Why Is Infertility So Hard to Talk About?

In honor of Infertility Awareness Week – April 22 to 28 — we polled Sharecare’s Facebook friends to see what they thought was the most common cause of infertility. As you can see, the votes were mixed:

• Low sperm count: 0 percent
• Not having sex at the right time 0 percent
• Blocked fallopian tubes: 10 percent
• Irregular ovulation: 20 percent
• Some combination of the above: 70 percent

When it comes to infertility, the experts are divided, too (just read through these answers from Dr. Oz and others). But if you’ve suffered through months or even years of trying to conceive, you know that stats and numbers don’t really matter. What does matter is finding ways to cope with what can be an intensely painful, personal problem. Here’s what Daily Strength’s infertility advocate Lee Trask has to say:

“Part of the difficulty in dealing with infertility is the lack of awareness in the general public. I am sure you have already experienced some of the isolation that comes with infertility: It’s difficult to talk to your fertile friends or your family about how difficult it is to get your period month after month after month. It is a condition that drains you emotionally, physically and financially, and it is made all the more difficult because it is not a mainstream medical condition. If you were to tell your friends and family that (heaven forbid) you had cancer, you would get an outpouring of support and endless offers of shoulders to lean on. That is not the way infertility is viewed, yet research shows dealing with infertility is as stressful as dealing with cancer.”

So, how can we change this perception? Trask encourages everyone to check out RESOLVE, the country’s largest infertility association, for ways to raise awareness — both locally and nationally. You can also join Daily Strength’s infertility group to gain support from its 2,000+ members. And you can visit Your Infertility Headquarters to learn the latest on reproduction research.

Got more ideas on how to raise infertility awareness? Share them in the comment section below.

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