In the world of infertility women are usually aware that they are not the only one having trouble conceiving. Inevitably though, at some point it will seem like every woman that she knows either knows someone pregnant, or is pregnant herself but doesn't want to be insensitive by sharing the news. She begins to feel like the odds are against her and that maybe if she was a teenager hooked on drugs, she would be able to conceive freely. She begins to wonder what she did to deserve this, and ask why it's so easy for some, but so difficult for her. Did she do something in her past life to piss off the Gods? Should she have even bothered with birth control all of those years? Is a pregnancy (or another one) really within her reach?
I spent a week with a childhood friend over the 4th of July. The first night that she was here we stayed up until the wee hours of the morning talking about trying to conceive and infertility. It was a topic that I thought she knew nothing about...boy was I wrong!!! I found out that she had PCOS, or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (which she assumed I knew nothing about) and had had 2 miscarriages. She and her husband have a beautiful 2 year old daughter but are hoping to give her a sibling. She's on Clomid for the first time and we talked about my experiences with it. We talked about the roller coaster ride of seeing negative pregnancy tests month after month, especially when you're sure it was your month.
It turns out that just when you think you're the only one you know struggling with infertility, a friend decides to share her struggles and makes you realize that you're not alone after all. It's comforting to know that someone in your own circle understands your plight.
