Slice Seven - Normal

What does it mean to be "normal?"

Typical?

Expected?

Ordinary?

Standard?

Being normal is a good thing...right?  I suppose it is, unless one is looking for answers.


Infertility is typically defined as a couple's inability to become pregnant after six months to one year of trying to conceive naturally.  Approximately ten percent of couples in the United States are ultimately labeled as infertile.  Usually, however, the cause of a couple's infertility can be identified as a complication with either the male, female, or even sometimes both.

There exists, though, a small percent of infertile couples in which the cause of their infertility is unknown or unexplained.  Aaron and I fell into that unique, tiny fraction of our population.

Every single test we ever had?  Normal.

Every blood draw?  Normal.

Every exam?  Normal.

Every doctor, every specialist indicated that we were perfectly and utterly normal.

But there is nothing normal about unexplained infertility.

In fact, with each normal or negative medical result we received, I felt increasingly alien, isolated, and alone.


I felt anything but "normal."