Last week I sat in the Doctors waiting room with Eska and Lena. I had the usual comment of “Ooh, you’ve got your hands full 🙄” before someone else asked “Do twins run in the family?”. Quite an intrusive question I thought, but also one that suggests they were unaware that many twins born today are a result of fertility treatment. I’m not sure they realised that they were unknowingly asking about their conception! I answered, as I always do, with ‘No, they are here with thanks to fertility treatment – we actually underwent IVF’. With this response, I couldn’t believe how it opened up a conversation – all 9 people waiting for the Dr actually joined in! They became curious about how twins resulted from IVF and I quite enjoyed educating them on the wonders of modern science!
It got me thinking about the opportunities that can arise in an everyday situation where, if we feel comfortable enough, we can start a conversation about infertility and by doing so raise awareness. I never expected that morning to share some of our story with complete strangers but I came away feeling like I had gone some-way towards helping them understand that fertility treatment and IVF is completely normal and so very many of us go through it.
I’m passionate about breaking the taboo around the topic, and to do this we need to start some conversations. As I talk about in my recent blog post (Your right to reply – https://definingmum.com/2019/01/03/vicious-cycle-of-infertility-your-right-to-reply/ ) – not all reactions are bad, curiosity can be great!
I’d love to hear how you have taken unexpected opportunities to speak out and share stories about fertility struggles, no matter where you are in your fertility journey. Or maybe you don’t feel comfortable doing so – which is absolutely fine. In the midst of my struggles I’m not sure I could have coherently spoken out without ending up in floods of tears!
