In support of this year’s National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW) from April 22-28, Ferring Pharmaceuticals (US) is launching the #TalkAboutTrying campaign to raise awareness of fertility issues and empower women and couples to seek help sooner. The campaign encourages people to share their personal experiences on social media using #TalkAboutTrying as a way to provide inspiration and support to those who are going through similar struggles. For every #TalkAboutTrying post through May 11, 2018, Ferring will donate $1 to RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association which will serve to provide timely, compassionate support and information to people who are experiencing infertility.
Infertility, which affects 1 in 8 couples in the U.S., is characterized by the inability to become pregnant after one year of trying for women under 35 years of age or six months for women older than 35. While every couple is different and there are a variety of factors that can cause infertility in both men and women, common causes of female infertility include age, weight, drug use, smoking and excessive physical or emotional stress. Struggles with conceiving can often cause deep feelings of loss of interest, depression, anxiety, shame and isolation. #TalkAboutTrying strives to reinforce that the women and couples going through these hardships are not alone.
“Our mission for NIAW is to educate women and men about fertility and break down the barriers that prevent people from talking about fertility, potentially delaying them in making an appointment with a reproductive endocrinologist,” said Barbara Collura, President & CEO, RESOLVE. “#TalkAboutTrying can be a platform that flips the script, gets people talking honestly about fertility and helps them recognize when they may be going through struggles trying to conceive that require the help of a fertility specialist.”
In conjunction with NIAW and the launch of #TalkAboutTrying, Ferring is also rolling out two support platforms for women and men who are actively trying to conceive: My Fertility Navigator and FertiSTRONG. The updated My Fertility Navigator website is designed to provide women and couples with resources and direction to find answers to the questions they’re afraid to ask, while also offering guidance along their unique fertility journey. To encourage women and couples to learn more about the refreshed My Fertility Navigator site, individuals who visit www.myfertilitynav.com/contest between April 20 and May 11, 2018 will be prompted to share their personal fertility journeys as part of the #TalkAboutTrying Story Contest for the chance to win an all-inclusive weekend getaway for two to Miraval Arizona Resort & Spa in Tucson, AZ. Complete contest rules are available at www.myfertilitynav.com/contest.
Infertility can also have a profound impact on men that is often underrecognized.4 To foster understanding and help men navigate the fertility journey as well, Ferring teamed up with Drs. Alice D. Domar and Elizabeth Grill to launch FertiSTRONG, a new mobile application for men that provides techniques to empower men with knowledge and self-help skills along their fertility journey. FertiSTRONG serves as a successor to the FertiCalm app released last year to help women address the many challenging, emotional life situations that arise while struggling to conceive.
“Today there are more paths to fertility available than ever before,” said Paul Navarre, CEO, Ferring US. “Ferring, a leader in reproductive medicine, supports the efforts of RESOLVE to increase understanding of infertility and encourage would-be parents to learn about the options available to them.”