I Am One

I am One.  I am 1 in 8 couples that experiances and lives with infertility.  I am one person who can stand up with my voice and be heard.  But I can only be heard if you listen.  If you listen and you pass the message on, then one of the other 1 in 8 couples might hear and find the support they need.  Today begins National Infertility Awareness Week.  It's a week I wish didn't have to exist, but it does.  This year, on this week, I will stand up and speak every day so that others might hear.

As I think about this week I think about the first blog entry I wrote last fall.  A year ago, I might not have stood up and have been willing to make public this journey we are on.  A year makes a difference.  I have learned alot this year.  I have learned that if  I want the world to change I must stand up and help it change.  I learned that what I go through today in my life may not be what I will go through tomorrow.  And most of all, while I am one, I am not alone.

7.3 million people suffer from infertility.  That's an astonishing number.  7.3 millions people may times suffer through their infertility in silence?  So why are there so many people trying to hush those of us standing up and speaking about our struggle?  Why are we being blamed for our infertility when it many times has nothing to do with what we did or didn't do?  Unless we stand up and speak up we will only remain nothing more than a rock in the dirt.  Rock's don't move unless picked up and tossed.  If we are afraid to speak because others might find out we are dealing with infertility and we are afraid they will place judgement on us, then we will only continue to struggle without relief.  This pertains to not just infertility...it is about any issue that affects our life.

I am One.  But I am one who believes that miracles are possible.  Just because they haven't happened to me doesn't mean that they won't happen. 

Today is your wake up call.  Are you going to just sit there and let the numbers rise.  Are you going to let us sit in silence?  You don't have to suffer from infertility to stand up.  You are reading this, right?  You've gotten this far in my rambling on and you are still reading this.  You may not suffer, but you read my suffering and the suffering of my friends.  So please, my plea today is that you help spread awareness.  Facebook it...Twitter it.  Wear a "Believe in Miracles" bracelet or any other infertility awareness bracelet.  Wear teal all week long.   Sport a ribbon.  Blog about it.  Please....help me raise this awareness.  Help us 1 in 8. 

You are One.  Believe in Miracles.