Each year, RESOLVE organizes Federal Advocacy Day in partnership with the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM). On Advocacy Day constituents from every state in the U.S. are able to meet with their Members of Congress and encourage their support of pro-family legislation including increased access to family building options and financial relief for fertility care. Learn more about Advocacy Day with RESOLVE here.
At Advocacy Day 2023, I had the privilege of advocating with two impressive Maine women who are working to effectuate change - both inside Maine's borders and beyond. Both of these women generously shared their family-building struggles and asked Senator Susan Collins, Senator Angus King, and Representative Chellie Pingree to support pro-family legislation for the benefit of all Americans.
Read Kristen's words about why she advocates below.
Advocacy Day 2023: Why I Advocate.
Infertility is a disease that can have a wide spectrum of impacts on people’s lives. At best, infertility steals an enormous amount of time but for many, including me, its effects have been much more profound.
This disease has forced me to redefine what I envision my family to look like. Through unimaginable grief, I have been confronted with difficult life questions like, what do I really want out of my life?
While I would never say I’m a better person from my experience (because I don’t think I needed this life altering experience to be who I am today) I do believe that my diagnosis of infertility has veered me down a different path than what I had ever imagined for myself. I do not feel like I had the ability to make the choice of what trajectory I was on. For much of my time going to doctors, doing testing, and treatments I felt like things were happening that were outside my control.
I’ve never been able to find an answer to my infertility, but I do feel like I have rewritten the narrative and it all started with RESOLVE’s day of Advocacy. I along with other individuals from my state told our stories to our state representatives’ offices and asked that they support family building legislation. It made me feel empowered. I was given the opportunity to honor the babies I had lost and make sure they were not forgotten. I found a passion of mine that day.
By speaking my story I know I can enact change for the woman after me. I want to amplify the conversation around infertility and pregnancy/baby loss. I want my living daughter to know that I stood up for her and her future fertility rights and needs. Advocacy made me feel in control of that part of my life. I plan to share my advocate next year again and hope you will too.
If you have the willingness to share your family-building story, we can offer training and a team who will advocate by your side. Learn more about becoming an advocate here: Take Action: Become an Advocate.