Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in Fort Worth, TX

I want to welcome Julie Irwin Zimmerman as our Guest Blogger today! Julie is a jounalist and regular contributor to Cincinnati Magazine. She has also worked as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune and the Cincinnati Enquirer. Today, she has graciously prepared this post to introduce you to her book, A Spiritual Companion to Infertility.

Now, if you yourself have (thankfully) not suffered with infertility, I'm sure you're like me and you know someone who has. Below, Julie offers her thoughts about the the Octuplets' mom and her struggles with infertility.

Nadya Suleman, the California woman who gave birth to octuplets last month and now has 14 children under the age of 8, is on television today and tomorrow giving her first interview. Like most everyone I know, I am at a loss as to how a doctor could have agreed to place so many embryos in an unemployed single mother who already had so many young children, and I'm troubled by Suleman's explanation that a lonely childhood led her to want a huge family. But as a former fertility patient, I also recognize the pain she describes in her seven-year quest to have children, how miscarriages and failed pregnancy attempts left her despondent.

I never reached the suicidal point that she describes, but my years of trying to have children were definitely the hardest of my life. In our talk-show culture it seems like everyone is willing to talk about their addictions and compulsions in public, but infertility too often remains a private struggle, a source of shame that is borne alone.

Those of us who are having problems conceiving usually hope our ordeal ends quickly so we won't ever have to reveal our trouble to others. Our friends may suspect something's amiss but avoid bringing up the topic for fear of seeming to pry. A wall goes up between us, and sometimes it's tall enough to remain even after we've resolved our infertility.

Now that I have two children I'm more than willing to talk about the difficulty my husband and I had forming our family, but I wasn't so forthcoming in the thick of things. I'm left wondering if things might have turned out differently for Nadya Suleman and her children if we treated infertility like other medical problems, if she'd gotten more support from friends or help from a psychologist, if it hadn't been just her making these decisions alone.

An estimated 10 percent of married couples worldwide are unable to conceive or have experienced infertility at some point in their lives. The stresses infertility places on a marriage are numerous. But in A Spiritual Companion to Infertility, Julie Irwin Zimmerman views the hardship of infertility not only as a physical condition but as an opportunity for spiritual growth.
 
In language that is personable and frank, Zimmerman uses her own experiences to help others understand the myriad challenges that arise while struggling with infertility. If you'd like to purchase her book to help during this emotional and courageous process, follow this link.