Handle With Care

Infertiles, as my friend likes to call us, have it rough. Not only are we surviving intense disappointment and emotional breakdowns on a monthly basis, enduring medical exams and tests that are painful/humiliating/insanely expensive, and gradually becoming more isolated from our friends and family with children, but we also have people around us making rude comments and acting thoughtlessly, rubbing salt in our wounds. This is one of the struggles that is a constant topic in my support group. Infertiles need to be handled with care. This week my visiting teacher handled me with care, and I appreciated it more than I can say. She stopped by my house by herself and as we were chatting I told her about my infertility. She told me that her cousin had infertility and she regularly read her cousin's blog and learned a lot about the feelings and experiences of those struggling with infertility. She had suspected that I had infertility and so she has always made arrangements for someone to watch her newborn baby when she comes to visit me. It hadn't even occurred to me that most women in her situation probably would have just brought their baby. I was so touched by her sensitivity to my feelings and her awareness that being around a newborn baby might be painful for me. I credit, in part, her cousin for honestly sharing her struggle with infertility and helping those around her become more aware of the world of infertility and how to handle Infertiles with care. After my conversation with her, I vowed to write more on this blog and to be more honest and open with my feelings. I hope that those reading this will benefit and will handle other Infertiles with care.