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Infertility blogs are a hot topic du jour with articles popping up everywhere from the New York Times to the technology journal, The New Atlantis. Though it begs the question: are infertility blogs a growing force or are we so well-organized that it's easy for an outsider to chart our community growth and outreach?
I would probably argue that it's an illusion because we are simply well-organized. Health crisis blogs tend to be well-connected and centralized. Perhaps it is because people are utilizing blogging not just to connect with those who share a similar interest, but because they are trading information, gathering support, and giving sympathy. With our categorized blogroll that grows by 5 to 10 blogs a day, it is easy to chart the growth of the community. Though I think the fact that a large percentage of those 5 to 10 blogs have been around for several months before they are added also speaks to the fact that there are probably many many more infertility bloggers out there who haven't been found yet.
Where are y'all lurking?
BlogHer is holding a panel this year on the emergence of the adoption/loss/infertility (ALI) blogging community called "When the Road to Motherhood is Anything But Smooth" which asks why we speak about these topics. They are still somewhat taboo in the day-to-day world and you can't get much more public than announcing your health crisis on a semi-permanent medium such as a blog (after all, once you hit publish, things can potentially live on forever). Yet there is such a benefit to putting your story out there and reading stories in return.
Remember back in middle school when all you wanted was to find a high school student's diary so you could understand everything happening in and around you? Infertility blogging is a lot like that--not so much for the desperate need to learn to get over heartache (though, damn, it also helps to hear how someone else has mourned during the process), but to trade information. You can read someone's blog who is farther along in a process and see how they came through to the other side. You can glean information from their journey and learn questions to take back to your own doctor.
That's one reason why infertility has made it onto my computer screen. And that is the question at the heart of this panel: why adoption/loss/infertility over all the other things happening in your life? We're all more than the tiny piece of ourselves that we place into our blogs, but how do we decide what gets screen time and what gets tossed aside as a blog topic? Beyond that, what is gained by blogging these topics?
Our Family Beginnings broached this topic last week in a post stemming from her father finding her blog. She writes:
I don’t write this blog to tell you things or to make you feel more or less comfortable. I write this blog for me and for perhaps another woman who may one day walk in my shoes. She may take one less test for me or fret one less minute because of some assvice I gave her, or not. I may offend your sensibilities, but that is not my concern here. My concern here is me. It is the place where I can be selfish, where I can judge, and where I can be safe.
Morgan Territory stated her views in a post today about loss blogging:
Every day I have a routine of checking in on a few message boards I'm a part of and reading some various blogs. The blogs are so different from each other. I am still so new to this blogging thing and it just fascinates me. People use them for many reasons. Like me, some use it to keep friends and family informed of events in their lives and everyday things as well. Others use it as an outlet for emotion, frustration or whatever they need to "talk" about. I read such a diverse bunch of blogs that run the gamut of "styles." It is almost like reading different types of literature as the point of view of the author is so unique. Some blogs make me laugh hysterically. Other make me cry....a lot.
Years in the Making admitted today why she may stop blogging after her recent negative: "Not really sure if I will post
