Grief and Loss and Resources

It’s been an interesting 24 hours.  I’ve been asking people, for over a year, if they had any resources for Christian women struggling with infertility and the grief it brings.  My requests have seemingly fallen on deaf ears.  Either that or they just didn’t know of any to point me towards.  However, last night we were at our last financial peace class which meets at our church.  I happened to pick up a local Christian newspaper and one of the lead stories was about a conference being held this Saturday and Sunday on dealing with grief in the loss of pregnancy, children, or infertility.  There is a whole local organization that has been around for at least 5 years.  The name of the organization is Missing Grace.  There website is here: www.missinggrace.org.  Their story is here:  www.missinggrace.com.  Had I known about the conference before last night, I would have been first in line to register and attend.  However, it is meeting at the exact time the woman’s conference I signed up for last month is meeting.  I’ve been asked to be an official even photographer for the woman’s conference and I agreed, so I don’t feel I can back out of that commitment.  However, you can bet I will be attending this event next year.

Anyway, by perusing their website, I’ve come across other resources.  Imagine that!  On the web!  There are links to other resources! I haven’t had time for a thorough look-through at the all, but I have bookmarked them for future reference. For instance, there is a national Infertility Association.  Did you know that?  They are called Resolve.  Their website is here: www.resolve.org.  They have a lot of information on their webpage but if you want to join them, there is a $55.00 registration fee.  As far as I can tell, though, the web resources are free. 

There is also a Christian specific group called Hannah’s Prayer.  Their website is here:  www.hannah.org. They have a forum/message board, which I’ve joined.  Through them, I also found Stepping Stones which is a ministry of Bethany Christian Services.  Their website is: www.bethany.org and then click the Infertility Ministry link.  Another resource I found is called Fertility Journey.  Their website is:  www.fertilityjourney.com.  I haven’t looked over that website in depth, but they do claim to have a Fertility Support Center. The final resource I found through Hannah’s Prayer is INCIID.  The International Council on Infertility Information Dissemination (INCIID – pronounced "inside") is a nonprofit organization that helps individuals and couples explore their family-building options.  I haven’t had time to look over that website yet either, but it looks like it has a lot of professional resources to offer.

I just put this out there in case anyone else may be struggling with infertility and grief and loss as I have been lately.  You are not alone and there is help and support available. I hope you found me and are able to find the help and support you are looking for as your travel this quiet, lonely road.  Please email me if you want someone with whom to correspond.  My email is amiebea@msn.com.

So in less than 24 hours I have managed to find online resources, forums, message boards, AND a local support group.  All I had to do was keep asking and looking.  Please pass this journal entry or these links along to others you may know struggling with grief and loss as it relates to infertility.  If you know of other struggling with grief and loss of a pregnancy or child, many of these links are also good resources for that as well.  If you have other links or other resources, please email them to me and I will post them here as well.  Eventually, I will get them linked to my sidebar for easier access.  Thanks!