What do you know about my life? How can you stand there and pass judgment on me? Here you go, take my shoes, since you think you can walk in them better.

Most people think that conceiving a child is as easy as getting up in the morning. The truth is the natural fertility rate is about twenty percent per month for a healthy, fertile woman. That means that for every hundred women trying to get pregnant in one cycle, only twenty will be successful. Approximately one in eight couples are affected by infertility in the United States. That’s roughly 6.7 million people each year.

It’s not a choice to have multiple miscarriages. It’s not a choice to have irregular periods. It’s not a choice to have regular periods without ovulation. It’s bad enough trying to conceive and can’t. We don’t need the twenty questions, the side eye when we don’t answer, or the talking behind our backs when we walk away.

No, it’s not your business to know why I don’t have any children yet. Yes, I know how old I am just in case you were wondering. I also know that thirty-five is the average age for women when their natural fertility begins to decline. And by the age of forty, a woman’s natural chance of pregnancy is less than five percent.

Infertility treatments and IVF is usually not covered by most insurance carriers and is left for the patient to pay. The average cost of in vitro fertilization in the U.S. is currently about $11,000 to $12,000 which does not include the medication needed to prompt ovulation to even retrieve the eggs. The cost makes this treatment out of reach for most working Americans.

The next time you think to ask a woman what she’s waiting for, please remember these numbers. Show her the same compassion you would want shown to yourself. Sometimes it’s not a choice.

#tomyone #mystand #awaken7 #womensleadership