the road of infertility

When I was a child there was a rumor that Mountain Dew lowered sperm counts. Maybe you heard the same rumor as well. I am not sure how this rumor was started but there was at least a short period of my life that I did not drink Mountain Dew. Obviously this stigma created an idea of in my head that I should stay away. Today I rarely drink soda but when I do, I drink the Dew. Fast forward to September of 2010, Jenny and I were sitting in a Doctor's office and were told that I was infertile and the chance of ever having biological children would be virtually impossible. It was something that deep down we already knew was a possibility. 3.5 years previously we decided had decided that we would attempt to have children but went with a "no rush, but it will happen when it happens." During this time I was also in Seminary so it did not seem that we needed to rush anything. But after that period of time we needed some answers. Was it me, was it her? What was the reason? Today we are in the process of adoption and have been on the waiting list for 7 months. This is something we feel strongly about and did not even attempt the other possibilities of fertility treatments, the doctor believed the chances were slim the treatments would work. Yesterday, I was scrolling through facebook statuses and noticed that this is infertility awareness week. Jenny and I receive a newsletter from Stepping Stones a ministry of Bethany Christian Services the agency we are adopting from. Infertility is rarely talked about. The American Pregnancy Association says 2,000,000 couples face infertility in one way or the other. People feel shame because of "the situation" they find themselves in. I am not saying that I am ecstatic about this but I have learned to cope because of the community I am in. If I were to hold this to myself it would eat me up inside. Do not feel ashamed, you are not alone.