Classification Sucks.......

So... with Easter coming up I have just received an email entitled 'How to survive family occasions as an infertile.'

This has gotten me thinking... Do we now belong to a whole new category of 'sub-humans' because we have fertility issues...???

In the last year, I have become more and more aware of a very supportive community of people, who are struggling with getting pregnant or staying pregnant, most of these people admit to having such problems only in an online capacity. (I think the statistic is one couple in every eight) We have recently found out that some close friends of ours had been going through IVF for years and they never told anyone. I suppose I struggle with the thought of it being such a taboo subject, I just don't understand why it is.

I've recently been made aware of a comparision that has been made between how 'fertile' people view infertility in relation to other illnesses....

I dont know how many times over the past 5 years it has been said to me to 'just relax, take it easy', 'don't be worrying about it, no stress'...etc...

The point being made by the comparison was that... those things would not be said to someone who was suffering from a different kind of illness/disease. Someone who was suffering with cancer would not be told not to be worrying about it, someone with diabetes isnt told to just forget about it and someone suffering from athsma definitely isnt told to just get on with their lives.

Why then, are people suffering with fertility issues told these things every day...?????

I'll tell you why... because it just isnt recognised as a 'real' dis-ease, and certainly not in this country. In the UK, people with fertility issues are entitled to up to three cycles of IVF on the NHS... whereas here... I cant even claim back on my health insurance for any of my GP/Consultant visits if they are IVF related. My Health Insurance Company claims to refund half the cost of alternative medicines like acupuncture..... eh... yeah... except if it is 'fertility acupuncture...!!!

It just makes me so mad... if I had cancer, diabetes or athsma I'd be given professional help and support, but because I am an 'infertile'... I'm told to just forget about it and get on with my life...!!!

Yes, I have fertility issues but I most certainly am not an 'infertile', I refuse to be considered less of a human because of this.

I know there are hundreds of people with fertility issues who read this blog... the question you need to ask yourself is

'Am I a person who has some fertility issues, or am I am 'infertile'?'