As many of my regular readers will know, infertility is a subject which is close to my heart as I have been through it myself (you can familiarise yourself with my story here), as well as the journey of many friends. It is still such a taboo subject which many do not like to talk about, especially those going through it. 


It is the fear of that stigma being put on them that they don’t work – though from personal experience, I also know many put this label on themselves – I did. 


Infertility is nobody’s fault. But you think it is – your own – I know that. 


For those who haven’t experienced infertility, or don’t know (of) anyone who has, did you know:

• after pregnancy, infertility is the most common reason for women aged 20-45 to visit their GP
• 1 in 6 couples in the UK experience difficulty conceiving – that’s around 3.5 million people
• over 60, 000 cycles of IVF are performed in the UK each year, yet fewer than 25% of these are successful 
• the majority of fertility treatment in the UK has to be paid for privately as the NHS provision can vary tremendously depending on your postcode
• in over 40% of instances of infertility, the causes are unexplained
• fertility declines with age – and that applies to men as well as women, albeit to a lesser extent

Before I discovered I suffered from infertility, I didn’t.


I guess I was lucky in a sense, that the cause of my infertility was able to be explained – PCOS.


I was also lucky that I didn’t have to pay for treatment, as it worked quite quickly. Unfortunately, some are not so lucky, and have to go their whole lives suffering, in pain. Pain that you can’t see, but it is there. Right under the surface. 


People shouldn’t have to go through this pain alone.


Support is crucial.


Awareness is crucial.


Talk.