To this day I still can’t quite believe it. I’m a Mom! But I’m also Infertile.
The experience of trying to get pregnant and create a family was so challenging on every level, that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to shrug the mind-set of someone aspiring to be a parent. The best thing about it is that it fuels my determination to raise awareness and help make the path to becoming a parent lighter for others.
After years of failed pregnancies with a boyfriend, subsequent rounds of IVF and IUI on my own, 15 trips to Denmark for infertility treatments (I was living in the UK at the time), accompanied by on-going drug injections, financial planning, sleepless nights and emotional spiraling into self-blame and shame, I am indeed a mother.
The moment everything turned around for me, was also the moment in which I was in told in very clear terms by my reproductive endocrinologist that I would NEVER conceive. He also reminded me that adoption for a single woman was nearly impossible, and that surrogacy and egg donation were extremely expensive. He suggested I let go and move on.
It was then that I finally understood what it was all about. What I really wanted was to have a child, to create a family, to become a mother. I realized that if I really wanted to be a parent, that I would be. It just might not happen in the way I had always, until that moment, dreamed of.
Fertility Planit was born during my own journey through infertility, and by my desire to connect with a like-minded community of friends, experts and resources where we could share information, support, and inspiration with one another. I wanted to be able to customize an online experience to suit my individual needs, where I could connect with people who could understand this life changing experience of trying very, very hard to achieve something so intimate.
Fast forward to September 2012, in just a few months my amazing team (all of whom I met through social media) and I will be staging the first annual Fertility Planit Show in my former home, Los Angeles.
This blog is where I’ll give you a behind-the-scenes view and share my experiences with talking with some of the world’s most inspirational experts and thought leaders in fertility medicine and family building — as I persuade them to join our show!
I’ll also share what it’s like to be a start-up Founder and CEO as my team and I try to put together a trade show that will help people feel good about themselves as they explore all options for having children and creating a family. I look forward to sharing this thrilling journey with you and I welcome your input always.
Warmly,
Karin
Founder/CEO, Fertility Planit
I knew it would happen, but I didn’t anticipate all that I’d learn from it.