Social Impact of Infertility

Society or a person’s social life is very important. It may have positive or negative impact depending on how a person relates with others or how others relate with him/her. In our case, society or social life has very grave impact when it comes to sensitive matter like infertility. Based on a survey carried out, 38% of the people surveyed considered infertility as a disease. This is very serious especially when family members think so. Since most people don’t understand about matters pertaining to infertility, they may refrain from you. Some may even take it as far as thinking that you are cursed especially if you are the only one who is experiencing such a challenge in your family. Some may think that you did something wrong and now you are paying for your mistakes and others may think you are trying too hard yet, this is a condition that can be dealt with medically.

 Family is very vital and should be there to support each other and that’s the reason why many people regard their family so much. Without the family’s support and encouragement a person may become emotionally incapacitated. For instance, David’s grandmother told him that he was trying too hard and that he should take a vacation and get baby-making off his mind. This alone discouraged David and him and Darlene made up their mind not to discuss their issue with their families. Without the support of family, one may feel inferior and in turn gain a very low self esteem. This is evident when David and Darlene made a pact not to talk to the people they trusted i.e. their families. This came as a result of having spent several hours discussing their issue with family. Some people may contemplate to commit suicide just because they are unable to get a child after trying a few times with no avail. But when family is there to support such people, some thoughts may not even come to mind. Encouragement especially from family and friends brings hope and gives us faith to find that which we seek. On the contrary, if we hear words that discourage us, we lose hope.

Knowledge is power. This is a quote said by many but not all of them understand the weight it carries. Close to 90%of adult surveyed know about in-vitro fertilization (IVF) but less than half know about the chances of success. If people knew more, the issue of infertility would not be as serious as people see it. If David and Darlene had no knowledge of IVF life would have been unbearable to them thinking they don’t have any chance of getting a baby. But with this knowledge they were confident enough to discuss their infertility issue with their families though, with no avail. If their elders knew about it they would not have found it unbelievable or strange to concise a baby in a Petri dish.

As a counselor I would advise the couple to call a qualified doctor to explain to their families how the procedure is done and how successful it has been over the year. He should also assure them that it can be done and even site examples of some that he has done successfully. David and Darlene can also search for a couple who have gone through the whole procedure and have gotten positive result. This will encourage not only them but also their families to stop doubting the IVF way of conceiving. By doing this, they may change the mentality of many and they may be able to help others in their families that may not be able to discuss such an issue openly. Last but not least, when they are planning to have a family gathering they should not emphasize on their matter but should concentrate on having a good time with their families. They should keep a positive attitude and keep hoping that one day they will break the big news to their members that Darlene is expectant. When this happens, every doubt will melt away