National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW)

Millions of people around the world who want to have babies crash into the difficult, painful, and often lonely experience of infertility. In fact, the World Health Organization reports that one out of every six people in the world struggles with infertility. To bring more awareness, education, openness, research, understanding, and improved insurance coverage to bear against infertility, the National Infertility Association founded National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW).² It’s an entirely grassroots advocacy effort. This is a time for people experiencing infertility to feel supported and validated as they open up about their often private struggles in the hopes of bringing more light and solutions to the issue. Here at Pulling Down the Moon, we are all in for NIAW, and we hope you will join us as we all work toward better care and solutions to overcome infertility. We are here for you so please check out some of our special events and programming during this important week. 

When is National Infertility Awareness Week?

For couples grappling with the challenges and stresses of infertility, we understand that every week is infertility week. National Infertility Awareness Week brings more light to that struggle, usually during the last week of April. The timing is not coincidental; it sits just before what can be the difficult and heartbreaking holiday of Mother’s Day, which happens just a couple of weeks later. This year, it will happen from April 21 to 27, 2024.

Additionally, National Infertility Awareness Month bookends this time by landing in June.

There is no right or wrong way to observe NIAW or National Infertility Month. If you choose to participate, do something that feels right and validating for you. We will share some ideas of things you might consider below.

The Importance of National Infertility Awareness Week

People trying to conceive for an entire year through unprotected sex are considered to be struggling with infertility as defined by the World Health Organization, and that goes for all genders. The universal desire to form a family is severely stymied by a wide range of factors, both known and unknown, that may cause infertility. Struggling with infertility can cause a great deal of stress and anguish, which is only compounded by the fact that these struggles are often invisible. In some societies, talking about infertility is taboo or shunned at the very least. Even here in the United States, it can be an uncomfortable subject to bring up with family and friends. There’s always the fear of what others will think, and many still view it as a very private subject. It’s this silence that we want to break down and open up during National Infertility Awareness Month and Infertility Week. The more light and awareness we can bring to this topic, the more solutions, research, and support we can bring to care for those inside the struggle.

Ways to Take Part in NIAW

The National Infertility Association hosts several Infertility Week activities, challenges, and walks, but they also encourage anyone who wants to start up a new event or challenge to bring awareness to infertility. These are just a few ideas you can consider:

• Attending a local National Infertility Month or Week event or fundraiser scheduled near you
• Changing your Facebook banner or profile picture to commemorate NIAW
• Posting NIAW updates across your social media channels
• Host or attend a Walk for Hope
• Start up your own Infertility Week activity
• Create a blog to share your infertility journey and encourage others to join you
• Open up to family and friends about your situation
• Write letters to local, state, and national representatives to encourage them to support funding research
• Share links to helpful infertility education and resources across your social media channels.

Understanding Infertility and the Common Causes

One of the biggest drivers for the need to have a National Infertility Awareness Month and a National Infertility Awareness Week is just that—awareness. A large meta-study found that, depending on the geographical area surveyed, only 14% to 50% of people surveyed understood the definition of infertility.³ Also, a considerable amount of myth, mystery, and misinformation persists across demographic ranges about the causes and remedies for infertility. Bringing more education and understanding to the general public, as well as policymakers, can help move society closer to more effective treatments and solutions. Of basic importance is simply helping people understand what causes infertility in the first place, so that research can focus on therapies to address the causes. Up to this point, this is what we know about the most common causes of infertility:

• Male infertility is half the equation.⁴ There are many male factor issues such as genetic conditions that impact the production and health of the sperm, undescended testicles, varicocele, and infections such as HIV/Aids, gonorrhea, chlamydia, mumps, and others. Diabetes, injuries, cancer, and some medications can also impact male fertility levels.⁵
• Women’s health issues also have a significant impact on infertility. Hormonal imbalances, thyroid conditions, endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), menstrual cycle irregularities, ovulation disorders, uterine fibroids, and fibroids blocking fallopian tubes, thus preventing sperm and eggs from meeting are just a few potential causes on the female side.⁶ A woman’s age is also a contributing factor as fertility naturally declines in the mid to late 30s.
• Sometimes, both male and female infertility prevent pregnancy.
• Lifestyle factors can also play a large role in fertility. Poor nutrition, substance use (tobacco, marijuana, alcohol), being overweight, exercise levels, poor sleep, inflammation, and stress are also infertility factors.

Sometimes, no matter how many tests are run, the cause is still unknown. Bringing more awareness and research into infertility can help uncover solutions, remedies, and therapies to enable more people to become pregnant and carry pregnancies to full-term, healthy babies. Until then, we here at Pulling Down the Moon continue to provide a wide range of holistic fertility therapies that can help improve the reproductive ecosystems of men and women who want to get pregnant. Some of the especially effective lifestyle and holistic support therapies we provide include fertility nutrition programs, fertility yoga classes, fertility acupuncture and Fertility Enhancing Massage (FEM). 

Pulling Down the Moon Supports People Going Through Infertility

Here at Pulling Down the Moon, we have gathered true experts dedicated to helping people overcome the struggle of infertility throughout Chicago and Highland Park. We’ve also created a whole community of people who are traveling this road and understand exactly what it feels like. We will be standing strong together with you during National Infertility Awareness Month and National Infertility Awareness Week. Let us know if you have any plans, ideas, or events to commemorate the week, and please schedule an appointment to learn more about our services and how we can help you on your fertility journey.

References

1. World Health Organization. (2023, April 3). Infertility. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/infertility
2. HOME. (n.d.). Niaw Resolve. https://www.infertilityawareness.org/
3. Pedro, J., Brandão, T., Schmidt, L., Costa, M. E., & Martins, M. V. (2018). What do people know about fertility? A systematic review on fertility awareness and its associated factors. Upsala Journal of Medical Sciences, 123(2), 71–81. https://doi.org/10.1080/03009734.2018.1480186
4. Kumar, N., & Singh, A. (2015). Trends of Male Factor infertility, an Important Cause of infertility: a Review of Literature. Journal of Human Reproductive Sciences, 8(4), 191. https://doi.org/10.4103/0974-1208.170370
5. Mayo Clinic. (2021, September 1). Infertility - Symptoms and causes. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/infertility/symptoms-causes/syc-20354317‌
6. Cleveland Clinic. (2023, April 19). Infertility: Causes & Treatment. Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/16083-infertility