Infertility Support Group
In vitro fertilization is one of the most common and utilized ways of treating conception problems. This support group is dedicated to those beginning their journey with IVF and needing support. Join the community and share your experiences, advice, and story with people going through similar challenges starting a family.
I wish I knew who wrote this so I could give credit to her. This is something I think everyone should read!
What Do I Think God Meant When He Gave Me Infertility?
Couples experiencing infertility often receive well-meaning but extremely insensitive "advice." We can all list the most popular ones: "Just relax and you'll get pregnant," or "Adopt and you'll get pregnant," or "Things happen for a reason," and of the most painful: from those who think they've got the goods on God's plan, "Maybe God never meant for you to have children." The sheer audacity of making a statement like that never fails to amaze me. The same people would never walk up to someone seeking treatment for cancer and say, "Maybe God never meant for you to live." However, because I am infertile, I'm supposed to get on with my life. It's hard to understand that people can not see infertility for what it is: a disease for which I have to seek treatment. What if Jonas Salk had said to the parents of polio victims, "Maybe God meant for thousands of children to be cripples, live in an iron lung, or die." What if he'd never tried to find a cure? Who could think for a minute that that was God's plan?
What do I think God meant when He gave me infertility? I think He meant for my husband and I to grow closer, become stronger, love deeper. I think God meant for us to find the fortitude within ourselves to get up every time infertility knocks us down. I think God meant for our medical community to discover medicines, invent medical equipment, create procedures and protocols. I think God meant for us to find a cure for infertility.
No, God never meant for me not to have children. That's not my destiny; that's just a fork in the road I'm on. I've been placed on the road less traveled, and, like it or not, I'm a better person for it. Clearly, God meant for me to develop more compassion, deeper courage, and greater inner strength on this journey to resolution, and I haven't let him down. Frankly, if the truth be known, I think God has singled me out for a special treatment. I think God meant for me to build a thirst for a child so strong and so deep that when that baby is finally placed in my arms, it will the longest, coolest, most refreshing drink I've ever known...Yes, one way or another, I will have a baby...and the next time someone wants to offer me unsolicited advice I'll say, "Don't tell me what God meant when He handed me infertility. I already know."
What Do I Think God Meant When He Gave Me Infertility?
Couples experiencing infertility often receive well-meaning but extremely insensitive "advice." We can all list the most popular ones: "Just relax and you'll get pregnant," or "Adopt and you'll get pregnant," or "Things happen for a reason," and of the most painful: from those who think they've got the goods on God's plan, "Maybe God never meant for you to have children." The sheer audacity of making a statement like that never fails to amaze me. The same people would never walk up to someone seeking treatment for cancer and say, "Maybe God never meant for you to live." However, because I am infertile, I'm supposed to get on with my life. It's hard to understand that people can not see infertility for what it is: a disease for which I have to seek treatment. What if Jonas Salk had said to the parents of polio victims, "Maybe God meant for thousands of children to be cripples, live in an iron lung, or die." What if he'd never tried to find a cure? Who could think for a minute that that was God's plan?
What do I think God meant when He gave me infertility? I think He meant for my husband and I to grow closer, become stronger, love deeper. I think God meant for us to find the fortitude within ourselves to get up every time infertility knocks us down. I think God meant for our medical community to discover medicines, invent medical equipment, create procedures and protocols. I think God meant for us to find a cure for infertility.
No, God never meant for me not to have children. That's not my destiny; that's just a fork in the road I'm on. I've been placed on the road less traveled, and, like it or not, I'm a better person for it. Clearly, God meant for me to develop more compassion, deeper courage, and greater inner strength on this journey to resolution, and I haven't let him down. Frankly, if the truth be known, I think God has singled me out for a special treatment. I think God meant for me to build a thirst for a child so strong and so deep that when that baby is finally placed in my arms, it will the longest, coolest, most refreshing drink I've ever known...Yes, one way or another, I will have a baby...and the next time someone wants to offer me unsolicited advice I'll say, "Don't tell me what God meant when He handed me infertility. I already know."
The down side of keeping quiet is having to grin and bear all those "So when are you two having a baby?" questions. C'mon already, clue phone, pick it up, it's for you! Can we start some kind of grass-roots movement to get the word out that folks shouldn't ask a couple this question.... ever!?
Thanks for posting this, the lot of us can relate to it, "the road less traveled" indeed!
The line about when the baby is placed in my arms was so beautiful it made me teary-eyed. I just can't imagine how elated and in complete awe and wonder I will be when that precious one is placed in my arms. I am so grateful for all the medical advances that have been discovered to make having a child possible for those with infertility. I don't know what I would have done if I lived in the decades when you just had to accept your diagnosis. I truly believe that God did help all those doctors and scientists come up with treatments. God loves children and I don't think he would deny anyone who wanted a child as much as we do the joy of experiencing that. Best wishes to you all and may your dreams of motherhood come to reality very soon!!