National Infertility Awareness Week® (NIAW) took place last week (April 24-30, 2016), a yearly initiative founded by RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association, to encourage people to act as their own infertility advocates and to educate legislators and the public about how infertility impacts one in eight couples within our community.
SGF and Resolve
Since establishing a partnership with RESOLVE, Shady Grove Fertility has helped to increase infertility awareness and raised more than $20,000 through annual events such as support groups, educational content, and public awareness initiatives to ensure that family building options are available to everyone.
#StartAsking
To promote this year’s NIAW theme, #StartAsking, Shady Grove Fertility provided those who are trying to conceive with various outlets for their questions including Q&As on Glow, a popular fertility app, with SGF reproductive endocrinologist Shruti Malik, M.D., and SGF’s first ever Facebook Live featuring Frank E. Chang, M.D.
- Glow Q&A: When to See a Specialist
- Watch Facebook Live: How to Get Started with Fertility Treatment
NIAW is a significant event to raise the profile of infertility awareness, but it is only one of the many ways throughout the year in which Shady Grove Fertility spreads infertility awareness and supports the infertility community. On May 11, 2016, Shady Grove Fertility physicians and staff will let their voices be heard at Advocacy Day, a RESOLVE event in which the community speaks with members of Congress to promote increased access to family building options and financial relief.
Be Your Own Advocate
With one in eight couples experiencing infertility, it is important for the community to come together and present a unified front, spreading awareness and letting couples know when it’s time to see a fertility specialist—given the importance of early intervention and how predominantly maternal age affects pregnancy outcomes. Shady Grove Fertility physicians typically recommend for a couple in which the woman is younger than 35, has normal cycles, and no risk factors for infertility, a year of trying to get pregnant without success is enough to warrant special attention. However, there are most definitely cases in which the 1-year standard isn’t the best course of action. Generally, when the woman is 35-40, a fertility consultation (to make sure there are no infertility-causing conditions besides age) should be considered after 6 months of unprotected intercourse, or after 3 months for women who are older than 40.
In addition to age, other factors have such an impact on a woman’s fertility that a baseline fertility workup is necessary, including:
- history of irregular menstrual periods or absence of periods
- previous abdominal or gynecological surgery, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), or other sexually transmitted infection
- known structural abnormalities of the uterus or other reproductive organs
- endocrine (hormonal) disorders such as thyroid disease
- pituitary tumors or hyperprolactinemia
To learn more about infertility awareness or if you like to schedule an appointment, please call our New Patient Center at 1-877-971-7755 or click here.
