Infertility Awareness Week: Live News Interview

National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW) happens every April and is sponsored by Resolve (resolve.org)

For women who have gone through or are currently going through infertility, I know it can seem like having only a week to recognize the struggle of infertility is miniscule. 

I spent years struggling with infertility. My clients are still in the thick of the battle. No matter where you are on your infertility journey, it is an experience and a title you carry with you forever.

While those of us who have dealt with this have felt like our lives were defined by it, we all have a different level of comfort about sharing that part of us. Some people get inspired by this dedicated time to share their story while others choose to sit back and listen. No matter your comfort level, when others find the courage to stop hiding and open up on what they’ve been through, it can always make a difference. Whether that’s by hearing someone else’s story to inspire another, or understanding that it does impact someone like you, or sharing it publicly in hopes to change legislation about infertility coverage or research funding, you get to decide what works best for you. And when someone shares their story, one less woman realizes that she’s not going through this alone.

Because we can all support each other simply by sharing our stories. 

In honor of National Infertility Awareness Week, I was invited back on Soda City Live, the lifestyle TV show by the Columbia, SC NBC station, WISTV. This was my second time chatting with anchor, Hannah Cumler, and this time we were happy to have Dr. Lisa Green, an Infertility Doctor from Prisma Health’s Fertility Center of the Carolinas join us as well. 

I spoke about the biggest challenges that infertility brings to your life, and Dr. Green shared a bit about the process on the medical side, like when to seek medical attention and what to expect at the start of the process.

While we didn’t have enough time to talk about additional benefits of National Infertility Awareness Week like increased funding for research, and the advocacy that happens to encourages elected officials to vote in support of family building initiatives, the fact that the news recognized the importance of growing awareness of it is a big step forward.

I wasn’t always comfortable sharing my story so publicly. You might never feel comfortable to share yours on TV. And if you haven’t opened up about it yet, maybe the focused week inspired you to open up to just one more person in your circle. Maybe it will inspire you to get the support you so desperately want (and deserve). Maybe it will make you realize that you don’t need a doctor's referral to see an infertility specialist. Maybe it will help you see that going to a fertility specialist doesn’t automatically mean doing IVF.

I love sharing my story now so that I can impact other women going through infertility to know they are not alone, and that there are resources out there to help them as they navigate this journey. So many women go through infertility in silence. Infertility Awareness Week is a time to break that silence.

Check out the interview Dr Green and I did here: https://www.wistv.com/2022/04/27/soda-city-live-national-infertility-awareness-week/