04/24/2025
National Infertility Awareness Week
April 20â26, 2025ďżź
This post is for every woman whoâs ever stared at a negative pregnancy test and felt her heart shatter. For every person who has felt like their body betrayed them. For the ones who have screamed into pillows, cried in parking lots, and still shown up smiling.
1 in 6 people will face infertility. Thatâs not a small number. And yet, most of us go through it in silence, like itâs some shameful secret. But itâs not shamefulâitâs heartbreaking. Itâs isolating. Itâs real.
My journey was filled with years of trying to conceive. Years of pain, poking, prodding, and praying. I fought through endometriosis and PCOS, the double whammy that made every cycle feel like a slap in the face. But even through all of that, I held onto hope.
That hope turned into years of praying, medicines, and eventually, my sweet little Amalia! ďżź
Braden and I planned to have another child after Amalia - but my body had another planďżź.
My uterusâliterally turned against me. I was diagnosed with pre-cancerous cells four months after having Amalia, ďżźand suddenly, I wasnât just facing infertility⌠I was facing a life-altering decision with barely any time to process it. There was no egg retrieval. No time to freeze anything. No âwait and see.â It was a choice between keeping a broken piece of me or saving the rest.
So, I had a hysterectomy.
And let me be very clearâit was not a choice I made easily or willingly. It was ripped from me by circumstance, and itâs something I grieve, even now. Because while it gave me physical peace, it closed a door I never wanted shut.
Infertility is more than just a diagnosis. Itâs the quiet ache during baby showers. Itâs the forced smile when someone says âyouâll understand when you have kids.â Itâs the trauma of lost time, lost chances, and lost dreams.
But Iâm here. And if youâre reading this and youâre going through itâI want you to know youâre not alone. Whether youâre still in the thick of it, healing, or just trying to breathe through the grief⌠I see you.
To the 1 in 6âyou are strong, you are worthy, and you are so much more than what your body could or couldnât do.
Letâs keep talking. Letâs keep fighting. And letâs keep holding space for every storyâespecially the ones that never got their fairytale ending.
Graphic made by: Claudia Rivera