A few weeks ago I decide to take a last minute trip to Columbus, OH. While there, I was able to interview Jennifer. Jennifer was diagnosed with PCOS and Endometriosis and dealt with years of infertility before a successful IUI and the birth of her daughter, Kathryn. For the past few years, Jennifer and her husband have been trying IUIs again. Below, Jennifer reflects on Advocacy Day and why she makes the trip to Washington, D.C. each year. Thanks, Jennifer, for sharing your story.

Elizabeth

“At first I went because three of my friends were going. I was like, oh, it’s going to be a fun girls trip. I think sometimes I’m a fairly cynical person so I don’t necessarily always think that our voice is heard and that the senator really cares, but going in there and telling them what we need, what we want, and that there is a need for infertility coverage and the adoption credit, I felt so empowered. In control almost. Like I could take back control and I didn’t expect to feel that. It was a lot more emotional than I thought it would be. I think I probably did cry at some point on that day and I didn’t expect that at all. I really didn’t. I’m always sort of using humor as my natural defense and sort of hide stuff so I was really shocked by how emotional I was that first Advocacy Day.”

“One of the things that I came away with the first time I went to Advocacy Day that never even entered my mind was that if, in twenty years, my daughter is infertile for whatever reason, whether it’s her, or her spouse, or whatever, that I could do this for her. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I could fight for her so that she never has to know this pain. So that’s why I keep doing it. More than for myself or for anything.”

“I thought I was going to make a difference for myself. That I was doing it because of my journey and what I went through. I just started thinking about Kathryn and if anything I do on that day can make it easier for her, if she HAS to walk this path, then I’ll go every year, every day, forever.”