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ABC’s “The Bachelorette” Star To Appear At Gala To Benefit Couples Struggling With Infertility
Proceeds from the event enable Embracing Hope Grants to provide $10,000 toward the cost of infertility treatments at any fertility clinic in the United States. For many, the Embracing Hope Grant represents couples only chance to attempt a pregnancy.
Gala To Benefit Couples Struggling With Infertility
ABC’s “The Bachelorette” Star To Appear At Annual Embracing Hope Gala
Orlando, FL (September 10, 2008) — Trista Sutter, the original “Bachelorette,” has been named Fertile
Trista Sutter to appear at Gala to benefit Fertility
Dreams’ 2008 celebrity spokesperson and will be among the luminaries attending the 4th annual Embracing Hope Gala hosted by the Fertile Dreams Foundation on Saturday, October 25, 2008 at the Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando, Florida. FOX 35 News Anchor Lauren LaPonzina will emcee the evening’s full festivities.
This year’s “Lifetime of Embracing Hope Award” will be presented to Kim Hahn, Founder and CEO of Conceive Magazine. While Kim and her husband Ernie of 16 years were trying to start a family, Kim was frustrated by the lack of positive, consumer-friendly information about fertility. Specifically, she longed for a magazine as beautiful, upbeat, and informative as the many pregnancy and parenting magazines on the market. After four years of fertility treatment, including three in-vitro fertilizations, Kim and Ernie decided that becoming parents was more important than becoming pregnant, and they adopted their daughter, Taylor Ann. And soon afterwards, Kim left her banking career to start Conceive magazine. With conceive, Kim wants to share her experiences to educate and empower women on their journey to parenthood.
“The Bachelorette” star, Trista Sutter, has been open about her difficulty becoming pregnant and is looking forward to help increase awareness about fertility issues.
The black-tie event will showcase a silent and live auction with items range from exotic jewelry to artwork to sports memorabilia to unique international trips, Embracing Hope Grants awarded to infertility couples, four course dinner, and dancing to the music of nationally known Michael Andrew and Swingerhead. Mr. Andrew is currently working with legendary Jerry Lewis on the Broadway musical version of the classic comedy The Nutty Professor slated to open in New York, 2009.
Proceeds from the event enable Embracing Hope Grants to provide $10,000 toward the cost of infertility treatments at any fertility clinic in the United States. For many, the Embracing Hope Grant represents couples only chance to conceive their biological child.
Founded in 2004 by Infertility Specialist Mark P. Trolice, MD and his wife Andrea, who have personally experienced the impact of infertility and have adopted their two children. Fertile Dreams is a nonprofit organization that offers hope through education and access to resources. Nine million Americans or one in eight are infertile.
For more information, reserve tickets, or make a donation, contact Candice Critchfield at 321-397-3868, 407-740-7780 or e-mail info@fertiledreams.org. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Event and sponsorships information is available online. Tickets may also be purchased online or you may send your check payable to Fertile Dreams Inc, 5931 Brick Ct., Winter Park, FL 32792.
Prior celebrity spokespersons include Brenda Strong, ABC-TVs Desperate Housewives’ Mary Alice.
Fertile Dreams, Inc. – a nonprofit 501c3 organization – was created by Dr. & Mrs. Mark and Andrea Trolice who offer infertility treatment and adoption services. The mission of Fertile Dreams is to empower those challenged by fertility issues through prevention, education and advocacy. To learn more, visit www.FertileDreams.org
This morning, while I was driving to work, I was listening to Practicing the Power of Now, a book on CD by one of my favorites writers, Eckhart Tolle. I’m quite familiar with his concepts, but something he said stopped me in my tracks: “Failure lies concealed in every success and success in every failure.”
I found myself thinking about these words, and how they might apply to the grief of infertility I see every day. Where is the success in that type of failure? And if a woman finally becomes pregnant, is successful so to speak, where is the failure in that?
Certainly, these words are subject to interpretation. But I think what Eckart was talking about was the temporary nature of life, as well as its opportunities. A woman may be successful in conceiving a child, but eventually that child will grow, and in that process, both parent and child will experience challenges. It is inevitable.
And what of the woman who struggles to conceive–where is the success in that? I can’t pretend to answer that question, but I do know that challenges–and crises like infertility, bring tremendous opportunity for healing and growth. My book, I Am More Than My Infertility, talks all about that–how from that wounded place relationships can heal, and a woman can learn to make conscious choices, set her boundaries and speak her truth. From failure can come long-lasting success.
Marina
When breast cancer threatened to put an end to Jennifer Smith’s dreams for a family, she sought help to save her ovaries from the cancer-killing drugs.
Jennifer is among 140,000 people under the age of 45 who are diagnosed with cancer every year. With improved cancer treatment, more than 70 percent can look forward to becoming cancer-free. Many want to start families, but the strength of the chemotherapy and radiation treatment is leaving many patients infertile.
So Jennifer is among a group of women who are undergoing a new surgical treatment. Some call it “oncofertility,” or fertility preservation for cancer patients who want to have children. What this means is that, before undergoing chemotherapy, Jennifer will have one of her ovaries surgically removed and its tissues frozen at the University of Kansas Hospital. There, the pieces of Jennifer’s ovary will remain, suspended in liquid nitrogen until the doctors are sure that Jennifer is cancer-free. Then, the ovarian tissue will be implanted under her skin. If all goes well, the tissue will start producing eggs again.
The University of Kansas Hospital is among more than 100 fertility centers across the country that will make this option available to cancer patients.
Marina
If you caught last week’s I Am More Than My Infertility blog post called: Responses to the I Am More Than My Infertility Survey, then you know that we are currently releasing here at our infertility blog, our statistical results from a survey we conducted. The survey involved 166 women who offered their input through our blogsite, from Marina Lombardo’s website; or from the website for I Am More Than My Infertility.
Today’s blog adds a little more information from our survey results. We look at how women deal with the emotional issues of infertility and fertility treatments.
The following question was asked:
“Have you consulted a counselor/therapist/clergy member about your conception/pregnancy difficulties? “
Counselor Therapist Clergy Member Have not sought counseling
Here’s what we learned:
- Counselor. 10.24 percent of the women who responded said they have sought help from a counselor.
- Therapist. 14.45 percent of the women who responded said they have sought help from a therapist.
- Clergy Member. 24.7 percent of the women who responded said they have sought help from a member of clergy.
- Have not sought counseling. But here’s the largest group; 67.469 percent of the women who responded to this survey question said they have NOT sought counseling from any source on the matter of fertility or infertility challenges.
What about you? Are you trying to conceive or trying to carry a pregnancy to term, dealing with disappointments and heartbreaks, and keeping your feelings inside? When your tooth hurts, you probably go to the dentist. When your car makes a strange noise, you take it to the mechanic. But when we are in emotional pain, we very often try to get by dealing with it ourselves. Or we talk to our friends or our spouse, who may be sympathetic, but probably aren’t trained and experienced enough to help us.
The pain of infertility is real. It can be showstopping and life consuming. In our book, I Am More Than My Infertility, 7 Proven Tools for Turning a Life Crisis Into a Personal Breakthrough, we tell you,
. . . Life Crisis Number One
Infertility is not only stressful; it also meets the criteria for being a life crisis. In the realm of crises, infertility is often one of the first for many
women, and even more often, the very first crisis a married couple faces together.
A crisis occurs when something overwhelming happens for which you do not feel prepared. A characteristic of a crisis is that you do not have
adequate coping skills, or the skills you have do not sufficiently equip you for what you are facing.
One young couple in particular, serves as a classic example. Newly married, neither one had ever learned to deal with conflict. When arguments
occurred, they would simply go to bed and the next day, act as if nothing had happened.
That was fine early in their relationship, when the issues they were dealing with were small and easier to brush under the rug. But when they hit the infertility wall, their method of coping broke down-it did not serve their needs. They had to learn to communicate effectively in
order to make decisions together.
In essence, a life crisis is an opportunity to evolve beyond what you thought was possible for you. A crisis is a catalyst for growth. As you read
this, you may be thinking, “Please spare me the cliché that all things happen for a reason.” That’s not the message here . . .
Read the book. Call a friend. Talk to your spouse. But if the life crisis of infertility is weighing heavily upon you, don’t try to do your own dental work. Find a trained, experienced professional to help you deal with the overload of frustration and emotions you are feeling. Your goal is to come out of this experience on the other side as a strong, emotionally healthy woman, prepared to deal with whatever life hands you.
Linda
And Me Too!
There’s no doubt about it: when you’re struggling to get pregnant, it seems like there are pregnant women coming out of the woodwork! Everywhere you look, there they are! What can you do?
I’ve talked to a number of clients who have offered a variety of reactions, and what I’ve come to realize is that all of it is normal. Not only is it natural to feel frustrated and even cheated, but it’s also common to be able to let it roll off your shoulders one day, and feel angry as all get out the next.
However, not too long ago, one of my clients came up with an internal response that I wanted to share. She decided that her deep longing to become pregnant is causing her to pay more attention to other women who are pregnant, i.e., it’s on her mind, so she’s noticing it more. So even though she’s not pregnant yet, she’s decided to take her noticing as a positive sign that pregnancy is becoming more real in her life.
The result? Every time she sees a pregnant woman, she takes it as an affimration, and as an opportunity to say to herself, “And me too!”
Marina
