Reader Resources
Wisdom Encouragement for Your Journey through Infertility:
Top Ten Infertility Survival Tips
Top 11 infertility books on Healthline
Dear God,
Have you lost your mind? I think I’m losing mine. You created me with such a strong desire for children, and then made me unable to have them. Is this some kind of cruel trick? I thought you would certainly give us a child this time.
After all, I’ve prayed so diligently, believed in your power, had faith when hope seemed as faint as smoke on the wind. But now, I don’t know if I can do this anymore. I don’t know if I can still believe, still hope, when this pain weighs so heavily in my heart that I know that I’ll be crushed beneath it.
Where have you gone, God? What is this terrible thing called infertility? How can I live through this pain?
____________________________
So writes a woman in the midst of the journey through infertility. There are few desires more powerful than the urge to reproduce, to have children of your own and see them grow and mature into adulthood. So, for the one in six couples who have difficulty conceiving, infertility can be a long, painful road, often made more difficult by the insensitivity of others, even others in the church.
I know because I too have struggled through infertility. Even when I was a little girl and boys had cooties, I knew that someday I’d grow up, get married, and have children. After all, didn’t everyone? As I entered adulthood, everything seemed to be going along fine. I met a wonderful man, got married, and on our honeymoon we had fun discussing what we might name our future children and how we’d bring them up the best we could to know and love God.
But the years passed, and no children came. No morning sickness, no rounding belly, no baby showers filled with cute little booties and boxes of diapers. Soon, hope turned to fear and trips to the mall changed to travels to the doctor’s office. Tests and more tests, fertility drugs and ovulation sticks became a part of my everyday life. But still, no babies.
Despite my ache of longing, the world continued as it always had. My friends had children, relatives announced the arrival of new babies, mothers wiped the noses of their toddlers and sent them off to Sunday School. And there my husband and I sat, alone and lonely, sure we were the only ones in the world who were denied the joy of having children.
Later I would discover that many couples have difficulty conceiving. For them, like us, infertility is a hard and heart-wrenching road. It’s a road where we need all the help we can get. So, for those of you struggling through the journey, this page is for you. I pray you’ll find hope and encouragement in the links and downloads I’ve included above. I pray that you’ll glimpse a bit of God’s wonder through the pain.
