But then she experienced an ectopic pregnancy that ultimately ruptured both of her fallopian tubes.
I didnt tell anyone [I was doing IVF] except my partner.
It was very isolating, she says.
Black women didnt go through IVF, she thoughtcertainly she hadnt heard anyone talk about it.
I found a whole community of Black women who knew what I felt, Casey says.
As she discovered, Casey certainly wasnt alone in her struggles.
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The narrative Id always heard was that [Black women] were hyper-fertile.
The more important thing was tonotget pregnant, she says.
In fact, studies show that Black women may betwice as likely to experience infertility as white women.
But Townsend, like Casey, rarely ever heard Black women talking about their infertility struggles in public.
The private group is a really great community, Townsend says.
Grief and infertility often go hand in hand.
Im so thankful for them all.
We felt we had to make life-altering decisions with very little context.
I saw a real gap between what the experts were learning and patients knew, Lyndon says.
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Instead, key information often stayed buried in scientific journals.
There are a lot of conversations in the Black community about what we dont do, Townsend says.
We dont go to therapy, we pray.
We dont give our kids away or adopt.
Phrases like that are really damaging.
Everyones experience with infertility is a little different.
*Name has been changed.
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