That children like Charlotte — their very existence — are up for debate is a painful affront to couples who fought desperately to become parents.
“Our daughter doesn’t exist in a world without science,” Snyder said. “Through our film, you get to see our journey together, husband and wife, in the operating room. Seeing the [embryo] transfers, the highs and the lows, the loss we experienced to then find our greatest joy. That doesn’t happen without access to IVF.”
Jay Snyder holds baby Charlotte, who points to her mom, Paralympic swimming champion Mallory Weggemann. (Provided)
We have a lot of work to do to reduce the stigma and shame of male-factor infertility in particular. When people heard that Weggemann and Snyder couldn’t have a baby, many assumed the condition stemmed from Weggemann. That could be because of longstanding notions about disability and motherhood. Weggemann was paralyzed from the waist down at the age of 18 after a botched epidural to treat back pain.
”There’s a lot of unconscious bias that the disability community is not sexually active,” Weggemann said. “Therefore, how could we have children?”
Another misconception, of course, is that infertility is simply a woman’s problem. That’s despite the fact that men and women contribute about equally toward the condition.
