National Infertility Awareness Week

National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW) is a movement that began in 1989, founded by RESOLVE: a major national grass roots infertility association. In 2010, NIAW became a federally recognized health observance by the Department of Health and Human Services. It has grown into a collaborative effort on the part of millions of women and men diagnosed with infertility and the nation’s medical, mental health, family building experts and policymakers to raise awareness about infertility. The overarching goal of NIAW is to raise awareness about the disease of infertility and encourage the public to understand their reproductive health.

With infertility affecting 1 in 8, it’s likely that everyone has at least one friend or family member living with infertility.

The GOAL of the week is to raise awareness about infertility, to encourage grass roots advocacy and help couples with infertility cope with their disease.

Ensure that people trying to conceive know the guidelines for seeing a specialist when they are trying to conceive.
Enhance public understanding that infertility is a disease that needs and deserves attention.
Educate legislators about the disease of infertility and how it impacts people in their state.

The THEME for this year’s NIAW is “#StartAsking” and is intended to motivate all that are part of the infertility community to commit to the cause, which includes asking:

Employers for insurance coverage.
Lawmakers and legislators to support issues important to the infertility community.
The media to report on the real challenges of infertility.
Friends and family to support the cause.
Infertility specialists, OB/GYNs, primary care physicians and adoption agencies to support the cause.
Those who have resolved their infertility to stay involved.

When the general public and general medical community understand infertility better, fertility challenged couples will be freer to talk about their condition, possibly experience less shame, and receive more support and more effectively access appropriate care in a timely way.

In the spirit of NIAW, I am asking you to take action by reading, learning and participating in this movement to build and sustain healthy families; this is in keeping with our mission as health care providers.

Michigan is in the forefront as a national leader in family building advocacy through efforts by the Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and its Michigan Infertility Advisory Committee (MIADCO) collaborating with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Upcoming relevant events and resource links available to you are as follows:

Please join us for the first Michigan ART Summit (MiART)