Navigating fertility with the assistance of a support network

The struggle with infertility can be a lonely experience filled with frustration, confusion, and highs and lows. There are the medical diagnoses you didn’t want and the treatment rounds you didn’t expect. You may also be grieving not only infertility, but also the loss of an unborn child or a child that was stillborn, whose nursery you had already painted the perfect shade of pink or blue. Time and time again, your dreams of having a child seem unattainable, while every day other families in your circle are happily planning their children’s birthday parties. It’s stressful, it’s isolating, and the friends or family you normally rely on for emotional support simply don’t understand.

Joining a support group created specifically for people who are struggling with infertility, miscarriages, and stillbirths may help you feel less isolated and more confident in your ability to navigate the path to parenthood. A support group is a safe and welcoming place where you can share your story with people who are going through similar experiences. Rather than trying to go through it alone, you’ll make personal connections with others on the same journey.

It’s a place where you can talk and cry, but it’s also a place where you’ll learn. People in the group will have different experiences with doctors and fertility treatments, which can help you gain more knowledge and insight into different solutions. You’ll be able to benefit from the lessons other people have taken away from their experiences, whether it’s self-care recommendations for in vitro fertilization or advice on how to deal with grief. While comparing stories with other couples, you may even uncover questions you had never even thought to ask. You may even find a sense of meaning by helping others through sharing your own story. On the other side of these struggles, you may even find yourself new mother, eternally grateful for the amazing miracle you now hold in your hands. What begins as a social media support group can blossom into real friendships that you can carry into the future.

Started by patients undergoing infertility treatment at Alabama Center for Reproductive Medicine (ACRM), the private Facebook group, ACRM INVOcell, has garnered almost 300 members. ACRM IVF Program Director, Karen Hammond, DNP, CRNP, was invited to join the group to lend her support and answer questions along the way.

Seven women in this group found a particular kinship. They had each suffered infertility and had each had grieved prior pregnancy loss. Their other common bond was that they had all conceived with the help of Karen Hammond, DNP, CRNP and ACRM’s Affordable IVF Program. Termed a “rainbow baby,” the children born after a devastating experience with the loss of a pregnancy or newly born child are like rainbows after the storm.

One of those seven women in this special support group was Rachel Neubacher. She and her husband had suffered four pregnancy losses and finally had a continuing, growing pregnancy. She had the brilliant idea of an in-person meeting amongst all the women and a rainbow photo shoot to commemorate their personal experiences with the miraculous journey to parenthood. This beautiful photograph and their continued kinship celebrates the deep impact of their experience, the way it has shaped them, and how it will shape their perspective for life.

At ACRM, we recognize the enormous significance of parenthood and the journey it takes to get there for many people who want to be parents. It’s not simply a medical treatment, but a story that is filled to the brim with challenge, struggle, hope, and joy. If you’re in need of some help, camaraderie, or a lift in spirits, please reach out to us.

For more information about ACRM AL, please contact the team by clicking here today.