Fear of judgment
Literally from the first minutes of communication the participants expressed the opinion that the main barrier to “artificial” pregnancy is the fear of being misunderstood. Couples do not go to reproductologists because they think their problem is shameful, they are afraid of being judged by their friends.
– Infertility is a tragedy for every family, which is not openly discussed in our society. The situation is aggravated not only by the need for expensive examinations and medical intervention, but also by the feeling of social unrealization as parents,” says Svetlana Degtyareva, head of the trust association “Children will be! – The feeling of not living up to the expectations of loved ones is accompanied by a not always adequate reaction from others. At the same time, the attitude towards common ART is cautious, and most people perceive it as a last chance.
Conflict of desires and opportunities
In most cases, a couple can have a child by using assisted reproductive technology techniques.
Infertility is, first of all, a conflict between the all-encompassing desire to “want a child” and the impossibility to fulfill it. And then, in the dry figures of statistics, it is the problem of the state. Are these 10-15% of the population incapable of reproducing themselves so important on a national scale? This is not so much a demographic problem as a problem related to the social “health” of that very, let us note, not insignificant part of the population. In Europe and North America, 1.5-2 thousand IVF procedures are performed annually for 1 million people. In Ukraine – a little more than 350, which is largely due to the prevalence of various myths about IVF among our compatriots. And while potential parents are in the captivity of prejudices, time is running out: every year of delay reduces the chances of conception even with the help of IVF.
– The effective reproductive age of women is limited, so time is an extremely valuable resource,” says Valeriy Zukin, PhD, Vice-President of the Ukrainian Association of Reproductive Medicine (UARM). – If a couple fails to conceive a child naturally within two years, they can safely turn to a reproductologist. Ukrainians should be more attentive to their health and use available treatment options while the chance is still available.
To hear “mommy!”
To help tens of thousands of Ukrainian families facing the problem of infertility to realize their dreams, UARM and the “Children Will Be!” trust association organized the social initiative “Hear “Mama!”. The project was supported by science and technology company Merck KGaA (Darmstadt, Germany) and pharmaceutical company “Sona-Pharm” (Ukraine). To combat the misconceptions existing in society, experts have created an educational resource www.pochutymamo.com.ua, which contains information about the causes of infertility and methods of overcoming it with the help of ART. All those interested can get answers to their questions from experts. The campaign is designed to increase public knowledge about IVF procedure and change attitudes towards it.
– The study revealed that one of the main reasons for the low number of visits to reproductologists is distrust in assisted technologies. The new project will help break the information vacuum that has formed in society,” summarizes Roger Elia, General Director of Merck’s biopharmaceutical division in Ukraine, Georgia and CIS countries. – At the same time, modern medicine is constantly improving the arsenal of ART. I am confident that our joint initiative will help thousands of families to find the right solution and realize their cherished dream of having a child.
