General

NIAW is a movement to reduce the stigma surrounding reproductive issues that make building a family difficult for so many. Wear Orange on Wednesday, April 24th!. #WearOrange

National Infertility Awareness Week®, (NIAW) is a movement, founded in 1989 by RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association. Its mission is to empower you and change the conversation around infertility. NIAW as a movement has set out to reduce stigma and educate the public about reproductive health and issues that make building a family so difficult for so many. It’s also a movement to empower those whose lives are forever changed when they struggle to build a family.

Infertility is defined as the inability to conceive after 12 months of unprotected intercourse. This means that an opposite-sex couple is not able to become pregnant after a year of trying. However, for women aged 35 and older, inability to conceive after 6 months is generally considered infertility. 

Infertility is NOT an inconvenience. It is a disease of the reproductive system that impairs the body’s ability to perform the basic function of reproduction. 

Anyone can be challenged to have a family. No matter what race, religion, sexuality or economic status. Change begins with being part of a national movement, NIAW. This week unites millions of Americans who want to remove the stigmas and barriers that stand in the way of building families. Some statistics:

• National Infertility Awareness Week®, (NIAW) is a movement, founded in 1989 by RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association. Its mission is to empower you and change the conversation around infertility. NIAW as a movement has set out to reduce stigma and educate the public about reproductive health and issues that make building a family so difficult for so many. It’s also a movement to empower those whose lives are forever changed when they struggle to build a family.
• Infertility is defined as the inability to conceive after 12 months of unprotected intercourse. This means that an opposite-sex couple is not able to become pregnant after a year of trying. However, for women aged 35 and older, inability to conceive after 6 months is generally considered infertility. 
• Infertility is NOT an inconvenience. It is a disease of the reproductive system that impairs the body’s ability to perform the basic function of reproduction. 
• Anyone can be challenged to have a family. No matter what race, religion, sexuality or economic status. Change begins with being part of a national movement, NIAW. This week unites millions of Americans who want to remove the stigmas and barriers that stand in the way of building families. Some statistics:

As women age, fertility declines due to normal, age-related changes that occur in the ovaries. Unlike men, who continue to produce sperm throughout their lives, a woman is born with all the egg-containing follicles in her ovaries that she will ever have. At birth there are about one million follicles. By puberty that number will have dropped to about 300,000. Of the follicles remaining at puberty, only about 300 will be ovulated during the reproductive years. Source: http://www.asrm.org

Infertility is not solely a women’s problem. About 30% of infertility cases involve male factor problems alone, and 30% of cases involve problems with both partners. Many researchers believe the causes of declining male fertility during this century are environmental; they include pesticide and chemical exposure, drug use, radiation, and pollution. Source: http://www.asrm.org

What are my options?

No two family building journeys are alike. Deciding on your own personal road can be overwhelming given the multitude of options: adoption, medications, infertility research studies, genetic screening and testing, intrauterine insemination, in vitro fertilization, donor sperm, donor eggs, surrogacy, living without children. Source: https://resolve.org

For many infertile couples, making the decision to adopt can be just as hard as undergoing fertility treatment. There are many questions, doubts, and fears that often come up. Some people choose to adopt instead of having fertility treatments, while others decide to adopt only after fertility treatment does not result in the birth of a child. . Source: http://www.asrm.org

Third-party reproduction is an arrangement where a person or couple receives help from other(s) to have a child. This help can be in the form of donated eggs, sperm, or embryos; carrying the pregnancy; or a combination of these types of reproductive assistance. The person(s) who will raise the child after birth are called “intended parent(s).” The person who is donating sperm, eggs, or embryos or carrying the pregnancy (gestational carrier) is called the “third party.” The third party is involved in the reproductive process only and does not participate in the raising of the child. Third-party donors can be someone the intended parents know or they may be anonymous. Source: http://www.asrm.org

Infertility is a medical condition that touches all aspects of your life. It may affect your relationships with others, your perspective on life, and how you feel about yourself. When considering infertility treatment options such as sperm, egg, or embryo donation or gestational carriers, it may be especially helpful to gain the assistance of a fertility counselor. Source: http://www.asrm.org