I hid my
infertility struggles for most of the time that I struggled. My friends did not
know how miserable, sad and lonely I was. The closest people to me, my family
did not know either.
I hid it
because I was ashamed of my inability to conceive, I did not want anyone to
know me in my incompleteness. I hid my struggles because I did not want anyone
to think that I was over-reacting because I did not know that the symptoms
caused by my infertility were really very real and therefore could be embraced.
As I
slowly but cautiously began to open up about my struggles, I heard comments
such as: ‘I don’t know if I was in your position if I would be feeling as
miserable as you are;' I had no use for God and I should live in the sunshine; I
should search my life to see if there are un-confessed sins that I am being
punished for; that I was stressing my husband out. I was so glad I had hidden
my struggles for so long or I probably would have heard worst comments.
Can I still say that this post is not really about me? It is to examine up close, the various
symptoms of infertility, why they happen and how you can get help in dealing
with them.
See link
below, courtesy of the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Women’s Health
for information in this regard:-
From
the site
“Parenthood
is one of the major transitions in adult life for both men and women. The
stress of the non-fulfillment of a wish for a child has been associated with
emotional sequelae such as anger, depression, anxiety, marital problems, sexual
dysfunction, and social isolation. Couples experience stigma, sense of loss,
and diminished self-esteem in the setting of their infertility (Nachtigall
1992). In general, in infertile couples women show higher levels of distress
than their male partners (Wright 1991; Greil 1988); however, men’s responses to
infertility closely approximates the intensity of women’s responses when
infertility is attributed to a male factor (Nachtigall 1992). Both men and
women experience a sense of loss of identity and have pronounced feelings of
defectiveness and incompetence.”
http://www.mentalhelp.net/images/root/infertility.jpg?0.1536280284048676
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