Why are there no tv shows about/featuring infertility?

[RKW]

I just realised, on my tv there is a documentary about everything, from gipsies, to criminals. There all sorts of pregnancy related issues on soaps.

But there is never anything about infertility.

Or am I wrong? I would love to see a programme like one born every minute which explored our journeys, and could educate the public how painful and stressful it is.

Or do people genuinely not want to know/ have our horrible inadequecy shoved in their faces?

 

[No Doubt]

I only saw one a few weeks back and I can't even remember the name of the show, but it was about infertility with morbidly obese women. How hard it is to conceive, and how hard it is to carry to full term and not have complications with labor. There were four women anywhere from 300lbs and up, and of course all of these women were "finally" pregnant.

It was a good show, but other than that no, I haven't seen anything.

 

[rdy4number2]

Amen! I wish they would have shows on it too. The media takes infertility and hides it in the closet like it is a dirty secret. Making those who suffer with it, myself included, feel even more ashamed and isolated.

 

[Kempf]

I agree with you all, i always wondered why too, i only once read an article 2 years ago in Stylist magazine on miscarriage /ttc....and i could recognise d feelings with the writer i was so glad.......maybe bcos it is quite a painful experience dey believe a tv show will not get several viewers compared to the other things they show....just my thot

 

[readyformore]

There is a reality TV show with the host from E!, Guiliana Rancic.

She and her husband have gone through years of infertility including IUI, IVFs, miscarriage, and now they are on to gestational surrogacy. She suffered from OHSS on one of her IVF cycles. She was diagnosed with breast cancer, treated, and is now doing gestational surrogacy. Their first baby is due the end of August after years and years of heartbreak.

I cried watching the show. They are such positive people. It goes very in depth in the show. She goes to therapy and takes the camera along. She reads viewers notes of support and cries. It really doesn't leave anything out.

 

[RKW]

Ooo that sounds like a good show (as in highlighting IF not good for the poor lady)
Is that on US tv or UK? X

 

[readyformore]

Ooo that sounds like a good show (as in highlighting IF not good for the poor lady)
Is that on US tv or UK? X

US. Maybe you can get it through the internet? It is a good show.

 

[RKW]

Thanks I'll have a look. We do get E over here so I'll have a search through the tv listings.

I'm wondering if the reason there is not more about infertility is because people just don't want to know about it. When I have tried to speak to some friends they just clam up and try and change the conversation. As if it is a dirty subject. This makes it so hard as sometimes you just want to chat.

 

[tamithomas]

The only time I saw it public was once on the Tyra Banks show on youtube. Loved the episode but the ignorance in the comment section really got my blood boiling. the top rated comment was "because being overweight is totally gonna help you get pregnant..." clearly this person and those who liked that comment did not listen to a word the show said about PCOS. It saddens me how uneducated these people are. Before having fertility issues myself, I had already heard about it because there was an episode on dr. phil about a couple taking 13 years to get BFP but as everyone else, i never thought it would be me. Point is, it is on tv but it's usually on the shows about education and is never involved in actually shows like soap operas or reality shows.

Only time I saw anything fertility related was on Roseanne on one of the last episodes of the series it was dealing with premature labor to the point of barely a chance to survive and inevitably the baby died. That's the closest I've found on the subject tv show wise

 

[Jade--x]

I've never seen any specifically about infertility although I've never really looked but I do know there was a reality show on E! Entertainment called Giuliana and Bill and they have been unsuccessfully trying for a baby going through all the different methods and getting help and had miscarriages etc. I've watched it a few times in the past though I'm not a regular viewer and it seemed to be very candid and honest and I have so much respect for the both of them for being so open and out there showing how hard it is. From what I've seen it's really good. It's on The Style Network now if you have it where you're from? x

ETA: Just realised someone else had mentioned the same thing !

 

[aintlifegrand]

In Sex and the City, Charlotte has years of infertility, a miscarriage, adoption and pregnancy. When I watched it when it was on, I was in college so really couldn't relate. Now I ball my eyes out watching it. She even has a friend (Miranda) get pregnant on accident, and has to deal with that.

I love Guilana and Bill, it's heartbreaking what they went through. However, being infertile actually saved her life. If she wasn't going through IVF, she never would have known she had breast cancer.

 

[BobDog]

i would love it if we could all compile our own video diaries and send them in to a TV network and ask they make a documentary to raise awareness... because it really is an untapped market.. and it would help so many people understand what we are all going through.

like family... i know that mine have no sympathy or any sort of understanding for what we're going through, but i know that if they saw it on a tv show they'd understand it a bit more and be a bit more sensitive to what's said and why i storm off when i get asked when's the babies coming along! we've been married almost 2 years so it's become a more frequent question.

RKW - you have an awesome topic here! and you're so right.

xxx

 

[uwa_amanda]

I agree. Although there are some shows that highlight infertility and gloss over it, there aren't any out there that actually focus on infertility and the real couples (not ficitional characters) who have gone through it. I think there should be some focus on couples who have been successful (be it fertility treatments or adoption) and for couples who choose not to have children and live a childless lifestyle, whether by choice or not. My husband and I are in limbo-land right now until the beginning of the year. We are probably going to start trying again. If this fails us again, we are probably going to be living the childless lifestyle.

 

[readyformore]

In Sex and the City, Charlotte has years of infertility, a miscarriage, adoption and pregnancy. When I watched it when it was on, I was in college so really couldn't relate. Now I ball my eyes out watching it. She even has a friend (Miranda) get pregnant on accident, and has to deal with that.

I love Guilana and Bill, it's heartbreaking what they went through. However, being infertile actually saved her life. If she wasn't going through IVF, she never would have known she had breast cancer.

Ah yes, Sex and the City.....I was trying to remember what other show had a lot of infertility in it.

On the same day, I watched Guiliana's show and an episode of SATC when Charlotte miscarries. Man, talk about a sob fest.

Yes, Charlotte's character really goes through the ringer, and her feelings seem to be spot on. The writers did a good job of portraying the emotions and life events accurately.

Another show I saw was a talk show that was featuring a woman that had used donor eggs and two separate gestational surrogates. Both of which conceived and delivered babies. This gave the mother two babies that weren't really twins, but were days apart in age. Yes, it seemed rather confusing to me, but the show was not at all negative. It was interesting, informative and definitely loaded with infertility.

There was an article in TIME magazine a year or two ago that was talking about military wives being gestational surrogates for infertile couples. The focus was not on infertility, but it was obviously mentioned.

And I read another article in *I think* Women's Health magazine that was focused on women in their 40s having babies and the infertility that they had gone through.


Infertility shows and literature is out there, you just have to look for it.

 

[B.J.Ld]

I am a fan of watching "Friends" late at night and really liked that Monica and Chandler had fertility problems. Everyone else it was so easy (they would just look at each other and get pregnant) but it made them much more relate-able to me that everything wasn't easy for them.

 

[RKW]

Aw I forgot about chandler and Monica! of course!
God I wish it was as easy to adopt in the UK as it seems (no knowledge at all only judging base on tv programmes) in the USA. I'm so sad about TTC and really think I should be getting some help from my doctor, but I'm too worried as I know if we need to adopt any history of depression can rule you out. A real catch 22 situation! Xxx

 

[readyformore]

Here's another one.....Sister Wives. For you UK ladies, it is a reality tv show about polygamists.
The first wife took 4 years to conceive her one and only child. The other wives have 6-7 kids. She speaks openly about her lifelong struggle with her insecurities and feelings of "insignificance" because of her infertility. Her husband said they have, "been on the infertility rollercoaster a LONG time. It's emotionally devastating." Sounds about spot on to me. The fourth wife actually offered to be a surrogate for her. She went to two RE's on the show and one of them told her that it's now her age that's the problem. She's 40. He advised her to use donor eggs and she declined.

And I've never gone through adoption myself, but yeah, I think Friends made it look WAY easier than it really is.