In our latest episode, we welcome Maria and Elizabeth, the co-founders and co-directors of The ART of Infertility, to share their personal experiences with infertility and their collaborative advocacy work. Though their individual family building journeys took different paths, both Elizabeth and Maria emphasize the importance of the supportive communities they found as they navigated infertility diagnoses and their subsequent experiences with fertility treatment, loss, adoption, and step-parenting. They both also found that creative outlets like visual art and writing were immensely helpful for processing their journeys.

Together Maria and Elizabeth founded The ART of Infertility, a national arts organization that challenges perceptions of infertility through visual art and storytelling and advocates for creativity to be incorporated as a therapeutic outlet for fertility patients as part of broader mental health support in clinical settings. Through exhibits, workshops, and their book Infertilities, A Curation, Elizabeth and Maria stress the need for open discussions about infertility to foster understanding and connection, and hope to inspire anyone feeling overwhelmed by their family building journey to explore creativity as a step towards healing.

Connect with Maria and Elizabeth at https://www.artofinfertility.org/ or reach out to them directly at elizabeth@artofinfertility.org and maria@artofinfertility.org.

TOPICS COVERED IN THIS EPISODE:

family building, infertility support, reproductive health, IVF experiences, adoption journeys, community support for infertility, coping with infertility, emotional impact of infertility, creative expression in fertility, infertility advocacy, peer support groups, family planning challenges, mental health and infertility, navigating infertility, stories of infertility, infertility awareness, support for couples, coping strategies for infertility, personal experiences with IVF, art and infertility, Infertility, clomid, timed intercourse, IUI, endometriosis, assisted reproductive technology, ART of Infertility, diminished ovarian reserve, DOR, IVF, male-factor infertility, grief, loss, reproductive loss, boundaries, visual art, egg retrieval, ovarian torsion, medical complications, medical trauma, miscarriage, pregnancy loss, embryo transfer, divorce after infertility, step-parent, step-parenting after infertility, community support, support group, peer support, RESOLVE the National Infertility Association, Progeny, fertility testing, couples support group, healing, fertility treatment, adoption, domestic infant adoption, open adoption, adoptive parent, parenting after infertility, advocacy, advocacy work, RESOLVE Advocacy Day, family building, family making, creative outlets, writing, art exhibit, identity and infertility, creative practices, mental health and creativity, creating awareness, reproductive rights, Infertiles, A Curation, blackout poetry, mixed media, painting, art exhibit, 

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