The Infertile Patient’s Prayer and Infertility
Lord, Give me Strength…
- To keep my cool when another period starts.
- To keep my chin up when a co-worker announces her pregnancy.
- To have a good relationship with my friend in spite of her ability to conceive easily and not be jealous of her.
- To endure my sister-in-law’s comments about toilet training.
- To keep from crying when I see children begging on the roads.
- To forgive my doctor when he keeps me waiting for two hours for a consultation – and then can’t remember my name.
- To make the right decision about treatment.
- To maintain a good relationship with my husband in spite of all this.
It’s helpful to remember the Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr. ” God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can change, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Infertility is…
- Watching your husband playing with your friend’s baby and wishing you could give him one of his own.
- Telling nurses to please take blood from your right arm because the veins in your left arm are all gone because of all the IVs you’ve had.
- Avoiding people you haven’t seen for a long time because you don’t want to hear the question, “Do you have any kids yet?”.
- Feeling very left out when your friends start comparing their pregnancy or childbirth experiences.
- Feeling like the whole town is pregnant except for you.
- Getting tired of people always expecting you to do things because “you don’t have any kids to worry about”.
- Waking up in the middle of the night and wishing you could hear your baby crying.
- Wishing you could give your parents grandchildren.
- Wanting to fall apart if one other person says, “Why don’t you adopt?” Easy, right?
- Sometimes avoiding friends who are pregnant or with newborns because you just can’t handle the situation at that moment.
© Dr. Aniruddha Malpani and Dr. Anjali Malpani www.drmalpani.com
Credits: How to Have a Baby: Overcoming Infertility