World Infertility Awareness Month & You
Refleecting on the story of heartache that colors your world during this & every month
It’s hard to talk about infertility. It’s even harder to pretend that this invisible monster that’s permeating every facet of your life isn’t looming in every conversation and emotion. World Infertility Month is a global opportunity to share your experiences, find new resources and begin on a journey of healing no matter where you are in your infertility story. While we offer infertility counseling at LunaJoy to our community in CA, FL, GA, NC, NY, AK, IL, and NJ, there is so much more we can unpack here about the impact of infertility on individuals and families.
We want to take time this month to acknowledge those unique experiences and emotions. In the best of times, it’s important that you feel seen for your struggles, fears and triumphs along this path. Now isn’t the best of times though, particularly as national discourse is also clouding the future of infertility treatment in broader conversations, which may be making this infertility awareness month a particularly raw one.
Before you dive in, remember that our professionals are always here to help
Why is infertility so emotional?
For anyone who has experienced the emotional rollercoaster of infertility, you’ll know just how many detours and depths you’ll find along the way. It’s not just the longing for a baby that you’re fighting to bring into your world; there is so much more.
Infertility is emotional because it re-colors the experiences you have now, as well as the past and future. Every experience related to who and what you wanted to be when you grew up, to the relationships you dreamt of building, are all changed by the experience of infertility.
Your relationships, finances and planning for the future are all impacted by infertility. Time is of the essence and the weight of the world feels suddenly attached to numbers during infertility: risk, success, bills, costs, storage, medication, fertility cycles and appointments are all tied to the ever-ticking clock. You’re no stranger to this, so it’s not news, yet even seeing that list likely ticks your pulse up as you see the weight of your world in black and white.
Infertility is emotional because it’s everything, nothing and everywhere at once. There are no boundaries in your world that can protect you from its impact, pain or your own powerlessness within it. While infertility counseling can take the edge off, the complexity of your infertility story is uniquely yours and ever changing.
You’re not alone, but infertility feels isolating
Every infertility journey is unique. For those on the same journey, your experiences and perceptions of it will be different. Despite being a part of this shared club that no one willfully entered, you still feel crushingly alone. There are so many places where the pain of infertility is shared and, when you need a bit of hope, it may feel overwhelming to wade through those painful experiences to find something that helps you hold on to your strength.
Even in that, you feel guilty that you’re frustrated by the honesty others show in sharing their stories. The duality of it all on top of the unique stressors of infertility in your life, and the feelings that it brings up, can create a sense of isolation that you’re both sharing this hell with others yet entirely alone.
We want to take a moment here and now to share with you that isolating your experience does not disconnect you from your broader community. Even if your stories aren’t the same, there is so much to be found in connecting with other women and parents who have been on this journey. No matter where they are, or where you are, you can be alone in your story amid a community who has done the same.
Ribbons, colors, and maybes: how we share our stories
The internet has expanded the availability of making the kinds of connections we all long for when we feel like there is nothing about our lives that others understand. The digital connectivity has created infertility communities for every family, across so many spectrums of need an experience.
Beneath the banner of a shared infertility experience, the awareness has begun to grow as well. In addition to National Infertility Awareness Week in April, World Infertility Awareness month in June (that’s now!) gives the entire month, around the entire world, to infertility awareness. Our colors (officially orange, but often also represented by pink and blue associated with miscarriage and infant loss), the ribbons we use and the stories we share are all parts of the tapestry of collective experience that creates space for other families alongside our stories.
While no one can guarantee that your infertility story will have the ending you, or that you’ll ever shake the shadows of the stops along the way, we can promise that with LunaJoy, there will always be a soft place to retreat for infertility support within the community and without judgment.
