Fertility Blog

It’s that time of the year. Your Facebook feed is buzzing with activity surrounding the start of a new school year. Parents are taking little ones back-to-school shopping. Friends are asking what time Meet-the-Teacher starts. You may not even have kids yet, but somehow you know all of the 1st and 2nd-grade teachers (by name) at the local elementary school.

I spent Tuesday evening of this week at the free monthly seminar hosted by Fertility Specialists of Texas. I really look forward to these nights each month as an opportunity to connect with women … Women who I don’t know, but share a bond with. And, while I felt prepared to attend as a guest speaker, I wasn’t prepared to be back in the patient chair.

Wherever you are along the infertility spectrum, you’ve likely been on the receiving end of some pretty interesting questions, comments or ill-worded advice. What people say is sometimes different from what they mean, and certainly different than what you may hear. The heart, head and mouth are funny things, and they sometimes get us into trouble. I’ve rounded up a few of my favorite cringe-worthy comments and my M.O. for surviving what certainly won’t be the first or last that I hear of these.

Hi, my name is Brie. I am your sister, your friend, your cousin- that girl who lives down the street. I am the 1 in 8 women you know who struggle with infertility. I am the girl who has cried herself to sleep because the perfectly quiet house was just too much to bear. I am the girl who mastered the art of putting on a happy face when friends told her they were pregnant, only to be looking for a place to breakdown. I am the girl who spent way too many Mother’s Days with empty arms. The girl who thought maybe if she bought enough things that she wouldn’t want a baby as much anymore.