I hate the word infertility

[Anonymous]

I had some trouble getting pregnant and I finally concieved my children through fertility treatments.

Recently I was applying for health insurance and according to them (and the whole medical world) I "had infertility." No, I DIDN'T have infertility. I had difficulty getting pregnant but eventually I did. If I had infertility I would not have (biological) children today.

I also hated the word when I was in fertility treatments. Like, if you are diagnosing me with "infertility" why are we even trying?

[Anonymous]

Ahh yes. PC police on patrol. Change the word quickly because it offends someone.

[Anonymous]

It's not so much offensive as inaccurate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not so much offensive as inaccurate.

I meant to add, inaccurate for people who can/eventually do concieve. Infertility is an accurate word for people who truely can't ever concieve.

[Anonymous]

It's certainly better than "barren" (which my clueless sister used when asking why we didn't have kids yet - in her defense, she didn't know that we were working with an RE).

[Anonymous]

OP has waaay too much free time on her hands.

[Anonymous]

I'd say "sterile" for anyone that can't conceive with their own eggs/sperm even with assistance.

Infertile = needs some assistance

if you really were fertile you wouldn't need any help..

[Anonymous]

"I meant to add, inaccurate for people who can/eventually do concieve. Infertility is an accurate word for people who truely can't ever concieve. "

Spelling Police!

[Anonymous]

But if you can't Concieve on your own you are infertile. Like if you have cancer you are a cancer patient. You are not anymore until they cure it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd say "sterile" for anyone that can't conceive with their own eggs/sperm even with assistance.

Infertile = needs some assistance

if you really were fertile you wouldn't need any help..

and I'd never use these words to someone's face...

[Anonymous]

It's not a matter of chosing a more sugar-coated word. It's a matter of misusing the word for people who do eventually have biological children:

World English Dictionary
infertile (?n?f??ta?l)

— adj
1. not capable of producing offspring; sterile
2. (of land) not productive; barren

in'fertilely

— adv

infertility

— n

[Anonymous]

For pete's sake -this is splitting hairs.

If you were able to have a kid, be thankful. Stop reading into everything and seeing it as some sort of veiled insult.

As someone on IVF #4, my jaw drops at the thought of people getting this worked up over a term -when they have a baby. Who cares what people in the medical community call you. Everyone thinks of you as a mom.

[Anonymous]

If you go back to the time when that definition was formed we didn't have the modern day techniques - so yes you wouldn't have been capable of producing offspring.

A more relevant definition would be for the current medical diagnosis - unable to achieve pregnancy within 12 months.

[Anonymous]

If you have insurance coverage for treatment, you NEED a diagnosis of infertility to invoke coverage. I had it written right there in black & white on my insurance claims. So if you want to insist you didn't have infertility, then they shouldn't pay for your treatments.

Perhaps sub-fertility is a better word b/c then you have those with normal fertility, those with subfertility, and those who are truly infertile, but I personally don't see the difference or why you would care. Do you really think the insurance company is trying to insult you?

Also, your definition is forward-looking so it's impossible to apply. Exactly when do you decide someone is "infertile?" If you try for a year, two years, three years and can't get pregnant, we don't know if you eventually WILL get pregnant someday with some assistance (subfertility?), or if you'll really never ever be able to get pregnant (infertility). So at what point do you decide someone is infertile? I guess after menopause for women, or for men, never, since they could possibly father children even in their 70s or 80s or even beyond?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For pete's sake -this is splitting hairs.

If you were able to have a kid, be thankful. Stop reading into everything and seeing it as some sort of veiled insult.

As someone on IVF #4, my jaw drops at the thought of people getting this worked up over a term -when they have a baby. Who cares what people in the medical community call you. Everyone thinks of you as a mom.

It's not about me, really. The word is just inaccurate and weird to me now. When I was trying, it actually bothered me. I guess I came on here in support but I'm sorry if my post had the opposite effect.