16 Top Encouraging and Supportive IVF Blogs and Forums

Last Updated on October 15, 2021

Most women and men who begin an IVF journey hope it’ll end one way: with a baby. For some, the journey takes many years. For others, one round of IVF does it. Through the journey, regardless of how long it is, many people begin to write about it, and that’s how we’ve come to have so many IVF blogs available now. These bloggers openly share their IVF and infertility stories to not only connect with others, but also to connect with themselves.

Still, no two IVF blogs are the same and no two journeys are the same. Below are seven top fertility blogs for encouragement and support. Emotional trigger warning for those still going through IVF, or dealing with the pain of failed IVF: Each of the below seven bloggers went on to either conceive a child through IVF, or surrogacy. After this list is a compilation of five great fertility blogs in which the journey didn’t end in conception or a baby. And beyond that is a list of other information, resourceful IVF blogs and forums.

IVF Blogs and Forums

Contents

Starbucks, Peace, and the Pursuit of a Baby

URL: http://trialsbringjoy.wordpress.com

About: Chelsea, a woman who has been struggling with infertility for nearly 9 years, created Starbucks, Peace, and the Pursuit of a Baby to track her journey and just share her life stories. Along with her husband, Josh, she shares their story of infertility and IVF, after having been diagnosed with Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Chelsea and Josh recently (May 2017) gave birth to twins – a boy and a girl, after struggling for 9 years to conceive.

Chelsea posts updates regularly, and the blog is easy to navigate, so you can go back to the beginning. She posted an incredible resource called What to Expect – IVF 201, to help people understand the IVF consult and how to get the most out of it.

No Bun In the Oven

URL: http://nobunintheoven.com

About: You’ll find humor, inspiration, and a ton of information in No Bun in the Oven, which is arguably one of the most popular IVF blogs, if not the most popular IVF blog at one time. The story behind No Bun in the Oven is a little different, too. While many women start a blog to track their infertility struggles (which are overwhelming female infertility, No Bun in the Oven deals with male factor infertility.

Carissa, the blog’s author, wrote an insanely funny but also very helpful post called “What I Wish They’d Told Me About Egg Retrieval.” The post covers tips only insiders would really know, and useful advice including taking the day after egg retrieval off from work and protecting yourself from infection.

Don’t Count Your Eggs

URL: http://www.dontcountyoureggs.typepad.com/

About: Maya, a woman diagnosed with a condition called Diminished Ovarian Reserve, write this sometimes humorous, sometimes poignant blog about IVF, infertility, and parenting after infertility. Ultimately, IVF never actually worked for Maya and her husband, but it’s still an incredible blog as Maya shares her details of not only IVF with her own, but IVF with donor eggs as well.

She explains in the truest definition of a nutshell, her infertility journey in two sentences:

“I have Diminished Ovarian Reserve, and after one failed IVF cycle, two failed IUIs, and one failed IVF cycle using my sister’s donated eggs, we also have Diminished Cash Reserve. In the summer of 2014 we did an FET with an anonymously donated embryo, and it worked.”

Anyone who’s had experience with IVF will get something out of this blog. Maya posted a picture of all of the medications and tools for the IVF cycle, and several other photos with funny captions in her album titled, IVF Cycle 1.

all of the medications and tools for the IVF cycle

Source: http://dontcountyoureggs.typepad.com/photos/ivf_cycle_1/img_0446.html

The Two Week Wait

URL: http://the2weekwait.blogspot.com/

About: Read The Two Week Wait regularly for very funny, and also sassy, commentary on IVF, infertility, and pregnancy. The blog’s author is also compassionate. At the very top of the blog, she added a note for people who are still trying to conceive and DON’T want to read about her pregnancy. She points those readers to the beginning of her blog, which began in 2010, so they can read along with the journey there.

This is definitely a more humorous IVF blog than most are, and the writer considers herself an “infertility activist.” She also wrote an Infertility Etiquette page for readers to share with others, including family and friends. On that page, she starts off with a funny list of things that she’d say to people if she could, but then gets more serious and provides – literally – a cut and paste letter that people struggling with infertility can send to people.

Unpregnant Chicken

URL: http://unpregnantchicken.com/about-our-journey/

About: Unpregnant Chicken is funny, heartfelt, and very encouraging both about the IVF and infertility journey, and pregnancy. Kaeleigh MacDonald, the blog’s author, struggled with infertility for 3 years, including 2 failed IUI treatments. Eventually she and her husband tried IVF and were successful with it.

Kaeleigh also created and published helpful resources, including two TTC (trying to conceive) guides: TTC Basic FAQ and TTC Advanced FAQ. Her post on The Two Week Wait is a must read both for those new to IVF and those who aren’t. In it, she warns people about the tendency to fantasize about being pregnant too much during the time:

“If you get your period it goes from, the soul crushing knowledge that you could have had a baby, to a DEFCON 5, spirit obliterating, meltdown about the EXACT baby you have lost.”

While that particular part is difficult, most of Kaeleigh’s writing is over-the-top funny, and it’s one of the things that makes her blog stand out.

Inconceivable

URL: https://inconceivable12.wordpress.com/

About: Written by a woman who was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome, Inconceivable is another IVF blog that offers a lot of support and inspiration. Katherine, the blogger behind the blog, documents her entire infertility and IVF timeline and includes links to the blog posts that go along with the timeline.

She eventually was able to conceive a child, and had a baby girl in 2015, and then subsequently had another baby girl in March 2017. The blog provides encouragement to both those who still struggle to conceive as well as those who are debating whether or not IVF is right for them. It took two cycles of IVF, but Katherine’s story is a reminder that even after failed IVF, conception is possible for some people. Where necessary, she provides trigger warnings so people are aware that they might be triggered by content in her posts.

Dreaming Of Diapers

URL: http://dreamingofdiapers.com/

About: The author of Dreaming of Diapers tried for 5 years to conceive a child. During that time, she went through multiple rounds of IVF, freezing viable embryos and getting ready for FET (frozen embryo transfer), only to have the FETs cancelled over and over again. Doctors diagnosed her with a blocked fallopian tube, hydrosalpinx due to a ruptured appendix, Asherman’s Syndrome, and finally Crohn’s Disease. After trying for 4 years, her sister acted as a surrogate and helped her and her husband have a baby.

In one of her recent posts, “IVF: What I Never Talked About,” the author shares about how she developed Alopecia Areata from all of the IVF treatments over time. Alopecia Areata is a condition that causes someone to lose large amounts of hair. She explained that so much of the suffering taking place with IVF is behind the scenes. It’s not talked about. So she wrote the post – long after she and her husband had their baby through her sister’s surrogacy – to talk about something others may also be going through.

Blogs For Women with Failed IVF Treatments

Sometimes, IVF fails, not just once, but always. For some women, conceiving a baby just never happens. When that’s the case, it can be hard to read and blog about someone else’s success conceiving through IVF. Some of these bloggers are continuing with IVF treatments and some of them are not.

For women who come to the end of their IVF journey without a child, and need somewhere to go to connect with others in a similar situation, these blogs are great places to start.

Silent Sorority

URL: http://blog.silentsorority.com/

About: Silent Sorority is probably the very best IVF blog online for women who never become mothers – naturally or not – after failed IVF treatments. Pamela, the blog’s author and primary contributor, isn’t alone. The fact is that more women who attempt IVF treatments fail to conceive than those that do, but there are probably 9 times more IVF bloggers whose journeys end with conception, than those who don’t.

Therefore, Pamela created an incredibly important, powerful infertility and IVF blog that women who end their infertility journeys after failed IVF. One of the most solemn and memorable posts is called, “Identity Lost and Found After Infertility and Failed IVF.”

Infertility Honesty

URL: https://infertilityhonesty.com/

About: Sarah Chamberlin is a self described “IVF veteran” who writes an ongoing blog called Infertility Honesty. Like Pamela of Silent Sorority, Sarah shares her life, and thoughts on infertility due to endometriosis and failed IVF, in this raw and impactful blog. She also describes her situation as “involuntarily childless” and discusses issues surrounding life when you want children that you cannot have, and how to move on. She and her husband spent $77,000 on multiple attempts to conceive, including IUI, IVF, and FET.

Sarah, like many women with failed IVF treatment, never became pregnant, in all of the years of trying. She wrote a long and insightful biography on her About page, which includes the following note:

“My writing mainly exists for my own therapy, which has become paramount in importance since the ongoing life crisis of infertility continues to be excessively minimized by society.  In doing so it ends up providing an uncensored view of what my life is like living with infertility.” (About Sarah Chamberlin)

Parenthood For Me

URL: http://parenthoodforme.blogspot.com/

About: Sometimes, the infertility journey ends with adoption, not conception. That’s one of the best reasons to appreciate this blog, which is no longer actively maintained. Still, Erica, the blog’s founder, contributed many heartfelt – and sometimes gut wrenching – posts that failed IVF treatment survivors may relate to.

When You Can’t Have Kids

URL: http://whenyoucanthavekids.blogspot.com/

About: When You Can’t Have Kids, another infertility and failed IVF blog, provides support, encouraging, and insight for people who ended their IVF journey without conception or children. On the homepage, the author writes, “Eighteen months after our last IVF cycle, we knew we would not be having our own children. And, somehow, we have moved to a life that is much different to the one we thought we’d have.”

Kate Betton, the blog’s author, went on to write a book named after her blog which is available on Kindle, Amazon, and from The Book Depository.

No Kidding in NZ

URL: http://nokiddinginnz.blogspot.com.au/

About: The name of the blog indicates some level of humor in coming to the realization that the blog’s author, after two failed IVF treatments and two ectopic pregnancies, could not carry a baby to term. However, the author talks about a number of really tough situations that other women can relate to, including aging, and feeling guilty about not wanting children early in her career life.

On her about me page, the author included details about her story:

“A long story short is that two ectopic pregnancies and two failed IVFs later, I knew I would never have children.  I got the news on my 41st birthday.  I’ve had better birthdays.”

Like the other blogs for women with failed IVF treatments, No Kidding in NZ presents the other side of IVF, which is that when it doesn’t work, life still goes on.

Other Informative and Resourceful IVF Blogs and Forums

Some of the best blogs and forums on the web are either run by businesses or organizations or are news-like blog chock full of useful and helpful information. The remaining ten blogs of the Top 20 IVF Blogs are run by fertility clinics, networks, or other organizations. Bookmark these blogs or subscribe to them to get updates.

Fertility Authority

URL: https://www.fertilityauthority.com/blog

About: The Fertility Authority acts as a hub for a number of blogs and bloggers. On the homepage of the blog, you’ll see a list of recent posts, and the authors are likely all different. This collection of posts are primarily IVF related but are also general fertility articles and posts, as well. Some of the bloggers include doctors and fertility clinics, so a number of posts are informative with tips and advice.

Some of the most recent post titles include, “Giving Up Coffee to Boost Your Fertility,” “Is Spring the Best Time to Do an IVF Cycle?”, “Staying Posting During Your First Trimester” and “Advice Following Miscarriage.”

The Fertility Authority also created a blogroll featuring over 50 different blogs. Not all of the blogs on the list are specific to IVF, but they are all personal blogs and resources for those in need of fertility support.  Bloggers that write about their personal infertility journeys are encouraged to submit their URL to Fertility Authority. The process involves emailing the website’s team and submitting the blog for consideration. Subjects can include surrogacy, adoption, IVF, or anything related to infertility.

Shady Grove Fertility Blog

URL: https://www.shadygrovefertility.com/blog/

About: Run by the Shady Grove Fertility treatment center, this incredibly resourceful fertility and IVF blog is updated regularly – multiple times per week. You can search the blog by keyword, and if you search for the keyword IVF, you’ll find 480 posts on the subject (at the time this article was written).

Topics covered include IVF success tips, success rates and research studies, and discussions about egg donation, freezing, and treatment programs that increase the likelihood of pregnancy. What you won’t find here are deeply personal stories or specific infertility journeys. This is really an informative blog focused on solutions and treatments rather than stories. Ideally, this is the most helpful kind of IVF blog to spend reading when your treatments are just starting, or haven’t begun yet and you’re debating whether or not to use IVF.

Shady Grove Fertility is a fertility clinic, though, and not an independent resource. Some of their posts are specific to their facility and their treatment programs. It may be useful, though, to see what options are out there. Then you can discuss them with your doctor or RE.

FertileThoughts.com Discussion Forums

URL: http://www.fertilethoughts.com/forums/

Over 94,000 members participate in the FertileThoughts IVF forums, and nearly 2,000 people follow the site on Facebook. Members can post questions for patient care advocates, get advice from other people going through IVF, and find a number of free resources.

Some of the forums and resources on Fertile Thoughts include:

  • Share your fertility journey
  • Egg freezing
  • Infertility (General)
  • Trying to conceive
  • Eeva test
  • Male fertility and reproductive health
  • Home pregnancy tests
  • Egg donor and embryo match – This is an actual forum where people can meet others who are willing to donate eggs and embryos
  • PGD/PGS discussions
  • Family balancing (gender selection)
  • LGBT family building
  • Family building events
  • HIV and TTC
  • Pregnancy
  • Adoption
  • Surrogacy
  • Parenting

Visitors can register for a free membership to the website and access the forums. Some forums are heavily moderated while others are not. The parenting, pregnancy, and adoption forums are the most populated forums on this site. Newly pregnant after ART women will find a lot of support and encouragement in these forums.

IVF Forum on The Bump

URL: https://forums.thebump.com/categories/trouble-ttc

Women who are looking for a “safe haven” on the web can register for the IVF forum on The Bump. Creators of the forum are explicit its purpose, which is for people who are still trying to conceive through IVF. Because of that, certain forum rules protect people from being triggered by success stories and pregnancy announcements. Forum moderators do have places to share certain news, but by and large the forum was designed as a place to connect with others who are still struggling with infertility.

A message at the top of the Infertility forum reads:

“This is a forum for those dealing with infertility and/or undergoing IVF treatment. Because this board is a safe haven, please include “child/pregnancy mentioned” or “siggy warning” in your title or post, if applicable.”

Every month, forum members can post IVF or FET updates in a new thread just for that month. Many of the members get to know each other, replying to updates and providing a lot of encouragement. The monthly threads help the members stay connected and continue to post updates. The members also update and maintain a shared Google spreadsheet for FET.

The Bump features a few different resources that members of the forums might find helpful. One of them is the Infertility Q&A page. Fertility specialists and medical professionals from a variety of fertility clinics and organizations post answers to common questions, such as:

  • What is tubal ligation?
  • Surprising facts about male infertility
  • Signs of reproductive disorder
  • 10 ways your home is making you infertile
  • Introducing three parent IVF

Starting An IVF Blog

Keeping and maintaining an IVF blog to track your journey and connect with others can be cathartic. If you’re interested in information about how to go about it, these posts offer practical tips.

IVF forums also provide tips on sharing an infertility story and will help with acronyms and terminology that is so prevalent in the TTC community. Forums provide resources and links to website tips and tools. They are also good places to find ideas about what to post.

In addition to helping you learn about how to start an IVF blog, those articles also include information about how to find other people who are trying to conceive and connect with them. The more people you’re connected to in the blogging world, the more likely you’ll be to receive comments and get readers for your blog.

Other Resource:

Fertility Help Hub: https://www.fertilityhelphub.com/

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