As many of you will already know, IVFbabble.com launched the Babble Giving campaign #ivfstrongertogether at the beginning of November, during Fertility Awareness Week.
The aim of the campaign is to help people struggling with the solitude of infertility, by breaking the silence and getting people talking and sharing experiences.
We wanted to help bring light to the fact that even though you might feel you are alone, you’re really not. So many people have been affected by fertility struggles, whether first hand, or, because they have supported a friend or loved one who has, and we wanted to find a way to show you.
Although you might feel alone, there are millions of people who understand how you are feeling.
They too are feeling the anguish, sadness, frustration, hurt, desperation and fear of never actually becoming a mother. These emotions are shared across the globe, and knowing that someone else is experiencing the same set of emotions as you is a huge comfort.
This is where the idea for the pineapple pin came in. The cute little symbol of love, hope, friendship and good luck is a way for you to actually see that you aren’t alone.
Wear your pin with pride and show your love and support for others, by taking a picture and posting on social media with #ivfstrongertogether.
It will be amazing to see thousands of you, all looking out for one another.
We always thought you would love the idea of the pin, but we really were not expecting the enormous and super fast response that we had.
It has been incredible, and with the help of some celebrity supporters, we have reached so many amazing men and women who are going through fertility struggles.
The lovely Fearne Cotton and Kate Thornton posted a picture of themselves wearing the pin.
Between them, their posts reached 33K likes on instagram alone!! The response they got to their posts was amazing. People were thrilled that a conversation had been started. Men and women began sharing their experiences, both happy and sad, but all inspiring.
Fearne and Kate’s posts were an acknowledgment to everyone who has, or is struggling in silence. It was a way to say “tell me about you and how you are coping”.
One amazing woman said that her fertility battle was the biggest thing in her life. It was all consuming, yet she couldn’t talk to anyone about how she was feeling because no one wanted to – they just didn’t know how or what to say. All of her friends have children, so they couldn’t relate to her. They felt awkward and so would talk about anything else other than what she really needed to talk about. The biggest deal in her life and she had to keep it to herself.
I asked another brilliant woman who had been through 7 rounds of IVF how she had coped.
She said she had been very lonely and that the only way to cope was to dig deep every time, and to hold on to hope. I burst into tears when I heard this, because this is how I (Sara) got through my fertility battle. I was alone and dug to depths I didn’t think were possible of reaching. It was my only way of coping. I am thrilled to say the amazing woman who went through 7 rounds of IVF is now a proud mummy with a beautiful daughter. She has given her daughter the middle name ‘Hope’. This is true inspiration.
With so many men and women fighting infertility and going through treatment to achieve their dream of parenthood, no one should have to be alone.
We should have each other’s backs. We should reach out to each other, talk, share experiences and offer comfort. In the New Year we are organising a get together in London. We would love to see you there for a catch up and a cup of tea. We can talk about everything you need to talk about, namely you.
In the meantime, we will continue to highlight the #ivfstrongertogether campaign.
Although we sold out of pins within 3 days of launching, we have ordered more, so you can pre order yours if you don’t already have one. Click here for Amazon UK and here for Amazon US. The pins will also be available in other parts of the world very soon.
We can’t wait for everyone to start taking pics of themselves with their pins and sharing across social media. We will also be seeing some more lovely celebrity supporters who will be sharing pics of themselves with their pins too, so watch this space…!
With their huge reach we can really get this conversation started!
Huge love to every single one of you. We are here for you. You don’t have to go through this alone.
Read more about our fertility campaign and raising funds for Fertility Network through each sale
