As Ben Vereen crooned in the beginning of Pippin, "join us" (which is followed by the less appropriate sentiment for an infertility blog of "leave your fields to flower..."). We are parents who have made it to the other side of the infertility chasm and we are currently writing a book to help friends and family who have not gone through infertility to understand the emotions and needs of those within the IF community. Throughout this book, we will be including the thoughts and experiences of those going through infertility (are you ever really done with it?--this question coming soon!).

You can take part in this project through a number of ways. You can leave comments on this blog, either anonymously or with a name (if you do not have a blogger name, you can always sign in anonymously but leave your name at the end of the comment if you wish to identify yourself). If you wish to be included in the book, we will need a way to contact you. We cannot use quotations within the book that have not been attributed during our research to an actual person. Therefore, the preferred method for answering the question-of-the-day will be to email your answer to our personal account--thetowncriers@gmail.com. Actually, the PREFERRABLE way is to post your comment on the blog AND email us so that others can read your thoughts (and respond) and we can include your brilliant ideas in our book.

We will leave new questions every few days. Feel free to answer old questions too. It would be helpful for you to place the question in the subject line of an email so we can keep track of answers.

This is a great place to vent--whether you're currently going through fertility treatments, beginning the adoption process, or holding children (as you type one-handed) that have been conceived after a long journey through Infertility Land.

Lastly, the title. Who wants to be referred to as "the barren?" Even if you just spent the last two hours crying over one more BFN, we hope that you can giggle through your tears as you remind yourself that you are a stirrup queen or sperm palace jester.

Thank you so much for your help. We can't wait to get your thoughts and feelings out to the greater world and build understanding between those who have never swallowed Clomid or "deposited a sample" and those of us who have spent our entire evening watching the clock so we can give ourselves an injection while E.R. plays in the background.

Melissa and Josh