My Facebook feed reminded me that this week is National
Infertility Awareness Week and as I held the 5 month old Baby Bean Dragon in my
arms and looked down at her big blue eyes, I started to weep. My heart is not that far removed that I have
forgotten the weariness on the journey it took for her to be part of our
family.
According to the CDC, approximately 15% of all couples are facing some form of infertility---if you are in a room with 8 couples, odds are
at least one of them is striving to have a child.
So once again, I implore each of you to be reminded of the
often silent struggle that so many women and couples are facing each and every
month as they try to grow their family. Infertility is so often covered in
shame that we as women are not able to do what we as women are “supposed” to be
able to do. It is something that we are
reminded about on a monthly basis of how “broken” our bodies are, whether
they’re the issue or not. I can’t even
recall how many times I told someone I was “fine” when they asked how my life
was progressing, when within the past week I had stared at another negative
pregnancy test and was much less than “fine.”
And how many times I chose not to share my daily infertility
struggles because it had been 17 months and I believed the lie that people were
tired of hearing about it and my continual broken heart.
These past few weeks, I have been working on memorizing this
verse and I think it is so applicable to families who are weary and struggling
with infertility and is such an amazing promise that God has given us in his
Word…“[God] gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary and young
men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their
strength.” (Isaiah 40: 28-31) I cannot
count the innumerable times that God renewed my strength and helped me lift one
foot in front of the other as I struggled to conceive.
So friends, look around.
See those friends and family members and co-workers that are struggling
this Infertility Awareness Week and as Mother’s Day approaches, which is an
especially painful day when your arms are empty. See these women and listen to
them. You may not know what they’re
going through on a personal level, but that doesn’t stop you from offering a
hug and a prayer. Even if they’ve been
struggling for years, don’t let them be forgotten. My prayer is that these families are
surrounded by love this week and that their strength will be renewed as they persevere
in this journey.
And as always, I pray that someone hands them a baby, too.
