Tuesday, July 14, 2009

There are millions of us

Every day thousands of women take an at-home pregnancy test and fail to see those two positive blue lines. It turns out that there are over six million women each year that will face some kind of fertility issue. Whether a couple only needs two tries to get pregnant or two hundred, most everyone can relate to calculating cycles and trying to decipher ovulation test sticks. And, unfortunately the statistics uncover the fact that there are literally millions of us.
According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control,
• Number of women ages 15-44 with impaired fecundity (what a horrible way to say “impaired ability to have children”): 7.3 million or 11.8%
• Number of married women ages 15-44 that are infertile (which the CDC defines as “one unable to get pregnant for at least 12 consecutive months”): 2.1 million
• Number of women ages 15-44 who have ever used infertility services: 7.3 million

While there can certainly be tears and frustration along the way, not all stories are sad. One thing that I’ve discovered throughout this crazy ride is all of the ridiculous and hilarious situations that seem to just go with the territory. There can be plenty of funny incidents and awkward and absurd moments on the way to babydom, whether your trial in conception involves candlelight and Barry White or Petri dishes and blastocytes.

No comments:

Post a Comment