Sometime this month, Quebec will begin funding fertility treatments for those experiencing infertility. The government will also provide free sperm donations to single women and gay couples. According to an editorial in The Globe and Mail, the fertility treatment program will be the most generous program in the world.
I think it's great that Quebec will be recognizing that infertility is a disease worthy of medical treatment. I'm not going to talk or debate about what services should or should not be provided by the government, nor discuss whether all the details of Quebec's program are good for fertility patients or the public in general. I don't even know enough about the program to really talk about it.
What I do want to talk about is Margaret Wente's editorial point, where she implies infertility is a lifestyle choice (and therefore is not a disease). Her argument? Since there are couples who choose not to have children, not having the ability to have children makes infertility a lifestyle.
Really? Seriously?
Ridiculous.
There are people who choose to never have sex, priests for example. Therefore, is impotence a lifestyle choice?
There are also some monks who take a vow of silence. I guess those who are deaf and are unable to vocalize are making a lifestyle choice.
While some people choose not to use the part of their brain that generates the feeling of empathy, I don't think anyone would consider that the same as someone who cannot experience empathy due to a brain injury or neurological disorder.
Infertility is not in any way a lifestyle choice. In fact, by definition, it can't be. Because those who are living with infertility do not have a choice to make. They want children and cannot have them. The choice has been made for them.
Plus, with the exception of age related infertility, when a couple cannot get pregnant, it's linked to something going wrong with the body. Sometimes it's ovulation that has gone wrong, other times it's blocked fallopian tubes or endometriosis. About half the time it's low or no sperm production.
In other words, the reproductive system is not healthy. There is disease. It's not normal.
And even with age related infertility, since when do we sit back and just let nature take its course when we have the ability to do something? I don't hear many 50 year olds refusing basic medical treatment, since once-upon-a-time, that was life expectancy. "Oh, it's just the natural aging process. Don't treat me. Time to die."
Of course, it doesn't help in great Infertility Disease Debate when someone from the "inside" says something stupid.
I'm referring to Dr. Sherman Silber's comment in a Newsweek article on the cost of IVF. He is quoted as saying, "It's hard to call infertility a disease. It's normal aging."
The article then goes on to state, "A complicating factor, according to St. Luke's Silber, is that up to 80 percent of infertility cases are caused simply by increasing maternal age."
I'd love to see where that statistics came from. How can 80% of infertility cases be linked to aging when almost 50% are related to male infertility? While men do experience some fertility decline with age, it's not as drastic as with women.
Plus, according to a fact sheet provided by the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, 25% of infertility cases are linked to ovulation problems, while 35% of infertility are connected to blocked tubes or other structural problems. (Psst... age related infertility is mainly an ovulation problem. I think the American Society of Reproductive Medicine would disagree with Dr. Silber's statistic.)
But, on the other hand, what else can we expect from a doctor who's made his name known by pushing egg and ovarian tissue freezing as a method of extending fertility for women. The more people who think age is the key factor to infertility, the better for his business.
One last thought.
The online Merriam-Webster dictionary defines disease as "a condition of the living animal or plant body or of one of its parts that impairs normal functioning and is typically manifested by distinguishing signs and symptoms."
Infertility is abnormal functioning of the reproductive system. Infertility has signs and symptoms.
Not referring to infertility as a disease has nothing to do with medicine. It's pure politics.
What are your thoughts? Do you think infertility is a disease? Or a lifestyle choice? Please share your thoughts in the comments below, I'd love to hear from you!
When I saw the title of the article, my head almost exploded. Thanks for making some very salient points and defending Infertility as a disease worthy of being covered by insurance.
Like any of us that have been through or are still going through thier journey would “choose” this as a pathway to parenthood or a “lifestyle”. Sheesh!
Renee Bornfreund, Author
Perservering Through Infertility
I never read that article, but it boggles my mind to know that there is such uneducated people out there writting about subjects they clearly have not researched.
I am 27 and for some reason I do not ovulate, This is not a life style i choose. I want a child very badly now and knowing that i might not have one has been eating away at me for over a year now and will haunt me forever. If that women new what it was like to be told you will never have childern then maybe her perspective would change.
I liked your argument and thank you for voicing your opinion
What a great article -it’s scary and very hurtful how so many people truly believe that infertility is a lifestyle choice, and when medical professionals come out with ridiculous comments that back it up it’s not exactly going to help matters!
To have children is a lifestyle choice, but the ability to have them isn’t – it’s medical and I really wish more people would see it that way.
Well said Rachel!
I never though that Infertility was a choice and the people who do are the far few and stupid.
Personally I would like to see people adopt more.
It’s a good cause
You get to be a mommy
a unwanted kid becomes wanted and needed
Thank you Rachel, for this spot-on response to the Newsweek article that made me physically angry to read last week. And thanks also for sharing the rather unfortunate logic of the editorialist overseas. This is probably the hardest “logic” we have to fight against, and it’s strong, well-researched responses like yours that help.
As I understand it, Quebec is tackling this issue as a way to expanding its population and reducing medial expenses. Both of which seem crazy in a world where so many countries are experiencing population explosion! (China and India, for example)
But the issue about whether or not infertility should be covered by insurance, I think, comes down to a position that is seimple, and basic… kinda fundamental. We go to a doctor when a part of our body doesn’t work. Infertility is simply another one of those “body parts” that’s not working. So, on a fundamental, black and white level, I think insurance should cover the cost. That’s my two cents, anyway!!
Thank you THANK you for writing this article.
I’ve found myself living Child-free AFTER Infertility and have had MANY people claim that I’m selfish for choosing this “lifestyle.”
Yes, living child-free is a lifestyle choice that Hubby & I made … but it’s only because living with infertility — living with impaired reproductive functioning limited our options in being able to procreate.
Thank you for voicing your opinion. I am 30 years old and have been dealing with infertility for 8 years now. I can’t believe that somone can be so heartless and cold. Obviously she has never felt the stress, depression, and hurt that infertility brings every day. It’s not something that you just wake up one morning and say “O I think I’m over all the pain and I will just move on to something else now.” I always imagined my husband and I having a house full of children to love. With all the cost of fertility treatments we financially can not aford to do anymore treaments or adopt now. That isn’t a choice its something we have to try to learn to live with every day of our lives now!
Thank you for this article!
I think it’s utterly ridiculous that infertility isn’t considered a disease worldwide. Reproduction is the most basic, essential activity for all living things. To say not having the ability to do so is a “lifestyle choice” is absurd.