Sadly, I've been watching a lot of TV lately. The whole no school and no job thing leaves me with a lot of free time. This morning I was watching the Today show. A segment on infertility came on as soon as I switched the TV on.

As a woman with type 1 diabetes, PCOS, and endometriosis, infertility has become a definite part of my vocabulary. No doctor has told me that I am infertile and I'm in no place to need to know. Infertility is just something that's been listed on my possible "side effects" and "symptoms" list and something that I've tossed over in my mind.

The Today segment caught my eye though. A list of symptoms of infertility were listed as a doctor spoke about the condition. Her frankness (or pessimism) were quite shocking for a morning news show. After all, who wants to hear that irregular periods means more likely than not infertility over their Cheerios? I'm not raising my hand for that.

The list included such things as the obvious...not ovulating...to extreme pain with menstruation or ovulation. I've heard all the normal infertility issues. Absent or irregular periods increases infertility. Conditions that interfere with ovulation also obviously increases infertility. But pain with periods? That's a new one, even for me.

Perhaps it's not necessarily the pain with menstruation, but the conditions that cause pain such as endometriosis. As I watched this morning though, the doctor didn't mention other conditions like mine. She simply listed these symptoms that didn't settle in my stomach very well.

Because of endometriosis and perhaps genetics, I have extremely painful periods. Because of PCOS (and maybe diabetes), I have very irregular periods without hormonal interception. Does this mean that I'm doomed when I decide to get pregnant?

Pregnancy isn't something that's on my to do list for quite awhile. For one, it's better for type 1 mom's to get pregnant after the age of 26 in order to lessen the risk of diabetes being passed on to the baby. Secondly, I am still very much living my life and learning who I am myself so I do not need a baby thrown into the mix. Too much trouble at this stage.

But at some point, I do want to consider having a baby of my own and sharing a child both genetically and emotionally with the person that I fall in love with. So infertility, whether now or in six years, is a very scary thing for me. I don't see the point in fretting over it now since so many things can change in 6+ years. But TV shows like this morning's Today really bother me.

I do not want anyone telling me that I'm destined to be infertile because of this or that. I do not need that negativity sitting in my mind. So sometimes I just wish that I could tune it all out (granted I could have changed the channel except that I'm warped and was already sucked in). Sometimes I wish that doctors and TV shows would highlight the positive aspects of these conditions.

There was brief mention of adoption and fertility treatments, but mostly it was just about the trying and failure. Where are the segments on how to pursue adoption? Where are the TV shows that showcase different fertility options? Where are the great stories of women who have beaten all odds to have healthy babies?

Wherever they are, I really think they should start coming out of the woodwork. I'd love to see over the next six years some options that I could pursue if it comes down to that. I'd love to hear of fertility research being done for those of us with challenged reproductive systems. Give me that. Today.