Studies suggest that Black women may be almost twice as likely to experience infertility than white women.
This includes pregnancies resulting in; early miscarriage, stillbirth, and an inability to conceive.
I found this to be interesting after experiencing my own issues with pregnancy when trying to figure out “what was wrong with me”
Here I was, 27, in good shape, healthy, and the one thing I thought I wanted, never seen the light of day.
Talk about devastation.
Throughout the process of understanding that it wasn’t my time to become a mother, I found articles outlining the issues that Black women face when trying to start a family.
And it’s not easy.
Only about 8 percent of black women between the ages of 25 and 44 seek medical help in getting pregnant, compared to 15 percent of white women.
If we all have the same female reproductive organs, then what makes Black women different?
The silence around infertility in the Black Community
Coming from a mother who birthed 8 children with little to no complications, I assumed that my sisters and I were set up for fertility success.
It wasn’t until I opened up to my eldest sister that I realized this was not the case.
What was more shocking, hundreds of other women that I found, either online or in-person have gone through similar situations.
Miscarriage, stillbirth, premature labor resulting in death.
My heart ached.
The stigma surrounding Black women and fertility has been around since slavery.
Notions that we are naturally fertile, fast, and ready to have children have made it difficult to speak up in times of struggle.
Why?
The general perception is that black women don’t have fertility problems, despite the research showing the contrary, says Amanda Kallen, a reproductive endocrinologist and infertility expert with the Yale Fertility Center in New Haven, Conn.
Other sources suggest that the black community places an emphasis on religion further leading the conversation toward “God’s timing” without considering the need for medical intervention.
As if God can revive a compromised left ovary.
Suffering alone
After going through different forms of fertility trauma, many African-American women go on to suffer in silence, instead of reaching out for help.
One of the reasons why I decided to go through with writing this article is because of the headline alone.
We need to talk about infertility issues more.
Especially when it’s impacting Black women at higher rates.
According to research conducted by the Psychology of Women Quarterly journal, focusing on the experiences of African-American women struggling to conceive, “98 percent of participants claimed taboos surrounding the subject in the black community forced them to remain silent”.
One explanation for women’s silence may be due to cultural expectations of black women being strong, self-reliant, being able to cope with adversity on our own, while still maintaining privacy in our homes.
This is a huge burden to bear alone.
No woman should have to experience that.
Although my experience with pregnancy (or the lack thereof) has been far less traumatic than most, I did feel like I was in it all by myself.
Family and friends were supportive, but internally everything just felt wrong.
And it still does.
If you are experiencing issues related to pregnancy, infertility, or the latter, do your research in finding the help that you need.
The help that you deserve.