[blparent] Challenges with Getting Pregnant?

[Michelle Creedy]

Hi Allison

I want to honor your sharing this! I too have been wondering about this
question since I'm looking into options for becoming pregnant. I just
haven't been as brave as you were. 

I don't have any solutions but wanted to connect and let you know that
you're not the only one wondering.

Michelle


-----Original Message-----
From: blparent [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Allison H.
via blparent
Sent: Saturday, March 28, 2015 2:27 PM
To: Blind Parents Mailing List
Subject: [blparent] Challenges with Getting Pregnant?

    Hi All,

I've been reading this list for a while, I think it's fabulous. Thank you.

I'm tecnically not a parent yet, but I hope it's okay that I post this
question because it feels related.

My boyfriend and I have been trying to get pregnant and not having success. 
We don't have any obvious health reasons for this and we've not been trying
long enough to think seriously about medical intervention. My OBGYN
suggested an ovulation test kit to determine when I'm ovulating. This seems
iportant because my period is random and though I track my cycle, I haven't
found a pattern to it. I've read books and websites that recommend tracking
basil temperature, and that is also a possibility. That said, neither the
ovulation kit nor the basil thermometer is likely to be nonvisually
accessible in any way. My bf and I are both blind enough that reading any of
these materials with our eyes is not an option. I wonder if any of you have
experienced a situation like this before? What did you do?

I assume there are nonvisual ways to determine ovulation, but what might
they be? I've never noticed anything like cervical changes, and I hear
that's something some women have.

I've thought up a couple of possible options for detecting ovulation but
they all seem fairly impractical. For example, we do have a sighted reader
who we've hired to do many things in the past like fill out forms and run
erands, but reading an ovulation kit would maybe be a whole new level of
personal intimacy that I'm not sure I'm up for. I have a sighted friend who
I could maybe do Facetime with on my iPhone, but doesn't that also sound
just a little bizarre? Is the camera even technically good enough for that? 
And before I start reinventing the wheel here and imagining crazier and
crazier scenarios for alternative techniques I could use, I thought I'd put
this topic out on the list to see if anyone else has encountered this
situation before. I'd much rather learn from the experience of others then
randomly start making up possible solutions.

As a blind couple, I realize that this inaccessible ovulation kit issue is
far from the most complicated challenge we'll encounter in our lives. And if
we become parents, it will be far from the last. I feel ready for that. Even
so, while I know many blind parents, I don't happen to know anyone blind who
I could ask this particular question of, so I thought I'd bring it to this
list.

Thanks in advance for suggestions.

Best,
Allison


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