| One of the most amusing
books I have read on infertility is:
A Few Good Eggs :
Two Chicks Dish on Overcoming the Insanity of
Infertility
by Julie Vargo and Maureen Regan. The book is
targetted towards infertile women living in the US, and
is written in the currently fashionable "chick-lit"
style. It's amusingly written; and is a breath of fresh
air , if you are the sort of person who finds a sense of
humour helps you cope better with infertility.
The book has lots of Top-10 lists, and here's their
list of Top Ten Tips for Facing Infertility.
# 10 Tips for Facing
Infertility
1. Keep reminding yourself that you are not alone.
2. Realize that dealing with infertility is an
all-consuming process.
3. Stay calm.
4. Remind yourself you are not a failure if a procedure
doesn't work.
5. Have a sense of humor about this - even if it doesn't
seem at all funny
right now.
6. Do your research. Then do some more.
7. Listen to your body and your inner self. If you
really listen you will
learn those two are rarely wrong.
8. Don't rule anything out - from antibiotics to
acupuncture and from
yoga headstands to standing on your head during sex.
9. Find the right doctor.
10.Don't get angry at your partner for not nurturing you
- he is hurting
and confused, too.
Here are my
comments about this list.
1. Keep reminding yourself that you are not alone.
One of the major
problems with infertility is the social and emotional
isolation it causes. It seems that everyone around you
is having babies and you are the only one who cannot
have them ! Moreover, there is little social support ,
and people can be thoughtless and unkind. However,
remember that you are in this together with your partner
- and you can love and support each other. Millions of
other couples are also fighting the same battle - and
you can support each other.
2. Realize that dealing
with infertility is an all-consuming process.
Many infertile couples
are amazed when they find how obsessed they become with
tracking their fertility - and how their desire to have
a baby seems to become the central focus of their life.
3. Stay calm.
This can be hard to do ,
especially at certain times : for example, when your
period had just started; your friend has just told you
she's pregnant again; the latest treatment which seemed
to be going so well has failed; and it seems that your
partner does not care or understand. Don't make a bad
situation worse by losing your calm. If you can weather
this, you will emerge a much stronger and better person
!
4. Remind yourself you are not a failure if a procedure
doesn't work.
The failure of a
procedure does NOT mean you are a failure ! When the
embryos transferred during an IVF cycle fail to implant,
many women feel that their uterus is defective and has
"rejected" the embryos. Remember that Nature is not
efficient at making babies - and the odds are always
going to be against you in each month, so you need to be
patient. Have realistic expectations, and treat
this as a war , not just a battle. Even if the procedure
fails, you have peace of mind you tried your best - and
failed procedures also provide the doctor with useful
information which he can use to fine-tune your next
treatment cycle, bringing you closer to your goal.
5. Have a sense of humor
about this - even if it doesn't seem at all funny
right now.
A sense of humour is
often the only thing which help you keep your sanity !
Hang on to this - it will help you cope with whatever
trials and tribulations you may have to deal with !
6. Do your research. Then do some more.
You can never know too
much. While the endpoint is not to become an IVF
specialist ( though you will find that you often know
much more about infertility than your GP or family
physician, many of whom are quite clueless about
infertility), you need to become an expert on your
problem, so you have peace of mind you did your best,
and didn't leave any stone unturned.
7. Listen to your body and your inner self. If you
really listen you will learn - those two are rarely
wrong.
This is good advise,
whether you are infertile or not ! However, be careful
not to fall into the trap of listening only to your body
- and not listening to your doctor ! Find the right
balance between the inner wisdom of the body and the
outer wisdom of medical science.
8. Don't rule anything out - from antibiotics to
acupuncture and from yoga headstands to standing
on your head during sex.
Keeping an open mind is
a good idea - but it shouldn't be so open that
everything in it falls out either ! It's fine to use
yourself as a guinea pig, if that's what you want to do.
Take an objective approach, and treat your experiences
as a scientific experiment ( on yourself). Document all
your results, so that you can learn from them.
9. Find the right doctor.
While everyone knows how
important it is to find Dr Right, it can be extremely
hard to do this in real life ! Often you are trapped by
the healthcare system you find yourself in - or you
don't know how to judge your doctor's competence and
abilities.
10.Don't get angry at your partner for not nurturing you
- he is hurting and confused, too.
Don't make a bad
situation worse by using your partner as a punching bag.
Being infertile is bad enough - but as long as you can
love and support each other, you'll find it much easier
to deal with. Love divides the misery, and any couple
who can weather the crisis of infertility will find that
their marriage is much more resilient than the ordinary
marriage. It is true that all Men are from Mars , not
just your husband ! The sooner you accept this, the
easier it will be for both of you. From his point of
view, his priority is to work so that he can earn the
money you need to be able to afford infertility
treatment ! Providing emotional support comes a distant
second in his brain, so please be charitable !
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