Time to Start Talking and Be Heard

*Despite it's dubious beginnings, this is not a political post.*

I don't think I've made it a secret on here that I'm a Republican. I'm actually probably more of a Libertarian than a Republican, but in the US, that's splitting hairs. I'm conservative in that I don't believe abortion should be used as birth control, I believe in low taxes and limited government involvement. However, I also believe in a person's right to love whomever they choose. So, do I believe same-sex couples should be discriminated against because they choose to spend their life with someone of the same sex? Hell no! They should be given the same rights and respects in tax and probate law that straight couples are given. I will support that right until the day I die.

But, I digress. This is not actually a politically motivated post. I say all of the above simply to say that The Huffington Post is not one of my normal online haunts. However, I was lounging about in Twitter today (when I should have been working) and I noticed that one of my friends had tweeted this post. I was curious, so I broke my stictly-no-political-sites-when-online-for-fun rule (The Hubs is politics obsessed and loves to discuss it with me, so I avoid when relaxing online) and moseyed on over for a peek.

I'll be the first to admit, I expected the worst. To my surprise, Dina Roth Port had done an outstanding job with this article, managing to capture many of the concerns IFers have and really getting it, something I'm not used to non-IFers accomplishing.

She's right, too. We need to start speaking up! Shouting it from the rooftops! Proudly proclaiming that IF is nothing to be ashamed of, but simply to be fought against! Can you imagine the faces of those ignorant of the real stuggles of infertiles if they were only forced to listen and understand? Can you imagine a time when we didn't have to fight insurance companies to pay for things that should not even be considered fertility treatment (ultrasounds to determine if we have cysts, follow up appointments for surgery due to endometriosis or hyperplasia), a time when infertility was looked on as what it really is - a disease worth treating?

I'm eager for that day to come. I look forward to a time when non-infertiles can understand and be educated in what they don't understand; when they will get that comments such as "just relax" do not help in the relaxation process, but instead lead only to more stress because how can we relax when we don't know how to fix it! And when they understand that it's not as simple as "you can always adopt". Adoption is long, hard, expensive route and that, for some people (myself included) it is the right path, but that - for others - it may not be an option due to finances, disappointments or any multitude of other complications.

I have some thoughts of ways to speak up and out for infertility, but they need more work right now. When the time is right, I'll share those with you and ask for your help. In the meantime, speak up about infertility! Let's make IF less of a taboo topic. Let's show people that situations such as Octo-Mom are the exception and not the rule where infertility is concerned and show them that the real faces of infertility are yours and mine.