Fertility Road Issue 03

FEATURE | worldwide web of fertility
WORLDWIDE
WEB OF
How the greatest communication tool ever invented is helping
strangers fulfil the farthest reaching fertility ambitions...
OMG, DH and I DTD last night cos my I
POAS and CBFM was on PK - the LH
surge was super-strong - but I don’t think
I’ve O’d - this AM my temp’s still 97.3 and
I’ve still got tons of EWCM. How’m I gonna get DH to
BD again tonight? And I’m so worried about my LP
only being 8 days last cycle - do you think I have a
chance of a BFP this month? Babydust!’*
If you know exactly what this means - and perhaps
you’ve even got a response in mind - chances are
you’ve spent time on an online fertility forum.
From fertilityfriend.com to peeonastick.com, twoweekwait.com,
babyandbump.com and of course fertilityroad.com,
the rise of fertility discussion forums on
the internet has created a vast new world in which
women trying for a baby are charting their fertility
signs online, sharing information and trying to support
one another, all talking in the language of fertility. As
any poster on a fertility chatroom knows, nothing is ever
‘TMI’. Posters tell one another things their partners
and closest friends don’t know.
Take, for instance, in-gender.com, a site for women
aiming to ‘sway’ for a girl or boy, who use the forum to
debate DIY techniques. On the ‘extreme swaying’
board, a woman asked recently: “Can I add a calcium
citrate tab to lime douche? Has anyone ever tried
this?” Half-an-hour later, the first of 16 replies came:
“I was doing this but you have to let it sit in the lime
until it is completely dissolved. Also the pH of the
solution will go up after adding the calcium so you
have to adjust it accordingly. I found using the liquid
calcium was much better though.”
We’re living through an information revolution when
it comes to fertility. This means that women trying
to conceive are increasingly like walking, talking
reproductive biology textbooks, sharing in-depthknowledge
gleaned from the internet on, for example,
the signs of low and high oestrogen and progesterone.
After all, with GP appointments lasting just 10 minutes
and long waiting lists or high costs to see specialists,
who wouldn’t turn to the internet?
“Trying to conceive can be an extreme emotional rollercoaster,
with the highs each month of ‘this could be it’
and the lows of ‘it didn’t work,’” says 44-year-old publicist
Katrina Power of her struggle to conceive her second
child. “Talking on a forum with other people in similar
circumstances can be a sanity saver, as you support one
another, provide advice, share tips and delight in »
*Translation: “Oh my God, my darling husband and I did the deed last night because when I peed on a test
stick, my Clearblue Fertility Monitor told me I was at the peak of my fertility - the luteinising hormone surge was
super strong, but I don’t think I’ve ovulated - this morning I’m still at a typical pre-ovulation temperature of 97.3F
and I’ve still got tons of highly fertile egg white cervical mucus. How am I going to get my husband to have sex
again tonight? And I’m so worried about my luteal [post-ovulatory] phase being so short last cycle - do you think
I have a chance of a big fat positive pregnancy test this month? Good luck with the baby-making, everyone!”
42 fertility road | november - december