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Mo. Independent: ‘Not alone’: Missourians experiencing infertility say insurance is a major hurdle to care
Published by Spectrum News. Read the full article.
SPRINGFIELD — Angela Crawford was desperately trying to get pregnant when her niece was born.
The first time she held the infant, a cascade of tears fell. She quickly handed the baby back to her mother, fled to the bathroom and became catatonic. Loved ones tried to console her with well-meaning platitudes, but it was no use. She walked out her brother’s door with no shoes. Her family found her that evening sitting in a ditch near her Springfield home, distraught.
That night so many years ago is one she speaks of often today, usually to women just beginning their struggle with the weight of infertility that she and her husband suffered through.
“I have been at the bottom of this deep dark well, where you’re at now,” Crawford said she tells women who reach out looking for support. “And I will climb down there with you because I know the way out.”
Infertility – the inability to get pregnant after trying for a year or more – affects about one in five married women between the ages of 15 and 49 in America, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Infertility can stem from a myriad of conditions from both men and women, and can cost tens of thousands of dollars to treat.
