Saturday, March 23, 2013

Our Screwed Up Social Media

I have a friend that is, well, obsessed with the TV show "16 and Pregnant." She is always talking about these teenage couples and all the drama and how she saw on the front page cover of the magazines that so-and-so from the show is pregnant again. Maybe it's my infertile bitchy subconscious but I think these shows are ridiculous! As if America doesn't already have a big enough problem with teen pregnancy, lets glamorize the issue! How about "18 and graduated?" Sounds like a better topic to me than a bunch of immature party kids that get knocked up in high school. I'm not saying that some teen parents aren't capable of being good parents and maturing when they are expecting but it's not exactly the norm. What the hell is wrong with our social media for glorifying teen pregnancy? Show these kids a video of a woman giving birth and screaming her head off.... babies are not an accessory, they are a responsibility. They are not a puppy!

While I'm on the subject of TV shows, why is there no "reality" show about infertility? There's shows about people with 19 kids and even shows about 80 yr old women in other countries mysteriously getting pregnant, so why not a show about infertility? 

Why is everyone so silent about the issue? It's okay for people to talk about horror movies involving torture or how cool it is to finally be of age to get into a strip club or even how what's-her-name had an abortion for the 5th time,  but nobody dares bring up the aspects of infertility in public. If you want to get some nasty looks just talk about IVF, those horrid transvaginal ultrasounds, or even utter the word "infertility" in more than a whisper. It's estimated that 1 out of every 6 couples suffer from infertility. Why act like it doesn't exist?

Does anyone know of any good movies about infertility? I have seen a couple but most of them almost make a mockery out of the issue and it irritates me. One that I did watch recently and thought was a cute movie was "The Odd Life of Timothy Green." There was also one I had watched a couple of years ago called "Facing The Giants" that I liked a lot. If you haven't already watched them, check them out, and leave any suggestions in comments below. I wish you all a wonderful Saturday!


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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 23, 2013 at 2:56 PM

    Personally, I don't think 16 and Pregnant glamorizes teen pregnancy but rather has found the most "needy" of the population and are exploiting them for less then benevolent purposes. Even the couple who placed for adoption was exploited as they didn't exactly come from pillars of the community and that was shown in great detail!

    As for movies-I can't think of any off the top of my head that deal specifically with infertility exclusively but two old ones that delve into adoption as a result of infertility/miscarriage are: Immediate Family with Glenn Close and Conception with Stockard Channing. The later being probably the truest of how it really goes down more often than not.

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  2. EveMarch 23, 2013 at 5:10 PM

    I totally hear you! I went to see my priest for guidance on how to cope with infertility. His immediate response was--adopt. It's not that simple. People cannot relate to the heartache, not even a priest.

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  3. Infertile Myrtle, RNMarch 24, 2013 at 7:04 AM

    Thanks Queen Mom for your suggestions.
    To Eve- No, I believe that only people who have been there themselves can truly relate to the grief and heartache. Although I have found that a few people who I know that have never been through it have made some of the best listeners.

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