May is all about you

Thought I'd post a copy of the monthly e-newsletter that RESOLVE sends out to anyone on it's mailing list.  If you'd like to sign up for their mailing list, visit the RESOLVE website.

A monthly reminder that RESOLVE is working to improve the lives of people diagnosed with infertility.

National Infertility Awareness Week® 2013 was a resounding success! Once again the infertility community came together to change the conversation about infertility. “Join the Movement” was embraced by thousands of professionals, volunteers, and RESOLVE community members. Our collective efforts reached millions with information about the disease of infertility. Thank you to all who participated! In May we turn our focus from raising public awareness to helping you. You are the reason RESOLVE exists, and you keep RESOLVE going. You have connected with RESOLVE because you either value RESOLVE’s programs and services or you care about the people we serve. Read on to learn what RESOLVE is doing for you. And reference the sidebar for tips for how to handle Mother’s Day. RESOLVE's Advocacy Day brings largest infertility group to Washington, D.C.  Today, RESOLVE and more than 115 infertiliity advocates are in Washington, D.C. talking to Members of Congress about issues important to the infertility community. You can make an impact right from your home! Call Congress today! It takes 5 minutes. Click here for details! Send an email to Congress and ask them to support the Family Act and a bill to help wounded veterans get infertility coverage. By adding your voice to the efforts of those on Capitol Hill today, you can increase our impact and make a real difference for those that need financial relief for infertility treatments. You will make a difference. RESOLVE Support Groups: You make them happenWe have added 8 support groups in 2013, bringing our current total to 163 nationwide! Thank you to all the volunteers who make support groups possible. May is the perfect month to take charge of your infertility journey and do something for yourself. Find a support group near you. National Infertility Awareness Week® Highlights NIAW in the news RESOLVE in the news Personal stories from the community Bloggers respond to "Join the Movement" Thank you to family building professionals and volunteers who held more than 100 events nationwide in an effort to raise awareness. And thank you to all of our NIAW Sponsors. May 2013  Connect with RESOLVE         Tips for Dealing with Mother’s Day Advice from the Community Advice from RESOLVE Make the Day Your Own We Are Your Support System Attend a 2013 RESOLVE Walk of Hope! Houston - May 18th Washington, D.C. - June 22nd   Your 2013 Checklist Join a Support Group Start a Support Group Get the Newsletter Walk of Hope  Update Your Profile Read the Policy Blog Download a Podcast Do We Have Your Current Information? With so many exciting events, support programs, and important information available, RESOLVE wants to make sure we are sending you the information you need. Please take a moment to review your preferences so that we can serve you better and update our database.

Contact RESOLVE today Phone: 703.556.7172 Fax: 703.506.3266 RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association 1760 Old Meadow Rd., Suite 500 McLean, VA 22102 Connect With Us: Important Information Infertility Diagnosis Family Building Options Insurance Coverage Find RESOLVE Near You Support and Services Find a Support Group Online Support Community HelpLine Find a Professional

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This is how crazy I am

So Prince William & Princess Kate are pregnant.  I'm curious and my attention directly gets sucked into any news about their condition... and I should be happy for them like the rest of the world, but I'm not.

I always kind of felt like my life mirrored Prince William's.  My parents got married the same year as Charles & Diana, and I'm only about 9 months older than the first-born prince.  I got married about 10 months before the current Duke & Duchess of Cambridge, and I just hoped in my silly-little fantasy mind of mine that we'd get pregnant around the same time as the royal couple.

I don't wish the heartache of infertility on anyone, but part of me takes comfort when celebrities share their stories of infertility tragedy & triumph.  I'm glad the princess is NOT suffering from infertility, but if she was, like me, it would bring a lot more awareness to a growing problem in modern society.

If infertility wasn't such a stigma, and more people talked openly about it, and more became aware of it, maybe someday ART could be covered by health insurance and our pocketbooks wouldn't determine our eligibility to conceive and give birth.

Like I said yesterday, B & I need to move to a European country where this stuff is covered so I can stop projecting my own angst onto every celebrity, acquaintance, friend, and relative who gets pregnant.

Seriously, I'm upset about Princess Kate being pregnant (and announcing it at 8 weeks, that just seems cocky!)?  As the title of this post says, it just goes to show you how cray cray I'm really becoming.  Glad I can say these things here so I don't have to say them out loud!  Maybe there is something to that Dutch study about involuntarily childless couples having a higher risk of psychiatric illness... ;)

Childless Couples Don't Live As Long As Those With Kids?

On Rock Center with Brian Williams on Thursday night, there was a quick report about a Dutch study that was recently published in the December issue of Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, which finds that childless couples don't live as long as those with kids.

Being the good librarian that I am, I did some research and found the original article, which turns out to be much more interesting than these popular media sources are letting on.

The study finds that childless women's risk of premature death (such as cancer, circulatory disease, and accidents) is four times higher than those who gave birth to their own children, and twice as high as women who adopt a child.

It also finds that men who don't become fathers are twice as likely to suffer from premature (or crude as the study refers to it) death than men who either have biological children or adopt (it's apparently all the same to the guys I guess).

The really interesting part that you have to dig into the original study itself to really find, is that this study also differentiates between voluntary and involuntary childlessness.

The nature of the study is inherently causes the researchers to look at this from the perception of the involuntary childless.... because their entire pool of subjects are couples undergoing IVF treatments!

The news media sources don't highlight this, but the other major finding of this article is not only that the involuntary childless don't just have a higher mortality rate, we have a higher risk of psychiatric illness too.  I can 100% believe this.

Interesting tidbit I learned from the article: In Denmark, couples must attempt IVF before they can adopt, and the government provides 3 free cycles of IVF!

B & I really need to move to Europe, A) so we can do IVF and  finally have a baby, and B) so we can apparently live longer and not go crazy :)

The Cade Foundation: Help with Infertility Costs

I was so excited to find this in my news feed this morning!  I'm grateful, inspired by, and even kind of dumbstruck by the generosity of others who give to causes like these.  


B and I are hoping that his recent surgery will prevent us from needing expensive ART in the future, but its comforting to know that foundations like this are out there for couples like us out there if we need it.

Infertility Solutions: Grand & Giving Foundations

Newt suggests IVF is immoral

Newt Gingrich, a known pro-lifer, has recently attacked the regulation of clinics performing in vitro fertilization procedures.  He doesn't outright say it, but he's basically implying that the practice of IVF is immoral, because of the left over embryos that are never transferred.

Parents have to make a tough decision if they have completed their family: either destroy the unused embryos, donate them to science, or donate them to another couple for adoption.  It is assumed that Newt finds the first two options unacceptable.

My first reaction to the TIME article below is to disagree that this might not be such a bad idea, but I do like the statement made by Julia Shapiro that while perhaps these are ongoing issues that need to considered, legislation is not the answer.

Just another reason (out of many) not to vote for this guy.

http://healthland.time.com/2012/01/31/gingrich-wants-scrutiny-of-ivf-clinics-why-thats-not-the-worst-idea/