RESOLVE’s National Infertility Awareness Week (April 24 – 30, 2016) is dedicated to celebrating those who have struggled or are currently struggling with infertility by raising awareness.

Are you ready to #StartAsking?
This year’s theme, #StartAsking, works to spread the message that infertility is often misunderstood, but this can be improved with better communication between infertile couples and their family, friends and co-workers. With one in eight couples in the U.S. struggling to conceive, the condition is certainly not rare. Many couples and individuals facing an infertility diagnosis struggle with their diagnosis as well as with the experience of being infertile in a society that can fail to embrace conversations about infertility as a medical condition.

This is unfortunate, but organizations such as RESOLVE and fertility practices like Fertility Solutions are working hard to help spread awareness about infertility. We can work together to change the perception of infertility from something that is “bad luck” or a hurdle that you need to get over. Fertility Solutions is also working on bringing attention to secondary infertility. Less known, secondary infertility can be just as heartbreaking and require the same treatments as a standard infertility issues, but it is rarely met with the same amount of empathy and support. Secondary infertility often comes as a surprise, with couples confused as to why a fertility issue has appeared after a previous successful pregnancy.

Get social!
Using social media to help spread awareness about infertility is an excellent way to support the community and educate your friends and family. Here are a few ways you can help using social media:

• If you are comfortable sharing your experience with infertility, share it! Not everyone will want to share their story, and that’s perfectly okay. For those who are comfortable sharing their fertility journey, letting others know what you’ve been through, how it made you feel, and what you’ve learned can go a long way toward offering a unique perspective on fertility your followers would never have heard without you.
• If you know someone struggling with infertility, now is a particularly special time to let them know that you support them 100% and are willing to help out in any way you can as they undergo treatment or make decisions – send your friend or family member a message and let them know you have their back.
• Post facts and information about infertility on your Facebook or Twitter profile, and feel free to share posts from our Facebook page.
• Email or write a letter to your local representative.

Your opinion matters to those who represent you in government – and this includes your experience and support of the fertility community. Insurance coverage for fertility treatment varies widely state by state. In Massachusetts, for instance, our own Dr. Huang has worked hard to secure a mandate for infertility insurance coverage. Even with Dr. Huang’s efforts, there is still a long way to go in securing coverage for infertility, so we encourage you to write and email your local and state representatives asking for their support and advocacy.