I am Karli Moch from West Fargo, ND and I am one of the 1 in 8 women living with infertility.
I have been an open book since we began our journey with fertility struggles 6 years ago when trying to start our family.
The road was hard, seemed to take forever, lots of tears, frustration and sadness but in the end God answered with our blessing of a boy!
Now he has shown us the way again on our journey of adoption and we know this is the path and timing he had planned for us all along.
Let’s turn back the clock a few years to better understand how we got to where we are now. At that time I could open Facebook and within seconds it seemed, someone I knew had announced they were expecting a child! Turn on Instagram, and boom, out pops a newborn baby!
Exciting right? Of course it was! I love kids, always dreamed of starting my own family, and at first it gave me hope that it would happen for us.
Months went by, and then years, then one niece turned into five nieces and nephews all while we had been still praying for our own. The excitement and joy started to weaken internally and I could hardly deal with the pain it was causing until I decided to open up about our struggle.
I think I heard this question multiple times a week, “when will you guys have kids?” For a while my answer would be, “We are just going through our honeymoon stage, will probably start trying soon!”
Meanwhile, we had been going to reproductive health appointments, had been placed on different drugs, shots to the belly, IUI treatments and scheduled baby making time!
There were multiple rude and insensitive comments made by people close to me, that still ring in my ears. But, the thing is, when people don’t know what you are going through, or how much it’s affecting you, their comments are not made with the intention to hurt you, rather out of ignorance.
I decided to open up to people about it, not on social media right away, but to family, friends and people that I knew had gone through something similar. I immediately felt a weight lifted, I could breathe again! I didn’t feel the sense of pressure, the failure, and loss that fertility issues can often bring.
I am beyond grateful to have my now almost 4 year old son Dawson and recently adopted baby boy Simon! They have been such a blessing to our family and truly worth the wait.
I encourage anyone to open up and talk to someone if going through something similar, it just might make a difference in your journey as well as theirs.
My wish is for you to know the power in speaking your truth and not always putting on a strong face to shield others the pain. I want you to know that we all have the ability to say the same thing, but each and every one of us has a different sound; that is what makes a choir so breathtaking.
Make your voice heard, be authentic, be vulnerable, and be a shameless truth teller. You just might change someone’s life.
Karli Moch, West Fargo, North Dakota
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