Open Fallopians

I watch Grey's Anatomy.  Not with near the enthusiasm I used to, but I watch.  And even though it's not in my top 10 favorite shows anymore, it still moves me to tears every other episode.  And one such episode from this season showed one of the doctors confronting another about his insensitivity toward a brain dead infant.  The details aren't important, but her quote stuck with me (and caused me to cry, of course).

"That’s how you get a woman to tear her own body apart. You promise her a baby."

-Dr. Lucy Fields, Grey's Anatomy

Of course.  A woman will do insane, unbelievable, extraordinary things for the promise of a child.  She will allow you to slice open her belly.  She will rip her vagina.  She will surrender her breasts.  And she won't even think twice about it.

I thought of this today while I was sprawled out on a cold metal radiology table with my feet in stirrups and a catheter in my va-jay.  Today was my HSG.  One of the stops on the road to diagnosing my broken baby maker.  It wasn't miserable.  But it certainly didn't feel good.  There were moments I wanted to crawl out of my skin, but thankfully they were brief and the radiologist was comical.  And in the end, the results were positive.  My fallopian tubes are wiiiiiide open - like the perfect Autobahn for George's sleek swimmers.  (Amen to some good news for a change!)

Image from http://current.com

I can't think of anything I wouldn't do to become a mother.  Those cold, sterilized moments of pride swallowing, leg opening, basal body temping, uterine massaging, needle pricking, ultrasounding, hormone injecting promises of a baby, are MINOR inconveniences in the grand scheme of things.  But even still, I have such a heavy heart for the women who have been doing this infertility dance for a while.  We've been at it for about a year now, and it is HARD.  So hard.  And I have friends who have been dealing with it for five and six years.  Can you imagine?  I can't.

But it is amazing.  It's amazing the sacrifices both fertile and infertile couples will make to build a family.  While some couples may not have to subject themselves to assisted reproductive technologies, they still sacrifice finances, space, emotions, relationships, vacations, and more.  And for what???  A puny little baby that most likely won't really appreciate you until they have children of their own someday???  Why, yes.  That is exactly the reason.

Touché, Dr. Fields.  ;-)

National Infertility Awareness Week is April 24th - April 30th.  Check out www.resolve.org for more information.