It is interesting how the most emotionally mature and kind people can become so out of touch or uncomfortable when it comes to infertility or miscarriages. Yes, I said it "miscarriage" the dreaded word that nobody wants to say.
For me, I just had my 3rd miscarriage and it royally sucks. I can talk about it freely but I try to gauge the comfort of other people first before discussing it. The problem with having miscarriages is that people think it is contagious or that you will jinx their pregnancy if you are around them. ugh. Obviously, if you will miscarry, you will regardless of who you are around. You might be around someone that is currently pregnant or miscarrying as you speak to them and don't know it which means you may have to be "afraid" of everyone all the time. You are smarter than that, c'mon.
So recently, I was with 2 of my close friends at dinner. My friend "L" apparently had told my other friend "O" and the whole world, including my mom, that her daughter is pregnant. I had to found out from a "slip of the tongue" at dinner. It was awkward to say the least. Luckily, I didn't break down crying this time. I just had a ball in my throat and put on a smile to disguise my pain inside while expressing my happiness for her daughter.
I have to assume she had the best intentions, that she thought "Oh I don't want to make her [me] sad or uncomfortable" or something like that. Honestly, I don't even think she knows about my most recent miscarriage.
The evening following the awkward slip, we all ate dinner at Cougar F's house. We all had a great time. Soon after I arrived, L's daughter let me know she was pregnant. This is how the conversation went:
Me: J, are you running a marathon or something? I saw your status updates on facebook about your progress.
J: I was but I stopped because I'm pregnant.
Me: Oh, Congrats!!!
L: You knew, right?
Me: Yeah.
....Awkward.
I later found out that literally EVERYONE knew but me. This is definitely NOT the best way to tell your friend that is struggling with infertility that your daughter or you are pregnant. I would have appreciated her telling me over the phone (even a text) so that I could process the information on my own first before seeing anyone. It would have been nice to get a heads up. A post on recommended ways to tell your infertile friend you are expecting is coming soon. In the meantime, check out
If you ever wonder why people keep infertility a secret, read this post again. Fears of being left out, ignored, cursed and or being pitied is why many of us just keep this huge part of our lives to ourselves.
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