Going public

This week is National Infertility Awareness Week and I've been trying to figure out how to support the cause and take some sort of action, because infertility is, quite frankly a serious pain in the ass (figuratively in all the time and monetary aspects and literally considering the giant butt bruises that I have from the shots).   What I realized is that a few weeks ago at my fertility yoga class, we were ranting about how all these celebrities that are obviously having fertility treatments to start off their families at the age of 40 and raking in the twins don't ever speak up. As much as I wish they didn't need to, there is a little power in being a celebrity that means that they can get people to listen. The problem is that for them $15,000 treatments are a drop in the bucket, so it doesn't seem like an issue that needs to be spoken for, it's just something you do when you want to have a family and your eggs are melting away before your eyes. The part I realized when I was thinking about what I could do is why should it be them that speak up when I don't even tell some of the people that I'm closest to.

So I've decided I'm going public with our struggle, well at least a little public, I'm going to share the link to this blog with the majority of my e-mail list and encourage them and you to pass it on. Those of your who are friends or followers feel free to share my story because: 

• Inferility affects 7.3 million people in the U.S. (1 in 8 couples or 12% of the women of childbearing age) (2002 National Survey of Family Growth)
• Only 15 States have passed laws to require insurance companies to cover at least some level of fertility treatments, Minnesota is not one of them. 
• Offering a comprehensive infertility treatment benefit with appropriate utilization controls may actually reduce costs and improve outcomes by eliminating the inappropriate use of costly covered procedures and allowing specialists to use the most effective, efficient treatment for a specific type of infertility. (Infertility As A Covered Benefit, William M. Mercer, 1997

The only thing that I ask if you pass this on is that you don't link straight to it on Facebook, please share via e-mail. So that's what I mean by going 'a little' public, I'll see when we feel ready to share with the facebook world, but for now I'm going to take action by spreading my story in a slightly less in your face manner. For  further facts about infertility go  to http://www.resolve.org/about/fast-facts-about-fertility.html and for my last side note, you will notice that until today I have also spoken of "fertility challenges" rather than "infertility" and this will be the one and only post that you see me use the "i" word in simply because that's what the special week is called.