Friday, April 26, 2013

Supporting a couple with infertility #NIAW

Before my husband and I joined the 1 in 8 couples in the US with infertility, I don't think that I would have thought much about how to support a friend or family member with infertility.  Not to mention that society's infertility taboo can make these conversations difficult for everyone involved.

Hopefully these resources will make them easier:

I'll start off with RESOLVE.org's great advice: http://www.resolve.org/support-and-services/for-family--friends/infertility-etiquette.html

RESOLVE New England expands on a few of those ideas: http://www.resolvenewengland.org/2013/04/how-to-support-a-friend-or-family-member-with-infertility/

The "I'm Not a Fertile Myrtle" blog gives a more personal spin: http://imnotafertilemyrtle.wordpress.com/2009/04/03/the-dos-and-donts-of-supporting-someone-going-through-infertility-treatment/

This about.com page provides excellent perspective about how to talk about your pregnancy/baby with an infertile friend: http://infertility.about.com/od/familyandfriends/a/10-Things-To-Stop-Doing-If-You-Want-To-Support-Someone-With-Infertility.htm

Scroll halfway down this page from Band Back Together to read "How to Help a Friend with Infertility:" http://bandbacktogether.com/how-to-help-a-friend-with-infertility/.  I really like how this section emphasizes listening to and validating the infertile friend's story.

It is my sincere hope that these "infertility etiquette" resources will help break down the barriers among friends and family that often accompany an infertility diagnosis.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks a lot for this valuable information, I truly appreciate it.

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  2. Your research on supporting the infertile couple is really good and give some hope to the people. Because, in many cases, people are going under more stress while any failure happens in their fertility treatments.

    best IVF centre in hyderabad

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