Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms, moms-to-be, mother-in-laws, step-moms, grandmothers and great-grandmas, to those celebrating their first or their fifty-first, to those with mommies in heaven and to those with babies/children in heaven, to those who nurture animals, plants, & adults, and to all those who play a motherly role like teachers, nurses, & doctors! And especially to those who have been struggling, waiting, and hoping to be a mom. You’re all amazing women! Appreciate the day for what it is worth. My love, my hope, my heart goes out to all of you today.
family
Casting Call for Infertility Docu-Series!
Ok, if you caught my last post about the media ignoring infertility for NIAW, I wanted to share some
happy, exciting news in that department. I got an e-mail today from Russel Berman who is an associate casting producer at Pitman Casting. They are casting a new project focusing on families facing infertility and their journey to parenthood!
Here is the information that he wanted me to pass along:
Forever Family (Working Title)
Over 1.2 million women in the US seek treatment each year for infertility.
It is estimated that U.S. citizens adopt around 120,000 children each year.
Since 1976, there have been about 25,000 surrogate births in the USA and more than 250,000 babies have been born using the in vitro fertilization technique. IVF offers infertile couples a chance to have a child who is biologically related to them.
From one of the producers of Extreme Makeover “Home Edition” comes a new one hour docu-series that celebrates couples and individuals who have decided to create their family in a variety of non traditional ways.
Each week our Host, a nationally recognized celebrity who has a experienced a personal journey with adoption or infertility will meet and interview couples and individuals, who are in various stages of creating new families utilizing one of these fast growing alternative trends of surrogacy, adoption, assisted insemination or IVF.
As the cameras document each heartwarming story, our host may also introduce our audience to other celebrities who themselves have gone through the process and want to share their passion and experience in creating their families using one of the above mentioned alternative approaches.
We are casting couples and individuals who are in various stages of creating a family using alternative means such as: surrogacy, adoption, assisted insemination and IVF.
We are currently only looking for people in the Southern California region. If any of your readers are interested they should contact my associate
Sherry Calhoun at 818-400-9094
Thank you for your time.
Having infertility is like being thirsty in the desert…
So, after finding out about The Analogy Project from Mel at Stirrup Queens, I asked my husband if he could give an analogy to what infertility is like, what would it be? Within minutes, he recollected a scene from the movie Three Amigos!
In this scene, Martin Short, Steve Martin, and Chevy Chase are riding horses in the very hot, dry desert. When they stop for drinks, Steve Martin’s canteen is empty. I’ll step in here and say this is like what all the women feel who’s arms are empty and we are so desperately looking for a baby to fill them. It’s a thirst we can’t seem to quench when we are infertile.
When Martin Short lifts his canteen, there’s nothing but sand getting dumped into his mouth. This to me represents everything that’s wrong with infertility. No matter how much we may want a baby and need it right at that moment, the wrong things happen; it’s the wrong timing, the wrong procedure, the wrong results. It feels like we are drowning in a sea of emotions and yet can’t reach the shore. We may even see a mirage and get fooled into happiness for a short while, but we could still be drowning in that sand before we get the water we need and desire.
My husband simply describes Steve Martin and Martin Short as “us”. Now, Chevy Chase on the other hand is “everyone else.” When Chevy Chase lifts his canteen, it’s filled with water and he drinks a huge amount of it. When you are fertile, there seems to be an abundance of babies, pregnancies, sperm, eggs, and it’s all in the right place, at the right time, and it’s satisfying and bountiful just as the water is to Chevy in that moment on the desert. But my husband says, the clincher is when he throws the canteen on the ground and more water pours out. He’s so cavalier about it, and doesn’t even realize that the other two are thirsty or need water at all. Chevy really does take that water for granted, just as the ease of fertility is taken for granted for so many. Then, as he puts on lip balm, further satisfying his needs, it suddenly dawns on him to share. I think that many fertiles around the world are like this. They are oblivious to the pain and emotional needs of an infertile friend or family member. They satisfy their own family needs and may do/say things right in front of an infertile that are spiteful, insensitive, or downright mean (even without meaning to be). Maybe after their babies are born, or in some cases even before, they see us look longingly at their babies and pregnant bellies as Steve Martin and Martin Short did in this scene looking for the water, then these fertiles may suddenly feel a bit of sympathy and a willingness to be there.
But I think the truth of the matter is, it is our fate. There will always be an abundance of water for some on the desert as there will always be an abundance of babies. But sadly, the opposite is also true. We may get empty canteens or sand filled ones before we ever see one spilling over with the water we crave. And some of us will never get our own water filled canteens, we may have to take some from another or watch it slip away on the desert floor. Having infertility is like needing something so badly that you feel like you would die without it, just like being thirsty in the desert. But, I do hope we all find our water in one way or another.



































