This week, in the United States, through the great organization Resolve, we are promoting infertility awareness on many different venues...support groups, chats on Twitter and Facebook and over the blogosphere. April 21st - 27th, 2013 is National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW). NIAW is a week dedicated to bringing information about infertility to the public created by Resolve. Every year they have a theme. This year the theme is 'Join The Movement'. Although as an infertility physician blogger and a former infertility patient myself I joined the movement long ago, back in the mid-90's when my wife and I were going through IVF not many were aware or supportive of our journey. Fast forward to 2013 and it is amazing to see how much more aware the general public and the media are of the issues my patients face on a daily basis. It is due in large part to organizations like Resolve and the American Fertility Association and the many, many women bloggers and community forums that have joined ranks in spreading awareness.
There are many ways you can continue to spread awareness and inform yourself along the way. For starters there is the Resolve NIAW page where you can connect with some of the activities and teleconferences that will be going on this week. You can go online and keep apprized of the issues through spokeswoman Keiko Zoll's "The Infertility Voice" , where you can also get banners for your FB or Twitter pages. Resolve of New England is another excellent resource for information. This week they are featuring posts centered around IF such as, "From The First IVF Baby To Modern A.R.T." and "When To See A Fertility Specialist" all done by leading scientists and doctors in the field.
Simple gestures such as following and posting #NIAW on Twitter and including your thoughts on infertility can spread the word as well. Another option is to follow infertility blogs like this one, "Where The *Bleep Is Our Stork", another simple way of showing your support for women like yourself who are going through IF.
I close with the words of the above blogger regarding her feelings for this year's NIAW: "I don't want to be defined as "infertile", even if that is what I am. I want to be defined as inspirational and motivating and strong." Kudos to her and to all of you for persevering and joining the movement!
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