Welcome to National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW). 1 in 8 people suffer from this disease. I am 1! Is that number not big enough for you? How about if I say I am 1 in 7.3 million people affected in the United States alone with infertility?
I would like to take say I did the research for the following information but sadly there are others like me and someone else did it first. The following information comes from
In the United States, 7.3 million people is just slightly less than the state of Virginia and just a smidgen over the state of Washington. It’s like two whole Puerto Ricos put together.
We could fill an area as small as 426 square miles (the city of Hong Kong) or as big as 71,300 square miles (Washington state).
To put it plainly, 7.3 million people is a lot of people.
At first, it’s easy to see just how massive 7.3 million people can be. We could fill whole cities, states and countries with our numbers. And then, like any statistic, it’s easy to start glazing over the population, to start seeing these groups of people as just a number.
The truth is, 7.3 million people is just too many people.
7.3 million matters because we matter, because our stories and journeys and hopes and fears and dreams of becoming parents matters.
That’s why, in order for our numbers as a community to ever be effective, in terms of advocacy, insurance coverage, media portrayals and general social acceptance and understanding – we can’t rely on our numbers alone. We need to be more than just a number.
We need to show people what 7.3 million people really looks like.
7.3 million looks like your neighbors, your sisters, your co-workers, your spouses, your friends.
7.3 million looks back at you in the mirror every morning, when you wonder if this month will finally be the month.
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