National Infertility Awareness Week® (NIAW) is a movement, founded in 1989 by RESOLVE, whose mission is to empower you and change the conversation around infertility. As NIAW 2024 comes to a close, it is important to look back at how we have worked to change the conversation and more importantly, look forward to how we can all work together to “Leave Our Mark,” the theme for this year’s movement.
Across the country, infertility patients, professionals, advocates and allies all worked to tell their stories, raise awareness to help educate the public about this disease that affects 1 in 6 individuals, and raise funds to help amazing organizations like RESOLVE achieve their mission of protecting and expanding access to care. There were events across the country organized by volunteers like the walks in Northern Virginia and Baltimore that we attended, webinars and Instagram Lives and social media stories, and buildings across the country lit up in orange on April 24 to help shine light on the impact of infertility.
Grain Fertility’s mission is to empower fertility patients, putting them in control of their journey and giving them the tools and resources they need to feel confident in their care and NIAW is a week that highlights the importance of empowerment and the impact it can have on individuals.
We hope to Leave Our Mark on the infertility community a number of ways, including:
Promoting organizations dedicated to helping fertility patients through expanded access to care, protecting IVF, helping afford treatment, and reaching historically people and communities that have historically been marginalized from care. You can see partners we trust at https://www.grainfertility.com/partners and are always looking to add more.
Helping patients better understand their own journey by connecting them with expert Fertility Empowerment Coaches who have years of experience working with patients. If you have not created a Grain Fertility account, go to https://app.grainfertility.com/signup and create your account today and our Patient Empowerment Coach Kim will reach out. If you are already a Grain Fertility user and have not scheduled your complimentary call, reach out to us at info@grainfertility.com.
Providing fertility patients with a secure, easy to access location to organize, access, and use the most important information they need through the Grain Fertility application.
Connecting patients with the fertility services they use to help reduce the amount of time and stress patients and their care team face when trying to understand everything. We are working on allowing you to seamlessly integrate your fertility information directly into the application so you can get real time access to your most important information easier than ever.
Advocating for expanded reproductive healthcare access and using our voice in the community to raise awareness, educate decision makers, and help change how fertility care is delivered.
Advocacy, awareness and the work of NIAW 2024 does not end this week and you can play an important role! Some ways you can Leave your Own Mark include:
Signing up for the RESOLVE Advocacy Network (RAN) on their website at https://resolve.org/take-action/become-an-advocate/act-now/. You can also sign up for RESOLVE Federal Advocacy Day, taking place virtually on May 14, at https://act.resolve.org/page/61686/event/1?ea.tracking.id=website.
Sharing, if you are comfortable, your own story, posting to social media or communicating with friends and family about your journey is a great way to reach those closest to you and help them know how impactful infertility can be.
Joining or starting a support group to help others like yourself. Support groups are a great way to help find your voice, support others who are struggling, and directly impact the lives and journey’s of others. https://resolve.org/get-help/find-a-support-group/.
Advocating for expanded fertility benefits at your work. RESOLVE has created resources to help you talk to your HR department about expanding benefits to cover the cost of infertility care https://resolve.org/learn/financial-resources-for-family-building/insurance-coverage/getting-insurance-coverage-at-work/
Partnering with organizations and companies in the fertility industry. If you own a business or have influence in your workplace, consider corporate partnerships with infertility organizations for sponsorships or employee matching donation programs.
The power of storytelling, of telling the truth about what it is like to struggle with infertility, and shining light on the trials and tribulations millions of people face every year, is how we will move from infertility being a fringe issue to getting the attention and funding it deserves. We are proud to play an incredibly small role in this larger movement and pledge to continue to work with those throughout the infertility industry to help make fertility treatment easier and empower patients.