Infertility In America: I Have A New Appreciation For Parents

After being a pharmacy technician for five years, I’ve seen a lot. I’ve seen addiction, trauma, poverty, crime, and infertility pain. 

I started out in retail – your CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid crowds. I’ve seen people go without life-saving medications because they chose to eat that week instead. I eventually moved to a hospital pharmacy. At the hospital pharmacy, I saw the COVID-19 pandemic affect those who already had so much taken from them. 

Every day, the ER board displayed people showing up at our doors so sick they couldn’t take one more night outside. It has been a long five years. 

This year I found a career path in a pharmacy specializing in fertility. 

I never thought once, in mapping out my career path, that I would settle down in fertility. The thought of specializing just never crossed my mind, though not for any specific reason. 

It’s only been half a year, but I’ve been loving the specificity. There are only about 20 drugs to memorize, we mostly mail out prescriptions so there’s less craziness at pick-up, and we have several pharmacists and a nurse to answer patient questions (and sometimes my own) on site. 

I was there for only a couple weeks before I had my first patient cry on the phone with me. 

I was never sure if I wanted kids until about two years ago. Seeing other parents with their babies made my soul ache. I’m not ready yet, but I’m hoping that image is in my “someday”. 

However, for many others, they’ve already been in the fight for so long. I’ve had patients who are in their 20s trying for their first baby. I have patients in their 30s freezing their eggs for the future. I have patients in their 40s trying not to give up hope that they didn’t wait too long or that this may not be in the cards for them. 

The whole process is stressful, expensive, and can be incredibly heartbreaking. 

At age 25, I’m scared I might be looking toward my future. I hope and pray that my partner and I find success early, as I may not be as strong as my patients. Every time I answer the phone at work, I say a small little prayer to the universe that this cycle is the one for them. I hope they become pregnant, the baby is healthy, and that all the injections and money spent were worth it. 

The days go by and you start to notice the same patients aren’t calling you every couple of weeks. You hope they were successful and that maybe the office will get an email or letter with a new baby photo attached. However, there are always new patients. 

So you say your little prayers, you ease their minds over the phone, and maybe after a miracle happens, you hope you never hear from them again. 

Feature Image by Tima Miroshnichenko from Pexels