Hey friends! National Infertility Awareness Week starts today and I’m kicking it off by rebooting my weekly Sunday Scoop posts with a special edition dedicated to Infertility. It’s an important week for me as I was diagnosed with infertility and subsequently went through infertility treatments to conceive my daughter so raising awareness has always been close to my heart. I know from experience that when more people understood what I was going through it was really helpful so if you know someone struggling read up and offer your support! I’ve been collecting articles related to infertility over the last several months to get you started that are informational for anyone whether you’re trying to start a family or not. So hopefully you can find something insightful, inspirational or interesting among the links below!

Fertility Health & Technology

• Some IVF techniques are still a bit controversial but none-the-less interesting, like this one.
  
• Here’s a few more technologies advancing procreating options: a uterus implant and a placenta grown in a test tube. Regardless of moral stance, it’s incredible how far science has come.
• Inflammation within the body may be linked to miscarriages.
• While birth control is obviously the opposite of what you want when trying to conceive it’s worth looking at some not so great and undiscussed side-effects it has as they could relate to fertility.
• The link between a tight psoas (hip flexor) muscle and infertility.
• When getting healthy for infertility becomes unhealthy.

On Infertility & Motherhood & Being a Woman

• Secondary infertility can be extra frustrating because your body is now not doing something it had previously done. Read one woman’s perspective here.
• Miscarriage is not something often talked about, but that seems to be changing.
• Here’s a look at the history of speaking openly about miscarriage.
• Also, it’s hard to feel the same about your body after a miscarriage. Here’s how one woman learned to love it again.
• An infertility diagnosis can wreak havoc on your personal life, especially your job. Read about how it’s affecting women in the typically male dominated STEM career sector.
• 13 Unexpected Parts of Fertility Treatment for those that might be new to this.
• It’s hard enough receiving an infertility diagnosis when you’re ready to conceive, but imagine having to confront that as a 16 year old before you are even close to thinking about it.

Inspiration

• Loss is NEVER easy but here are 75 Ways to help you cope if you’ve experienced this grief.
• And here are a few inspirational quotes for anyone going through the grief of miscarriage.
• Miscarriage is not only hard for a woman to go though, partners often experience grief too. This new book helps couples navigate through the struggle together.
• A list of great blogs to dig into if you’re in the need of inspiration.
• I haven’t read any of these books on infertility but they could also be a great source of inspiration.
• How to get some self care in while going through infertility.
• The two-week-wait can be SO hard. Here’s some inspirational tips to pass the time.

Pure Fun

• Not only does infertility need to be de-stigmatized but so does menstruation. This fun new board game should help!

That’s all for now! Stay tuned for more fertility related content throughout the week. Sending positive vibes to everyone and especially my infertility friends for the week ahead! And have a happy Easter if you’re celebrating!