Although we've been blessed with two wonderful children, that does not change the fact that we've dealt with (and will most likely continue to deal with) infertility for most of our married life.
Infertility is a real medical condition. It effects a couple physically, emotionally, and spiritually. There are rarely any quick and easy fixes for infertility. And even if you are one of the lucky ones who are able to get pregnant and even have a successful pregnancy, infertility doesn't go away. It's still there. So while I may be sitting next to the most beautiful baby girl in the entire world (what? it's true! hehe), I still vividly remember the longing for another child. Why so vividly? Because it's already returned! And we already know it will be an uphill battle to expand our family any further.
If you know anyone who is suffering from infertility, please choose your words carefully. It's a fine balance between saying enough about your life to remain involved with your friend and saying too much. You know your friend better than I do. Be sensitive, but more importantly - be as informed as you can. And, for the love of all things, don't say anything as stupid as - "Just relax," "Take a vacation," or "why don't you 'just' adopt." Please. Be smarter than that.
You can learn more about infertility here.
And be grateful for any little terrors you have running around.
Oh - and here is a bonus picture for listening to me yammer:
3 comments:
The picture was well worth the yammering.
OK...I will try to enjoy my terrors.
Thanks for the reminder. I didn't realize it was this week!
It's interesting because even though I have kiddos now, I still feel like I am a part of the infertility community and I always will be. I don't mean that as a downer, just that it's something we went through and will continue to go through and having kids doesn't automatically make the pain of trying to conceive go away. I thought that once I had my own I wouldn't be sad when I heard about my sisters' pregnancies...it's still hard.
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