Let me begin by saying I am seriously going to get flamed here, I'm sure...( and since this is MY BLOG I don't care!) but why do I have to turn on the evening news( again) and the lead story is (again) about yet ANOTHER PG, unmarried celeb who has enough money to give 300 of us free IVF cycles?
I seriously have no issue with Jessica Alba or any other celebrity ( well, maybe I have a small prob. w/BritBrit....) and I truly wish them well, but just for once, I 'd like to see an accurate , heartfelt story on the Evening news about the THOUSANDS of women who are in committed, healthy relationships,( or are just committed to being a parent) who can not conceive no matter what and the horrible price they are paying to desperately try.
Yet, these celebs continue to blithely gallivant in front of the press, showing off their "baby bump" ( that term turns my stomach....) and the rest of us just have to sit back and watch them blossom right before our infertile eyes. There is not a day that goes by when I don't see an issue of People, Us or Extra featuring another "knocked up" celeb.
Women, celebs and everyone else, have been getting PG for as long as creation, so why is it now the "fashionable" thing for all of them to have babies? And must they flaunt them to such insane levels? Actresses in the 50's, 60's 70's and 80's got PG, too. Seriously, can anyone recall any actress from the eighties being splashed all over every magazine in America just because she was PG?
I seriously think the media needs to redirect their focus on "baby bumps" and get back to reporting real news. There are so so many couples desperate to have kids ( or just ONE child) who can't get PG w/o ART, and don't have adequate IF coverage to even pursue the technology...and yet we as a nation glorify the unwed mother who just had an"oops" and put her on every magazine in the country.
I am really fed up with the cost, emotional and financial, of this quest we are on, and as I quickly use up my lousy $10,000 life time cap for IF coverage ( just on meds and b/w and consults) I won't have any coverage left if I can even GET to a single cycle with my own eggs. And then what do I do when my insurance runs out and I want to use DE's? And if the DE cycle fails ( as many do) where will I get the money and more importantly, the strength to try to adopt?
Why doesn't someone do a story on THAT!?
If I sound bitter, I am. And I won't apologize for it because I can't help the way I feel about this. Infertility NEEDS to be brought to focus in the media, RE's need to calm down with their fees, pharma companies need to back off on these outrageous prices.
Trying to conceive a child should not cause financial ruin for a couple who want so much to be parents.Watching the evening news should not be a daily reminder of that struggle. Yes, I know I can change the channel, or not buy the magazine....but I can't change the fact that what comes so easy and free to some is unattainable to so many, and we all deserve So much better than to have it splashed in our faces everywhere we turn.
::Stepping ever so gently off my soapbox::
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Where in the world is Christmas?
Alright, I seem to be developing a "seasonal" pattern here...first post near Halloween, next post the day before Thanksgiving and now, here comes Christmas....I wish this one would just slip by unnoticed.
After the Turkey Day Debaucle at the Haber Hill Kitten farm ( AKA my parent's house) I have been in a major slump. I even renewed my Zoloft last night because there is no way I am going to survive another holiday without being medicated. My family is crazy. My parent's have replaced their longing for grandchildren and close family with 11 cats...and there seems to be no room at
The Inn" when Mike and I visit. We seem to be in the way, too much trouble and it's all my fault...at least that's how I feel.
Had we not made the biggest mistake of our lives by selling our dream house in South Jersey, crazy family visits would be ended by a 5 minute drive home instead of a 2 1/2 hour trek up the NJ Turnpike, with a 100LB yellow lab and a 5 LB kitten in a crate.
I believe that awful decision to move back to North Jersey has alot to do with my infertility as well...when we first made the move to my home town , to be near family, we had this crazy 92 mile commute to our super stressful job and threw in working night shift to make it more "fun".
All this stress lead to not going to the OB/GYN when I was not PG after 1 and 1/2 years off BCPs. My cycles became wacky and irregular, and I just blamed night shift...I wasn't sleeping or eating well at that time and had gained a bunch of weight. By the time I finally got up the courage to see my North Jersey OB/GYN ( of 15 years!) , it was too late. He did a simple test to check my FSH ( follicle stimulating Hormone) and found it to be sky high. He said, Oh well...there's nothing I can do for you. Have a nice Day.
Are you FVcking kidding me....39 and INfertile....I ask myself all the time...how could I let this happen? How could HE let this happen? He knew me for 15 years, knew my ovarian cyst history...knew my endo history. For God's sake he operated on me! Never ONCE did he tell me that I was going to have a problem because of my endo, or my age. He KNEW I was marrying Mike ( who is 8 years younger than me!) at 39 years old. How come no one ever told me I should get a baseline FSH level drawn? It's a stinking blood test that costs about $150. I have insurance. I go to the doctor for my 6 month check ups. Why didn't anyone tell me ?!
But instead, my doctor, who I trusted for 15 years, blew constant sunshine up my ass... "you'll have no trouble getting pregnant...I have PG patients in their 40's all the time" I even thought he was a infertility expert" all these years , so I never worried. I just trusted. And I got SCREWED.
Now you are up to speed on how I got here in the first place. After 4+ years and 5 RE's ( Reproductive Endocrinologists) I am still not PG. And my family is still crazy.
So I am blogging today, as I await blood test results...from yesterday that did not get run. Infertitiy is stressful enough with out all the crap that goes with treatment.
After the Turkey Day Debaucle at the Haber Hill Kitten farm ( AKA my parent's house) I have been in a major slump. I even renewed my Zoloft last night because there is no way I am going to survive another holiday without being medicated. My family is crazy. My parent's have replaced their longing for grandchildren and close family with 11 cats...and there seems to be no room at
The Inn" when Mike and I visit. We seem to be in the way, too much trouble and it's all my fault...at least that's how I feel.
Had we not made the biggest mistake of our lives by selling our dream house in South Jersey, crazy family visits would be ended by a 5 minute drive home instead of a 2 1/2 hour trek up the NJ Turnpike, with a 100LB yellow lab and a 5 LB kitten in a crate.
I believe that awful decision to move back to North Jersey has alot to do with my infertility as well...when we first made the move to my home town , to be near family, we had this crazy 92 mile commute to our super stressful job and threw in working night shift to make it more "fun".
All this stress lead to not going to the OB/GYN when I was not PG after 1 and 1/2 years off BCPs. My cycles became wacky and irregular, and I just blamed night shift...I wasn't sleeping or eating well at that time and had gained a bunch of weight. By the time I finally got up the courage to see my North Jersey OB/GYN ( of 15 years!) , it was too late. He did a simple test to check my FSH ( follicle stimulating Hormone) and found it to be sky high. He said, Oh well...there's nothing I can do for you. Have a nice Day.
Are you FVcking kidding me....39 and INfertile....I ask myself all the time...how could I let this happen? How could HE let this happen? He knew me for 15 years, knew my ovarian cyst history...knew my endo history. For God's sake he operated on me! Never ONCE did he tell me that I was going to have a problem because of my endo, or my age. He KNEW I was marrying Mike ( who is 8 years younger than me!) at 39 years old. How come no one ever told me I should get a baseline FSH level drawn? It's a stinking blood test that costs about $150. I have insurance. I go to the doctor for my 6 month check ups. Why didn't anyone tell me ?!
But instead, my doctor, who I trusted for 15 years, blew constant sunshine up my ass... "you'll have no trouble getting pregnant...I have PG patients in their 40's all the time" I even thought he was a infertility expert" all these years , so I never worried. I just trusted. And I got SCREWED.
Now you are up to speed on how I got here in the first place. After 4+ years and 5 RE's ( Reproductive Endocrinologists) I am still not PG. And my family is still crazy.
So I am blogging today, as I await blood test results...from yesterday that did not get run. Infertitiy is stressful enough with out all the crap that goes with treatment.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
