your great life

The Fertility Focus Telesummit is back for 2012

Sarah Holland's Fertility Focus Telesummit launches on the 12th of March. I spoke at last year's Telesummit, and listened to every one of the other speakers, so I believe I can vouch for this worthwhile event. Click here for more information about how you can register for the Telesummit.

This is how it works. The Telesummit is an amazing “virtual event.” It will feature fertility experts from around the world sharing their knowledge and insights on a wide range of fertility subjects. You can listen in to all the information-packed presentations either online or over the phone every day of the Telesummit, starting on March 12th.

Grab your place now to attend this exciting event for free and get fully informed about what you can do to improve your chances of having a baby. Click here for details of all the expert presentations, each covering a different aspect of infertility and all offering great advice, ideas and solutions to help you move further towards becoming a parent.

A Bonus for You as part of the Fertility Focus Telesummit

Welcome to Your Great Life, and especially today to those visiting from IComLeavWe.  I'm all set for presenting my session at the 2nd Fertility Focus Telesummit tomorrow. I have just listened to Sarah Holland, the founder and host of the Telesummit, present her introduction and it got me even more excited for the week's events.  As I shared with you in the blog above, I'm speaking to you on how "Creating an Effective Support Network Can Make All the Difference When Trying to Conceive."

In order to help you create the best support network to fulfil your unique needs, I have a Worksheet which is available FREE.  Email me at [email protected] (you can click through on the Email Icon to the right), quoting #FFTS2011 in the subject box and you will receive the worksheet by reply email.  Please feel free to include in your email any questions you have about my presentation at the Telesummit, or about fertility coaching.

If you haven't registered yet, you will want to do it right away. The presentations are live, each speaker will try to take questions and recordings are available for free for 24 hours after each presentation, or you can choose to upgrade to get all 17 audio files emailed to you after the Telesummit. 2,700 people have already signed up! Click here to register for the Fertility Focus Telesummit FREE.

Chana Medical Conference will speak to Jewish concerns re fertility issues

Chana, a Jewish organisation concerned with fertility, is hosting its 1st Annual International Medical Conference in North London on Monday the 31st of January, 2011: "Facing the Fertility Challenge Together." Both medical experts and rabbis will present topics, being especially sensitive to Halachic (Jewish legal) implications. The workshops include Matters of Relationship Intimacy, Advances in Fertility Treatment, PCOS - Something to Fear?, Latest Developments in the Treatment of Recurrent Miscarriage and Endocronological Aspects of Fertility for the Jewish Woman.

I will be attending the Conference with a double-pronged interest:

1. reporting what I learn here and in other media; and
2. furthering my understanding of the unique perspective of Jewish law and culture toward fertility treatment, so that I can better serve the Jewish community as a fertility coach. 

If you have any questions you would like me to bring with me to the Conference, feel free to email them to me at [email protected].  I will do what I can to have them answered by one of the experts there on the day.

If you would like to attend the Conference, contact Chana at 020 8203 8455 or email [email protected]  Registration for the conference and all workshops is essential.

 

Where will you go from here and how will you get there?

Do you feel exhausted by your attempts to conceive this past year? I wouldn't blame you. If you are on the side of the world where December is the darkest month in the calendar, or even worse, you live in a place where the sun forgot to shine this week at all (yes, you Londoners!), you may feel just a bit hopeless. If you spent a substantial amount of time during the Thanksgiving to Boxing Day month in close proximity to women who are pregnant, or who have recently become mothers, you may feel more than a bit discouraged by your personal lack of success in that area. Or frustrated, fed up, resentful or downright furious. The big question is where are you going to go from here?

January is a great month to re-assess your position. It may be the cliche of out with the old, in with the new, but hey, if it works then why not follow it?  I'll be writing more about this during the next few weeks, including a new coaching programme that will help you solidify your intentions, streamline your actions and recognize shifts as soon as they show up in your life.

What I do want to get across to you today, is that what worked for you last year may not be what is working for you now, or what will work for you in the next 12 months. Why? Because we are always evolving; not static. You are a year older, your body may either be more or less fit, fertility treatment and/or miscarriage may have taken its toll, you may be recovering from positive surgery to clean up endometriosis or from an unexpected diagnosis, your stress level may have changed, your financial situation may have changed, and more. When creating your plan for 2011, it's essential that you do a physical and emotional audit, so that you and your partner, and even your doctor, have your eyes wide open to how you feel right now.

Instead of looking at your infertility as one long haul, it can only help to stop and assess where you are now and whether any changes need to be made. The answer may be that you are satisfied with the way things are, and you can continue on with confidence. However, if your exploration of the way you are going about life brings up questions about what can be done differently, or better, for a more effective outcome, we can work out some of those issues together. 

It would be great if you could begin jotting down notes now, as thoughts occur to you. Then, you will be ready to work with me as I introduce each step of the process in the coming weeks.  Ease yourself in gently, so you don't feel like it's hard work or get overwhelmed. My favourite first purchase every year is a new journal. I love starting fresh with the clean pages, whether I am using an old-fashioned black-and-white speckled Composition Book or a pretty and cheerful, designer journal. Just make sure it is big enough that you can use it for several months, or buy more than one, so you can continue on.

Watch for more news on the launch of this new programme.

 

 

 

Actress Emma Thompson had secondary infertility

Why is it important for us to know that celebrities like Emma Thompson suffer with infertility?  Yesterday's Daily Telegraph carried an article, by Gordon Rayner - Chief Reporter, about the actress Emma Thompson's depression over the failure of multiple IVF attempts to have a second child in her early forties. Thompson and her husband, Greg Wise, already had one daughter, Gaia, but wanted more children. Several cycles of IVF failed to fulfill their dream.

Infertility strikes indiscriminately, without regard for who you are, how many children you dream of having or how much money you have. A beautiful, talented, wealthy actress has no edge over the rest of us merely beautiful women when it comes to the tricks that our reproductive systems can play in the baby-making game. Thompson is quoted in the article as saying that she was so devastated by her inability to conceive that she was unable "to get dressed or leave her house" some days. I'm sure that a lot of you can relate to that feeling, as I can.

The difference, perhaps, between Emma's situation and many other women, is that she was able to afford to pay for several cycles of IVF in her forties, beyond the age of entitlement to NHS fertility treatment. Having suffered from depression on previous occasions, Emma sought counselling and was treated with prescription antidepressants during this difficult time.  She continues to see her therapist weekly. This, in itself, is helpful for infertile women to hear. Knowing that someone you may admire has had emotional support for the feelings associated with infertility can persuade a depressed, stressed or merely confused person to seek help themselves. It can help validate their feelings, make them accept that there is a problem and hopeful to know that it is one which can be helped.

The name given to an inability to conceive after having a child is secondary infertility.  It's a shame that the Telegraph article didn't mention that, because people who read the article just because it's about Emma Thompson, could be made aware that this is a medical condition. A woman who has one child and hasn't conceived another, may seek help from her doctor as a result. Others, who wonder why a couple has only had one child may realize that it is not necessarily by choice and be careful about insensitive remarks they may otherwise have made.

There can be the tendency, whenever someone is struck ill or a medical condition arises that appears to be random and particularly unfair: Why me? We think that it doesn't make sense. We look at ourselves and wonder what we did to deserve this. I'm sure that Emma Thompson had these thoughts while she was struggling with secondary infertility. There is no answer to this question. No one deserves it. Sometimes, the way life unfolds answers the question in unexpected ways. Emma later went on to adopt a 16-year old Rwandan boy, a former child-soldier, in 2003. The Telegraph quotes her as saying that it convinced her that it was "probably a good thing" she hadn't become pregnant again.