Overcoming Infertility

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Tammy (0:12)

On Relevant Radio.

Drew Mariani (0:20)

Well, hey, thank you for letting me spend part of my afternoon with you, you're gonna love the conversation we are about to have. I was broadcasting live, I guess it was last week or the week before, time's a blur to me, and I was up in Green Bay for the Solenity Mass, I think it was last week, of Our Lady of Champion. And there I bumped into a former colleague of mine, actually more than a former colleague, it was a friend and former producer, her name's Cassie Everts, and she was with me for years at Relevant Radio in the early years of my broadcast there. And she ended up, she has an amazing story, she's gonna share most of it with you today, so I don't wanna get too much away, but she struggled with loss, with losing children. She had many miscarriages, and she and her husband, he also works, Aaron works at Relevant Radio with us, they went ahead and they adopted two beautiful children from Ghana, and when I saw her, I was shocked because she's now pregnant with her seventh child, she's a mother of seven children now, it's pretty amazing. And I love her story because it's one of great inspiration. I remember her struggle. I remember the pain, I remember the loss. I remember praying for her. I prayed for her many, many times in our chapel. And I knew God had a plan. I said to her one point in time, I said, you know, maybe God has intended you to adopt these two beautiful babies, right? These two beautiful boys from Africa. And she did, and it was soon after that, she found herself pregnant with the first child, and she did everything. She looked into it, she looked at the medical aspects of this, and she eventually would write a book on it. If you're struggling with infertility today, if you're trying to have a child, I want to talk about all aspects of this. Because I know it must be frustrating when the month after month passes, and you pray, and your prayers seem unanswered. You know, you long to be a mother or a father. And then sometimes you're overwhelmed by sorrow. And millions of couples know this pain.

And I want to explore that with you today. And if you have a personal experience, I'd love to hear your story too. What did you go through? How did you come to accept this? Did you have a miracle? Who did you pray to? For couples, pregnancy, some comes effortlessly. It's not saying there's any way to be braggadocious. That's not the intent of it. I work with people here that have like seven, eight kids. You know, but Cathy and I, my wife and I, when we first got married, we had a child like just about every year. It was crazy, you know?

But life is really a gift, and God's got a plan and a timeline for when he, and who he chooses to give that gift to.

For others, and you might be there, I have many friends who do not have children, and it can be very painful, and it can be emotionally exhausting. And perhaps you walked it yourself, you know?

You're praying, maybe you think you're pregnant, you take that pregnancy test, and it's another disappointment. And sometimes I think the hardest part is that nobody else knows what you're going through. I saw a stat, the World Health Organization, they estimate that approximately one in six adults worldwide experience infertility, one in six.

At least at some point in their life. I mean, just think about that. One in six, that's millions upon millions of people carry this burden that is often invisible to the rest of the world. And this is not simply a woman's problem. I mean, it can involve conditions affecting your spouse. It can be both of you. It could be a hormonal disorder. It can be endometriosis. It could be a blocked fallopian tube. I mean, problems with your sperm production, low motility. I mean, anything. There could be underlying medical conditions, age. That's why you really need to go.

And if you're struggling in this area, get some professional help. And maybe, Cathy, I think it's Hildre's Institute is the institute that is highly recommended in this country, or Pope Paul VI Institute. But there are organizations out there that can really help do the testing and help you identify what the clear cause is. And maybe it can be corrected through through medicine. But it's also not a medical diagnosis. Infertility is not just a medical diagnosis. It becomes a spiritual struggle. And I want to talk about that today because you begin to ask questions that reach deep into the recesses of your heart. Why is this happening to me? Why does God, why is he withholding something so good? And why aren't my prayers heard? And it can result in a lot of heartache. And maybe tending a baby shower, hearing your friends all talking about being expecting.