BlogHer writer Melissa Ford is the author of the infertility and pregnancy loss blog Stirrup Queens and Sperm Palace Jesters. The convergence of H1N1 and the upcoming movie, "2012," has brought out the eternal debate -- how will life on Earth as we know it end? Will it be a virus or massive flu that spreads through the population, leaving behind only a small subsection of those with immunity? (Because there are always some people with immunity -- usually highly attractive people with great makeup or biceps -- when these things play out in the movies.)
Or will it be a series of natural disasters a la "2012," either predestined by nature itself or caused by our hubris with the environment?
Or will it be infertility?
Doomsday Craze
"Children of Men" by P.D. James, another doomsday-lit offering that was recently made into a film, has women unable to conceive. Margaret Atwood played out the same idea earlier in "The Handmaid's Tale."
And it's not difficult to imagine with more and more men and women being diagnosed with infertility. Despite our increased ability to diagnose and treat infertility, we also have more people finding that they need assistance to conceive. While infertility happens from time to time in nature, humans are unique in our infertility levels and these are due to a plethora of causes.
Of course, with doomsday movies on the horizon, it also brings out the doomsday predictors on the Internet, and it seemed only a matter of time before we started getting hybrid theories that combine numerous paths to the Earth's destruction. What if, for example, H1N1 was released into the population (flu theory) specifically so the government could give us the vaccine (government-conspiracy theory) that contains a fertility inhibitor (infertility theory)? You can get three doomsday theories for the price of one on YouTube right now.
Who "Deserves" the Vaccine?
But despite my tongue-in-cheek view of doomsday theory, this actually does raise a serious debate within the infertility community, namely who is able to get their hands on a vaccine. In any good drama, we often see that there is a group who gets chosen for survival even if survival is impossible, and those who are deemed unworthy of saving with limited resources. Think the Titanic lifeboats vs. those sent below to die first.
And in this case, it began back in summer with the first reports about who would receive the H1N1 vaccine because there was a higher chance of being mortally affected. Fertility Foibles pointed out in a tongue-in-cheek rant that the vaccine being held for pregnant women is just one more sting to people experiencing infertility. She wrote:
"I mean am I not worthy of getting a swine flu shot just because my womb is barren? It's not like I chose to have fertility issues or did something to inhibit my fertility. I pay more than my fair share of taxes and have contributed way more out-of-pocket expenses to the healthcare system than the average 36-year old woman."
And while she was being a bit facetious, this question did pop up recently in the blogging community as people debated the distribution of this hard-to-get vaccine.
Safety Questions
And beyond looking at who should get it are the posts where women, pregnant after infertility, weigh the risk, taking into consideration how long it took to get pregnant in the first place.
Oh Emily, pregnant after IVF, wonders if she should get the vaccine if it becomes available in her area. Maybe If You Just Relax falls firmly in the non-vaccinating camp in regards to herself and her baby, which was conceived with assistance. Tales of My Follies asks the questions at the heart of the matter:
"I mean if we are trying so hard, waiting so long to get pregnant, and injecting ourselves with crazy drugs just to get pregnant would you want to risk getting a vaccine that might mess everything up and cause harm to the baby or to lose the baby? I am just not sure. Then again I would want to be protected. Though I never get the annual flu vaccine."
Fierce and Nerdy gives the recommendation if you're sick of debating who should be allowed to get the vaccine or whether or not H1N1 signals the end of the world, try reading Camus's "The Plague" to combat Hollywood filmmakers who "encourage us to imagine the worst possible scenarios."
BlogHer is the leading participatory news, entertainment and information network for women online. Follow us at BlogHer.com, on Twitter (@Blogher) and on Facebook.
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Monday 09 November
By filterwell
Gosh, his seems like a no-brainer to me.
This particular variant of the flu is disproportionately killing pregnant women (including their babies), as well as children under 5 yrs. old. It's a damned shame (and totally unnecessary) that the bloody vaccine manufacturers decided to send out the vaccine with a thimerosal preservative, but that's the dice that have been rolled to us.
I struggled with infertility for years before hi-tech medicine made it possible for me to hold onto and carry a pregnancy to term -- every woman who struggles with infertility knows that sometimes statistics can be your friends. Even when they tell you stuff you would rather not know: "Considering the number of miscarriages you have had, you are an unqualified candidate for further fertility treatment using your own eggs. The odds of your carrying a child to term using your own eggs have fallen to only 5%. You need an egg donor." Brutal stuff.
Yet, six months and one unbelievably generous egg donor later, I had one baby who was absolutely settled in for the long haul. 81/4 months later, healthy baby, never looked back. I am very selective about what I vaccinate him for (constant arguments with the pediatrician,) but I was first in the door for his H1N1 inoculation
Sometimes statistics are brutal, but they are telling you stuff you need to know. This particular flu is killing pregnant women at an astonishing rate. My thought is: do everything else you can to reduce your mercury exposure (no fish at all for a while; lots of iron) , and whatever else your M.D. or naturopath recommends to mediate heavy metal toxicity, then go for it.
You guys have already given up so much -- don't give up your lives, too. Blessings.
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Wednesday 11 November
By kalywisper
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