National Infertility Awareness Week Radio Special "Can We Create Infertility Awareness Without Breaking the Silence?" with Theresa M. Erickson, Esq.

SAN DIEGO, CA, April 28, 2011

National Infertility Awareness Week is dedicated to not only raising awareness about the disease and treatment of infertility among those it could potentially affect, but also is an opportunity to bust the myths and misconceptions about it, to gain more respect from the public to recognize it as an emotionally devastating medical condition and to advocate for resources from lawmakers, insurance companies and researchers.

All too often, however, infertility patients don't speak about their condition, including to their closest family members and friends. Some may feel ashamed about not being able to do what they feel everyone else can do naturally. Others are too emotionally devastated or feel infertility is not how they want to be defined. So can a disease so shrouded in secrecy get the respect, research, and funding it deserves if its sufferers don't speak out?

On a special NIAW episode of The Surrogacy Lawyer: Your Guide to IVF and Third Party Family Building, Theresa Erickson, Esq., will discuss this important question with her prestigious panel of guests. They include Barbara Collura, executive director of RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association; Dina Roth Port, a health care journalist who wrote "Infertility: The Disease We Need to Start Talking About" in the Huffington Post; and well-known infertility blogger and author Melissa Ford, aka The Stirrup Queen, who responded to Ms. Port's article with a piece entitled "Please Stop Telling Me To Talk About Infertility." The show will air on Thursday, April 28 at 11AM PST/2PM EST on Voice America.

"So many infertility professionals and patients are concerned that this disease is being ignored by the press, the public and elected officials," says Attorney Erickson. "We applaud RESOLVE's efforts through NIAW and its campaign "We Will Not Be Ignored" to break the silence. But it also is important to recognize that for many, speaking out is an impossibility. We are thrilled to be able to explore this issue more fully with such a distinguished group of committed advocates."

About Theresa Erickson, Esq.

Ms. Erickson is the managing partner of Erickson Law and the founder and chair of Conceptual Options, The Surrogacy and Egg Donation Center. In addition, Ms. Erickson is the author of the newly released Surrogacy and Embryo, Sperm, & Egg Donation: What Were You Thinking? Erickson was motivated to write her second book so she could educate potential intended parents, as well as the women who become surrogates and egg donors, about what all parties need to know if they are going to become involved in third party reproduction.

Attorney Erickson is a globally recognized expert in this specialized area of law and is a board member of the American Fertility Association and the legal director of Parents Via Egg Donation. For more information, please visit www.ericksonlaw.net and www.conceptualoptions.com.