Baltimore Sun Examines Use Of Blogs In Helping Couples Discuss Struggles With Infertility

Main Category: Fertility
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology;  IT / Internet / E-mail
Article Date: 18 Jul 2008 - 8:00 PDT

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The Baltimore Sun on Tuesday examined the increasing popularity of blogs that detail the experiences of attempting to have children among the more than seven million people in the U.S. affected by infertility.

The blog "Stirrup Queens and Sperm Palace Jesters" serves as the "infertility blogging community's central meeting place and clearinghouse," the Sun reports. The Web site lists about 1,400 categorized blogs, as well as keeps lists of peer infertility counselors and bloggers in different cities. According to the Sun, blog posts "run the gamut from raging tirades to gracefully written entries that resemble mini-essays. Writers ask questions, share the most intimate details, blurt out good news or seek solace." The Sun reports that the blogs are "not all doom and gloom: Plenty of women do get pregnant," and many blogs are about pregnancy and parenthood after infertility and loss.

Tara Simpson, a psychologist at Baltimore's Shady Grove Fertility Clinic, said that chat rooms, listservs and blogs can be therapeutic outlets for some people and seem to be replacing "old-fashioned" support groups. Simpson said she has "noticed a trend where people are going home -- because of time and travel and how hectic everyone's lives are, is what we hypothesize -- and talking to people or maybe writing about themselves online for other people to appreciate their struggles. Not as many people are coming in as years ago, when people would get together and talk."

According to the Sun, in-person support groups are not available to some people who travel long distances to get to clinics where they receive infertility treatment. The Sun profiled the case for Jaime Sayers, who began her blog, "Sayers Journey," last year after she and her husband were stepping up their efforts to get pregnant after years of not becoming pregnant and the diagnosis of "unexplained infertility." Sayers said the blog is "kind of like a sisterhood. We can relate to each other's ups and downs." She added, "This is stuff I wanted to share -- to get the things going on in my head out. Sometimes it's venting but oftentimes, the blog is positive" (Marech, Baltimore Sun, 7/15).

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