Parents of IVF babies remain quiet on fertility issue
from the Sun Herald (AUS)
"WHILE one Australian baby in 35 is now conceived through IVF, many parents still fear a stigma is attached to fertility problems.
Experts say that while about 10,000 women each year undergo the treatment nationally in an industry worth $40 million, many prefer to keep it a secret."
To tell or not to tell? This is a discussion that inevitably occurs on online discussion boards. Many women choose not to tell anyone about their fertility issues or IVF treatments while undergoing them but it can be a different story once their hopes are achieved and their baby is born.
Part of the reason for keeping quiet while undergoing IVF treatment may be due to a couple's embarassment over fertility problems, particularly if the problem is largely due to male factor. However, in many online discussions women have talked about how they don't want their fertility issues or IVF treatment to be the source of family gossip or idle chatter or that they don't want the "pressure" from outsiders about the way their treatment is going. Instead many women choose to discuss their treatment anonymously (or semi-anonymously) with other women going through the same treatment via internet message boards.
