Infertility Support Groups: Taking that “First Step”
Submitted by I Am More Than My Infertility Blog
Emma had been planning for weeks to attend a local fertility support group meeting. But every time the regularly scheduled Wednesday night meeting came up on her calendar, she found a reason not to go. Finally she realized that there was more than just last-minute scheduling conflicts that were holding her back. Going to the meeting, she realized, felt like an admission of failure. She felt like she was “coming out of the closet,” acknowledging her infertility for everyone to see.
Not everyone has difficulty becoming involved in infertility support group meetings. For some, this setting may immediately feel like a port in the storm, a safe place to meet like-minded others. But if you find that this is not the case for you, that your first steps are hesitant or even guarded, know that you’re not alone. It can takes a lot of courage to admit that you are struggling with anything, especially fertility issues. One way to ease your entry is to reach out to a close friend or your partner, and ask them to accompany you to your first infertility group. Another idea is to seek out an evening when a group topic is of interest to you, so that this seeking of information can be your focus.
However it is that you get there, just remember that the results are well worth it. As Emma soon discovered, “I felt as if I was finally with women who really understood what I was going through.”
Marina Lombardo
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February 11th, 2009 at 5:57 am
Such programs can educate and help the infertile and people should not feel shy of attending them. The results will be worth it.
-Martin