Frugal Infertility
Infertility
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Disclaimer: This site is provided for informational purposes only. The information here is not intended to diagnose or treat any condition, and should not replace the care and attention of qualified medical personnel. Use the information on these pages at your own risk, and, as with any information pertaining to health, nutrition, pregnancy, childbirth, or fitness, consult your physician before making any changes that might affect your overall health.

Resources

Leah After Judah - Secondary Infertility Support for Christian Women
Natural Diabetes Control - Lots of strategies.
Carry to Term with a Negative Prenatal Diagnosis - Practical help and support
Sedentary Life - Help for people who must live a less active life.
MegaFamilies - Large family support site.
Love Is Archive - Stories of love and kindness.
Road Not Taken - Supporting the Hard Choices in Life.
Joy in Parenting - Practical parenting.

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Infertility Basics

Infertility can be a result of female problems, or male problems. Those problems can range from mechanical dysfunction (sometimes surgically correctable), to hormonal problems, to genetic abnormalities. They can be caused by developmental problems, chemical exposure, improper diet, or other environmental influences. Problems may be temporary, or permanent.

To further complicate the issue, there is a great deal of overlap between infertility, and repeat miscarriage. The causes may be similar, or different, but the aspect of childlessness is the same. The emotional reactions can be much more severe with repeat miscarriage. Extremely early repeat miscarriages may be mistaken for failure to conceive. Because of the overlap, both situations are addressed in many of the areas of this site.

Medical treatments vary widely in complexity, and invasiveness. In-vitro Fertilization is probably the most expensive and invasive of common infertility treatments, a prescription of Clomid is perhaps the least complex and invasive. There tend to be fewer options for repeat miscarriage than for infertility, though that is changing as technology advances and our understanding of what causes repeat miscarriage increases.

There are a ton of websites out there that have information on treating infertility with herbs, or that discuss potentially damaging substances. Unfortunately, many of the herbs recommended can actually harm a fetus and reduce your chances of a successful pregnancy. And many of the substances accused of causing genetic damage have no reliable information to back up the conclusion. The whole subject of natural treatments for infertility or miscarriage is a mire of confusion. And there are no real answers to that other than researching multiple sources, and choosing to heed counsel that is informed and that minimizes risk.

Emotionally, infertility is very difficult to cope with. You get on this emotional roller coaster, where every month you are let down, until you don't even want to hope anymore. But when you ovulate again, you really can't help hoping. If you are experiencing repeat miscarriage, you get to where BEING pregnant is no longer a joy, but misery, because you know that it just means you'll probably miscarry again, and waiting becomes a particularly difficult type of torture.

People tell you to "forget about it and it will happen naturally". To which anyone who has BEEN there knows, unless you have a kid who is diagnosed with cancer, or some other REALLY catastrophic event in your life, you CAN'T just forget about it. It is THERE, all the time, in the back of your head.

No one knows what puts that desire to bear a child so strongly in a woman's mind, but once it is there, it is very persistent. We don't ask for it, it comes, and then we have to cope with it.

Men and women handle infertility differently, and their compulsion to have a child will often be very different. Good communication and tolerance are needed to keep a marriage strong through the ups and downs of trying to get pregnant, or trying to stay pregnant. It really helps to understand that a spouse WILL feel differently, and that their reactions will look very different on the surface, and then to allow those differences and accept them.

In the world we live in, there is a great deal of judgment toward people with low incomes who want a child. Income does not determine a person's ability to be a good parent. So this site is not about who should or should not have a child.

 

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