Our NIAW Pregnancy Announcement

So, at 15 weeks (with a belly measuring over a week ahead of that), it's getting ridiculous to expect that we'll be able to continue hiding the pregnancy for much longer. Therefore, despite learning about our most recent terrifying complication, we've gone forward with announcing our big news. We're kind of rolling it out in phases, especially since we're not terribly frequent users of Facebook, so we've been telling some of our nearest and dearest by email. It's better than carrier pigeon, I guess, plus it allows me to be as overly-detailed and wordy as I want! I kind of feel like a belly picture or ultrasound printout actually wouldn't be worth a thousand words in this case, know what I mean?

A few paragraphs from our email that touch on infertility awareness appear below. I started with a Very Short description of the events that led us here, and ended with what I hope didn't read as a heavy-handed public service announcement. Anyway, here is how we combined telling people about our bun in the oven with National Infertility Awareness Week:

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...I wanted to tell you this story rather than just shouting from the rooftops "We're having a baby!" for a few reasons. First of all, infertility is pretty common. I hope that we have already soaked up all the bad mojo on your behalf, but in case we didn't, please know that you are not alone. Not every couple is made up of a man and a woman to begin with, and even that is no guarantee of success. Assisted Reproductive Technology (which is a huge, varied, and growing field) is becoming more and more accessible, particularly in states where it must be covered by insurance.

Also, I expect that many of us will become parents someday, and of course I hope that you find it an enjoyable process from start to finish! If this is the case, please, please, please do not forget that not everyone is so fortunate. Harry and I are so grateful that the technology for IVF exists, and that it worked for us on the very first try - in one sense, this makes us very lucky indeed. But there's nothing lucky about infertility overall, and the stigma attached to it is really unacceptable. We want you to know that we experienced this problem and this process, that we survived it together, and we want to thank you for the support you offered simply by being our friends during this time.

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That last sentence goes double for you, fellow bloggers.