, Maybe you're not meant to have children, or, Just accept it and go on, or, Stop crying, or, We all have problems. Do you want me to giv...

My name is Dawn and I have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). PCOS is an endocrine disorder that affects many aspects of my body. Among them are insulin resistance (which can lead to diabetes), dark, coarse hair in places it does not belong, difficulty losing any amount of excess weight, irritable bowel syndrome, hormonal imbalances and lack of ovulation. I've had this disorder all my life and have been able to deal with most of the symptoms without allowing any of them to take over my life. Until now. I always knew that getting pregnant would be a challenge for me however I never realized just how much of a challenge it would turn out to be. My husband and I began dating in January of 2000. After we fell in love, we stopped using any form of birth control in the hopes that things might happen without medical intervention. We were married in January of 2006 and in March started seeing a Reproductive Endocrinologist (RE) to help us have our baby. We went through many, many tests ...