(no subject)

[yolen]

Excellent advice about the etiquette of communicating with infertile people.

Thanks to breakableheart for the head's up on this.

Comments

[everfound.livejournal.com]

Thank you for posting that. I assumed a lot of those things, but it is always helpful to find out what people do and don't want to hear in certain situations. I know a lot of people who are or have struggled with infertility.

I think it is always important to remember that nobody knows how it feels to be in a situation until they experience it.

[yolen.livejournal.com]

I think it is always important to remember that nobody knows how it feels to be in a situation until they experience it.

Believe me, keeping that in mind is the only thing that's kept me from smashing people. That and the memory of all the stupidass things I had to say on the matter when I was young and clueless. But with about 12.5% of people attempting to start families are experiencing infertility or persistent miscarriage, it doesn't hurt fertile and presumably fertile people to try and be a little more sensitive.

[dragonlilyfly.livejournal.com]

I especially like the suggestion about remembering your friends at Mother's Day. But wow, the things people say when trying to be helpful and caring is quite a wide range of thoughtful, huh?

[yolen.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there are some doozies.

[n-decisive.livejournal.com]

That is a lovely article, and I wish I could discreetly leave it with some folks I've met. To be fair, I screwed up once with someone and felt like crap about it. I caught it right away and apologized, but manohman, did I want to crawl in a hole that day.

You know you have permission to slap me if I ever say something stupid, right?

*hugs*

[yolen.livejournal.com]

There's a big difference between screwing up and realizing and then apologizing, and persistent cluelessness in the face of someone else's suffering. Or worse, explaining to someone why you're upset and basically being pooh-poohed.

I trust you not to say anything on purpose to hurt my feelings {HUGS}.

[screamingdolai.livejournal.com]

I'd fucking tattoo that on my forehead, if it would help with idiots.

Ugh. Seriously, ugh.

[yolen.livejournal.com]

Or, how about making LOTS of copies of this and carry it around in a folder. Then, when someone says something stupid we can just hand them a copy and tell them to read. Heh.