Infertility has a face - my review of "The View"

The other day I happened to see a commercial for "The View" scheduled to air yesterday morning. It was said to be an entire episode about dealing with infertility. Needless to say, I set it to record on my DVR. While folding laundry last night, I watched the episode.

Now I know everyone has their own opinions on the panel and outspoken nature of one or more of the ladies on there, I won't get into that on here (even though I do have my own opinions of who I like to listen to and who I like to avoid!).

It certainly brought back some memories and terminology that I have not used in a few years! I applaud them for bringing the discussion out, and devoting an entire episode to it. That alone should show you how much of America deals with some form of this issue. We tend to hide out in the dark feeling so lonely dealing with the super sensitive issue.

Then they brought out a celebrity couple Bill and Giuliana Rancic to discuss their public infertility struggles. I think the most profound statement Giuliana made was about celebrity couples that conceive in their late 30's, 40's have twins, etc make it seem so easy. That they can focus on their career for their 20's and 30's, then have kids and have it all. However, what is not discussed is the fact that by the age of 30, 97% of your eggs are gone. And most of these celebrities have also gone through fertility treatments, had egg donors and surrogates. The public does not know this, but will model their careers and successes after some of these celebrities.

After that they brought out other "regular" people and interviewed them about their struggles. Honestly, I was bored when I got to one lady, so I stopped watching at that point. While I don't feel all was said about the struggles and heart ache of infertility, I am glad they showed what they did and put a face to the issue. I just don't think that all could be discussed and understood by the general public in an hour episode. I don't think the pain and struggles could be shown in an hour episode. However, I do feel this showed the tip of the iceberg and will encourage folks to start discussing it with their doctor.

I would count this as a successful episode if only one person would feel comforted, not alone, and willing to discuss their issues with their doctor! I even applaud them more by putting more in depth resources on their website. This episode has a thumbs up from me, good job "The View"!

Click here for a link to the episode if you want to watch it on Hulu.

Click here for a link to someone that has blogged about their personal struggles of dealing with infertility for years.