In Ohio and asking for your help

Taking a break from funeral planning to share an e-mail I just got from Resolve.  I hope that if you took the time to write to your Senator like I urged you to here, or even if you didn't, you will consider calling them to urge them to support this bill.  Through the Resolve website fewer than 6,000 letters have been sent to date.  That may seem like a lot, that that is fewer than the number of people who do IVF cycles in a year in Chicago alone.  So in my opinion, it's pretty embarrassingly low.  How can we possibly expect anyone to care at all about our infertility and do something about it if we are not even willing to take five minutes to send an auto-letter online?  No wonder it seems like we are living in the dark ages...

From Resolve:

To date 5,890 letters have flooded the U.S. Senate asking for support of the Family Act of 2011, S 965. THANK YOU!


Many of you have contacted us asking, “What else can I do?”

RESOLVE needs you to make the halls of the Congress ring with hope.

Please call your Senators on Monday, June 20, 2011 and urge them to co-sponsor S 965.

Here’s what you can do: (Note: you will repeat these instructions twice, once for each Senator in your state.)

1. Call the main U.S. Senate switchboard at 202-224-3121.

2. Ask to be transferred to your Senator’s office.

3. Here is a sample script for your call:

“Good morning/afternoon. I live in and I’m calling to follow up on a letter I sent to the Senator regarding a bill that I care about, the Family Act of 2011, or S 965. May I speak with the Health Legislative Assistant or someone else in the office?

Once you’re connected:

“I sent a letter to your office and asked that the Senator co-sponsor S 965, as it is very important to me. This bill is called the Family Act and it would create a tax credit to help with the out-of-pocket medical costs for infertility treatment. As you know, yesterday was Father’s Day, and with millions of Americans suffering with infertility, there are men in this country who have no chance of being fathers due to the cost of medical treatments.

Can I count on the Senator to help me and thousands of others in our state by co-sponsoring this legislation?

I urge you to talk to my Senator about this call and my letter. I encourage you to reach out to Karina Cabrera, your colleague in Senator Gillibrand’s office, and let her know if you have questions or need more information about this bill.

Thank you for taking my call and passing on my message to the Senator.”
Need a reminder email sent to you on June 20th? Click here to sign up and you will receive a reminder to make your calls to your two U.S. Senators.

This is a critical step to getting S 965 passed. Our Senators need to hear from us!

Thank you for taking action.

Sincerely,

Barbara Collura
Executive Director
RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association

Calling all infertiles! (and those who love them)

It's show time people!  One of the most frustrating things for me over the last three years (besides of course not being able to get pregnant without LOTS of medical help), is the current state of awareness and support for those who are dealing with the disease of infertility.  I think we still need more high profile people (i.e. celebrities) who are willing to tell their stories and advocate for the cause (especially after they've had their babies), much like breast cancer had in the 1970's with First Lady Betty Ford, which was then followed by the formation of numerous high profile charities who were and are focused solely on the cause.  Before this time, it was terribly taboo to even discuss this form of cancer and research and support were few and far between.  Hard to imagine now with everything bathed in pink for the entire month of October...

It disappoints me greatly that not one, but the last THREE of the last first ladies (Clinton, Bush, and Obama) had to deal with infertility in order to have their daughters, but not a one of them (to my knowledge) have done anything more than to mention their difficulties in passing in interviews or memoirs.  I wonder how much farther along we would be in our evolution as a society if more people were brave enough to step out and make this an important issue for anyone who has or wants a family, which I think most people agree is one of the most fundamental aspects of life.

Thankfully there are some advocacy groups actively working to promote the rights of the infertile, who often struggle in silence and are forced to make decisions about their medical care and whether or not they have children based on what their family is able to afford.  A new bill called The Family Act of 2011 has now been introduced in the U.S. Senate (as of last Friday) by Sen. Kristin Gillibrand of NY (D) and it needs co-sponsors and supporters in the only slightly Democratically controlled Senate.  The aim of the bill is to make equitable the ability of those treating infertility (or preserving fertility due to cancer) and those who have chosen to adopt to receive tax credits for the costs associated with building their families.  I have always said that no one should have to mortgage their future to have a family, it just doesn't make sense.  It is rare to have any indication in advance that you will have to deal with infertility, so it's not like you know to start saving before you are in the midst of the storm.

Please take the time to write to your two U.S. Senators (see link above, Resolve has made it super easy but please add your story) to ask them to support (and co-sponsor) this bill.  Even if we are not able to get this passed, then at least we are making progress in educating our legislators about the importance of helping those who, through no fault of their own, are faced with large medical expenses (often uncovered by insurance) in order to try to have a family.  Thank you.

Family Act FAQ
Overview of The Family Act