we are just in the kickoff of National Infertility Awareness Week , this is something that I am very grateful for Because I think the conversation around infertility needs to be more abundant, and I think that there needs to be a broader understanding that infertility does not always end up with having a child, and that people who go through , fertility treatments don't always end up pregnant.

And that there's many roads to becoming a parent. And even if you have a child and you have secondary infertility, that there is still, an awareness and a love and compassion that needs to be had for folks in that community as well. As we get started this week, I wanted to chat a little bit about resolve, you know, the organization resolve.

If you haven't heard of Resolve, I would plan on following them. They have a lot of great awareness campaigns for women,  who've, who are childless not by choice, or women who,  have children after infertility treatments. And so basically their community comes together and talks about,  enhancing public understanding that infertility needs and deserves attention on their website.

They always want to say that they want to ensure that people trying to build a family know the guidelines for seeing a specialist. And then how to educate lawmakers about how infertility impacts people in their state. So, I wanted to take their guidelines for National Infertility Awareness Week and sort of their mission and talk about that a little bit this week on the podcast.

 Can we first start talking about. How infertility needs and deserves education. And I'd like to maybe just share a little bit about why this is so important to me and what drives me every week to come to the podcast and to share my story on the podcast. And, um, some of the successes that I see my students make when they're working with me in the Mastermind and really have more of a conversation around infertility.

And I know many people choose not to talk about infertility because it could be very,  triggering for them, and I get that. But when I think about telling my story and why I choose to tell my story, I think about a young girl and I think about maybe a girl who's only five years old, 10 years old, and.

Is thinking about who she's gonna be when she grows up. And she has tied her future to becoming a mom, and she has tied her dreams for life, feeling complete, and feeling as though she's been successful as a woman, as she's thinking about that, I think about these young girls who need to know that you can be okay even if you didn't have the children you always dreamed of.

So when I think about. Girls like that, and the girls that need to know that life can still feel abundant and full. I tell my story because I want them to hear more examples and see more living and breathing examples of women who are out there loving life. And feeling proud of who they are and taking advantage of this life that they've been given despite not being moms.

So for me, that's one thing that is very important and I'd like to have you consider that as, as a consideration of whether you choose to share your story with somebody else.  I know it takes a lot of courage, and I know it might be hard for you to. Even recount some of the things that you experienced when going through your fertility journey.

But when you think of it in that perspective, knowing that your story might be able to help somebody else create a life that feels easier to navigate whether they have children or not, I'd encourage that. And so the other thing I was, ensuring that people trying to build a family know the guidelines for seeing a specialist.

And this is another thing when I think about. What I went through, and I talk about this a lot, when I've been guested on podcasts and such. When people ask me to tell my story, it's very interesting, the lack of awareness I had that I should have even seen a specialist. , I got married when I was 35.

It was 37 when a friend of mine who by the way, went through I V F treatments and had her, her child or children via I V F. Because of her, my awareness was heightened that I should even go get a workup. So the more people that know that infertility exists and when. As we start to age, that our ability  to conceive becomes greater.

I know it seems like second nature, like we know that, but when we're in it and we've lived a relatively healthy, life as far as like regular periods and no endometriosis, no P C O S, things like that, at least for me, I just thought. Yeah, my time would come and all of a sudden I'd get pregnant and pop out kids.

How about,, even freezing your eggs? I think  that's a great option that we should be talking about, but we should also be talking about the potential that just because you freeze your eggs does not mean that they're actually going to fertilize and be healthy. So I think a lot of women. Are misinformed or maybe partially informed about the benefits of freezing your eggs.

And then the third thing is, is like talking to policy and lawmakers and letting them know that I V F should be covered regardless of what state you're in. And during my journey, I experienced this. So I work for a company that is based out in Massachusetts. And at the time that I was going through my treatment,   Massachusetts did not offer. Any,, I V F cycles  so because I was employed and my insurance was through an employer in Massachusetts, even though I lived in Illinois, I was not eligible.

So my husband is self-employed and he was on my insurance. So what we had to do, because we lived in Illinois and Illinois was one of the states that, um, I V F coverage, four cycles were covered. We had to get our own private healthcare plan, which if anyone has done that, is. Extraordinarily expensive, but we did the calculations financially that it was cheaper for us to pay out of the nose for this private plan for the two of us than it was to pay out of pocket for I V F.

So we need states to understand that women deserve this. I think it's. It's not a privilege, it's a right. Um, for us to have access to this care and to these treatments. I know, for example, friends that live in other countries, like it is automatically included. It's, there's no questions asked that they have reproductive treatments, um, as part of their benefits being citizens in other countries.

So I think it's very important that our employers. And our lawmakers are aware of what we need, and that's something that I've been doing in my corporate workplace is building awareness about A, how many women in the workplace are suffering with infertility, but also are we supporting them as employers?

Are we giving them the time off that they need? To go to doctor's appointments cuz you know as well as I do that oftentimes we don't even know until 12 hours before that we need to come in for a retrieval or a trigger shot or be home at a certain time so that we can get our medications. And I think it's important for our employers to know that we need to have flexibility in our schedules.

If we're going through  any type of fertility treatments, also with miscarriage, how many of you have had a miscarriage and then been expected to show up to work the next day? We need lawmakers and we need our employers to understand that there needs to be some sort of special offering for time off for women seeking and going through fertility treatments.

And even for me, when I traveled to Colorado during our last couple rounds of I V F, I had to take P T O. To go and I had to pay out of pocket, stay in a hotel, airfares our meals while we were out there, and then take vacation days on top of that. So I think it's so important that if we tell our stories in our workplace, or to our lawmakers or to people who have some sort of influence that could get the word along for us, we will be serving ourselves and the women that are coming behind us in this community.

So I am thinking of all of you during National Infertility Awareness Week and know that your story matters, and that even though it might be hard to tell it to somebody, if you find it within you to tell it, I know that you will make a difference by sharing your experience. And,  I just. I love you for finding the bravery to do so.

So have a beautiful week. Reach out if there is anything I can help out with this week. , also we have the other's day brunch. I also wanna remind you that if you're seeking connection and you wanna find some women around you that,  Know what it feels like to feel lonely and isolated, either because you're childless, not by choice.

Maybe you've lost your mom, maybe you never had a mother figure in your life. So I wanted to invite you and let you know that you will have a place on May 13th in Chicago for the other's day brunch, and  tell your friends. Even if you have something going on that weekend, share with your friends and let them know that if they're seeking connection, that they can have it with us on May 13th for the other's day brunch.

So have a beautiful week. I love you, and remember, it is never too late to discover your meeting and I'll talk to you next week.