As you know infertility is common, we just don't talk about it! Did you know that this week is National Infertility Awareness Week!!!
The struggle is REAL, so what can we do to help each other and ourselves during this stressful time? Everyone is struggling with this coronavirus, mandates to stay home, no social gatherings, homeschool, businesses are closed and some offices have put off infertility treatments. All of these elements on top of the emotional and physical roller-coaster that we endure with infertility.
So what can we do to stay connected and to help cope through this difficult time? The National Infertility Awareness Association has listed some of the following:
Wear Orange
Join the orange movement on Wednesday, April 22nd and rock your ORANGE gear to show you support of National Infertility Awareness Week®. It can be as simple as an orange shirt or other items like orange socks, orange lipstick, an orange ribbon, paint your nails orange or even go big with a boa! Whatever you chose will be perfect as long as it is… you guessed it, orange.
Get Local, virtually Spread a little or (a lot) of infertility awareness to your local community by reaching out to local media and news outlets. Connect with them via social media or an email and tell them about National Infertility Awareness Week® and how this disease impacts millions of Americans daily. Your story can make BIG impact in a small way in your local area. Start by sharing your story, educate the public by talking about this disease, and advocate for the infertility community.
5 Day Photo Challenge Starting Monday, April 20th and ending on Friday, April 25th The National Infertility Association is challenging this community to share a different photo for every day using the hashtags #NIAW2020 #MyInfertilityStory
Find or Post a Virtual Awareness Event Search, post or get some really great ideas for a virtual infertility awareness event during NIAW. For example, we at UIRC will be hosting a couple of different events this week. On Monday the 20th, at 8pm we will be streaming the movie "Making Babies", then on Thursday the 23rd of April, Dr. Johnstone will be hosting an LGBTQ event via Zoom. Details will be on our Facebook page.
Share your story If we are going to change the conversation, we need to tell our own story in a way that will create change. Become a powerful storyteller. Submit your story to share with us during NIAW and we will choose one to highlight and share on our blog. You can submit your story to us at contactus@uirc.info
And there is much much more that is suggested on the National Infertility Association website, go check it out!
Hope these awesome tips will help you stay connected during these troubled times. Remember..... You're NOT Alone!
