Breaking the Stigma: My Journey Through Infertility, Endometriosis, and Hope
written by Crystal Latimer
Excerpt:
In this heartfelt interview, Endo Black Ambassador Crystal Latimer sits down with La-Anna Douglas, founder of HopeStillStands, to discuss her personal journey through infertility and endometriosis. La-Anna shares candidly about the emotional and physical challenges she faced, including undergoing multiple surgeries and navigating years of infertility. "It was so painful and so embarrassing," La-Anna recalls, as she reflects on the stigma surrounding infertility. Despite the hardships, she offers words of encouragement to others, emphasizing the importance of advocacy, faith, and perseverance. La-Anna’s story of overcoming eight years of infertility to welcome two "miracle daughters" is a testament to hope and resilience, reminding us to silence the stigma surrounding infertility and reproductive health. Read her words below.
La-Anna's Story:
Infertility can make you feel like you’re on an island, all alone—that no one understands how you feel. And it doesn’t help that there is such a stigma when it comes to infertility; it can affect a person’s mental health. In my 20s, the subject of why it was taking so long for my husband and me to start our family came up quite often. Those who asked had no idea that we were going through fertility treatments or that I had just finished healing from surgery due to a diagnosis of endometriosis and my two uteruses/two cervixes, called a didelphys uterus. Trying to go to work as usual and hearing the statement, “Wow, you’re not pregnant yet?” really hurt. I would do my best to hold back the tears while coming up with an explanation for why we had not had a baby yet. It was so painful and so embarrassing. I was already coming to terms with the many diagnoses and feeling not woman enough to conceive. I started to feel like the walls were closing in on me. I know what it’s like to receive the questions and to see the concerned facial expressions. Then there were times when doctors didn’t believe the pain I was experiencing. I thought I was losing my mind.
Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. After eight years of infertility, my husband and I were blessed with our first miracle daughter. Then, after a robotic laparoscopic myomectomy due to fibroids, six months later, I became pregnant with our second miracle daughter after another eight years of secondary infertility at the age of 40. I’m here to encourage you to keep believing. Keep advocating for yourself. Keep praying and preparing for your miracle. Yes, there will be hard days that make you feel like you can’t make it, but the sun will shine again. And please don’t forget that your miracle could come naturally, through IVF, surrogacy, after surgery, or through adoption. We must silence the stigma, keep the faith, and continue to stand no matter what we face.
~ La-Anna Douglas, Women’s Advocate and Founder of HopeStillStands @hopestillstands