Credit: Getty
Amy Schumer has asked women to share their IVF experiences with her, after posting a candid Instagram photograph and caption about her own fertility story.
IVF is the most common fertility treatment for people who are unable to conceive naturally. According to a government report, there were over one million IVF treatment cycles in the UK between 1991 – 2016. And between 2014 – 2016, IVF treatment cycles increased by 39%. The quarter-of-a-millionth UK child was born as a result of fertility treatment in 2015.
It is clearly something that a lot of people go through, and yet it’s an issue still shrouded in stigma.
Podcaster Elizabeth Day recently talked about this in an interview, explaining that the language around fertility treatment is used to make women feel like failures. “A lot of the language around around fertility medicine was the language of failure. It was designed to make me feel like a failure as a woman,” she said, recalling her two rounds of IVF and miscarriage.
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Amy Schumer has now revealed that she is currently undergoing IVF. The actor, who gave birth to her first son last year, shared a photo on Instagram of her bruised stomach. It also showed the C-section scar from her last pregnancy. Schumer called for women who are going through similar experiences to get in touch with her, and literally shared her phone number for them to do so.
She wrote: “I’m a week into IVF and feeling really run down and emotional. If anyone went through it and if you have any advice or wouldn’t mind sharing your experience with me please do. My number is in my bio. We are freezing my eggs and figuring out what to do to give Gene a sibling.”
Fans and celebrities have left comments on the photo, thanking Schumer for being so open and real about IVF and pregnancy. They also wished her luck for getting pregnant.
Credit: Getty
Tess Holliday replied, writing: “I appreciate you as a mother, a woman, a public figure, your vulnerability is so powerful.
A fan added: “Thank you for normalising pregnancy and the scars from C-section. While men are busy trying to control our bodies, they have NO CLUE what we go through to have children, what is involved, and how it really affects us. By you using your voice to show what you’re going through, it’s educating people to understand the trials and dangers but also the miracles of pregnancy. THANK YOU.”
More women also shared their own personal experiences, joining this conversation that needs to continue being more amplified in 2020.
Images: Getty
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