Child-free by Covid
A lot of life is a matter of getting to the shore to catch the Green Flash in the sunset, it’s all about timing. In his case, I was stuck in gridlock traffic on the 405 of life and missed this sunset altogether. My traffic jam was built on a lot of things, the most notable of which is Medical Sexism.
Sexism in the U.S. healthcare system is almost ubiquitous. I lived in 5 states over the course of 20 years. It was not until I sought fertility care in my late 30s that I discovered that I had been unduly suffering since I was in my early teens. After a few simple diagnostic tests to get a baseline for what might be preventing me from conception, it was revealed that I had Endometriosis. It is a prevalent cause of infertility and a very reasonable explanation for why I missed about one day of work per month for most of my adult life.
After getting my diagnosis, my partner had some basic fertility testing done to ensure all the reproductive parts were in working order. The good news was that his numbers were way above average, and he had an excellent chance of being able to get anyone pregnant, even me.
This left us with two choices:
1.) IVF(Invitro fertilization) or
2.) IUI (Intrauterine Insemination)
The latter is much more economical and less invasive. Think of it as the sterile and clinical version of the old “turkey baster”…
