A big thank you to everyone who supported this year’s National Fertility Awareness Week, 31 October – 6 November 2016 – making it the most successful week yet. With your help, our major new survey on the impact of fertility struggles, our #HiddenFaces and #fertilityin5 campaigns, and our Fertility Cycle events made the headlines in the newspapers, TV, radio, online and across social media.
The aim of the week was threefold. First: to get the message out about fertility issues; both the prevalence and how people are affected. Approximately one in six couples in the UK have a medical problem which means they cannot have a baby without medical help, and fertility problems have an incredibly far-reaching and devastating impact on everybody affected; that’s why it’s so important to raise awareness.
The week kicked off in wonderful style with a report about National Fertility Awareness Week and our fertility impact survey on national television. Chief executive of Fertility Network UK Susan Seenan was joined on the BBC Breakfast sofa by one of our fantastic media volunteers Kelly da Silva, founder of the Dovecote and two other media volunteers James D’Souza and Aaron Deemer shared the male perspective on fertility issues in a film made by the BBC.
Key findings from The Impact of Fertility Problems 2016, conducted in association with Middlesex University London, are:
- 90 per cent of respondents reported feeling depressed; 42% suicidal
- 54% had to pay for some or all of their treatment; 10% spending more than £30,000, some up to £100,000 (the average was £11,378)
- 74% said their GP did not provide sufficient information
- 70% reported some detrimental effect on their relationship with their partner
- 75% noted the lack of a supportive workplace policy
- 75% would have liked to have counselling if it was free; only 44% did receive counselling and, of these, over half had to fund some of it themselves
A second core aim of National Fertility Awareness Week is to change perceptions of fertility issues and demolish some of the misconceptions and stereotypes about fertility. This was at the heart of our #HiddenFaces campaign – revealing the real faces of fertility struggles by shining a spotlight on untold fertility stories and overturning commonly-held fertility myths. So many people supported this campaign – sending us your photos to use on posters, infographics, and on social media, and sharing our Fertility Facts, Fertility Myths, infographics and #HiddenFaces videos.
Our #HiddenFaces videos featuring couples, women and men generated an incredible response. Each #HiddenFaces video addressed a core fertility issue and the stories told direct to camera were powerful, painful and heartfelt. What is it like to be told you will never have your own biological child; how hard is it to stop trying for a baby; what is it like to be born without a womb, how do you find a way to move forwards without children; how does it feel as a man to struggle with fertility issues; what is it like to consider using donor eggs or sperm.
The #HiddenFaces video The Pain of Never by Jessica Hepburn encapsulated the agony of fertility problems for many: never hearing someone call you mum, never feeling that first kick, never feeling fully like a woman. ‘A beautiful and powerful piece’; ‘Brutally honest, thank you for saying it how it is’; ‘A film like this is long overdue,’ are just some of the comments. You can watch it and the other #HiddenFaces videos on our Facebook pages or on our new Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvRHtFRNTJYS-mJJuvu6V1w
Our social media campaign #fertilityin5 – five words to describe your fertility reality, what is happening, what has happened or how you are feeling – revealed an incredibly intimate and raw picture of the day-to-day reality of living with fertility issues. #fertilityin5 tweets were heart-breaking, honest and heartfelt. ‘Your eggs are not viable’. ‘I’m sorry there’s no heartbeat’. ‘Heartbroken, anxious, misunderstood, exhausted, praying’. ‘Always a little piece missing’. ‘A disappointment to my partner’. ‘Failing, terrified, exhausted, lonely, losing.’ ‘First failed IVF – heart broken.’ ‘You will never conceive naturally’.
Finally, the week is about providing support all those struggling with fertility problems (and hopefully raising money too). Many people suffer in silence: there is still a stigma or shame around fertility issues and people can find themselves very socially isolated, so the awareness week is important to show people that there is help, support and advice in many different forms. You are not alone.
So a final massive thank you to everyone who supported fertility events across the UK to raise awareness and money: our incredible Fertility Cycle events in Glasgow and London; thanks Jason Donovan for taking part in Glasgow. Numerous Fertility Cake Bakes took place, with some wonderful fertility creations; one brave media volunteer organised a Fertility Firewalk and the week culminated in The Fertility Show in London.
We’re now planning next year’s National Fertility Awareness Week, so if you want to get involved or have some great ideas of what we can do, do let us know. We are stronger together.