The first group will be meeting the first week of October in the Indianapolis area (date and place to be announced soon). Our goal is to have groups formed and meeting regularly by the end of the year in South Bend, Ft. Wayne, Bloomington, Lafayette, and either Evansville or Terre Haute. Don’t see your city listed? Contact us and let us know your city would be a good location for an ICFI support group!

Ok, so now you’re wondering, “what will ICFI support groups be like?” The answer is easy, that’s up to you! Our idea is that the groups will start by meeting monthly in a public and easily accessible area. They will be open to the public and free of charge. We welcome men and women, family and friends to attend. Each group will be led by a licensed therapist or equally qualified volunteer, and yes, there will be coffee. Most importantly, these groups are about YOU; you will be helping us to mold the format and shape the future of ICFI.

I know, I know… you’re asking, “how can I help/get involved/attend?” It’s easy! Just e-mail us to let us know you’re interested. We need dedicated, local individuals to help us form these groups and we need others who are interested in attending. The cities with the most interest are the cities we’ll head to first.

And make sure to check back to ICFI regularly – as locations, dates, and times are set we’ll be posting this information.

Please contact us at maloi@MyICFI.org for more information

The idea for ICFI came from my personal experience(s). Lenny and I started trying to have a family right after we were married; after about 7 months we realized something might be wrong. We spent the next year and a half with tests, procedures, medications, wasted “treatments”, etc. It was hard on our marriage, our friendships, and our finances! I was pretty frustrated that as I searched for inexpensive or free resources or support groups I couldn’t find much of anything. The information that is out there was hard to navigate through and very little was specific to my situation or my location. Often my “infertile friends” were states away and their situations were so different.

There were a couple of things that helped us through the hardest times though; one was that we talked, to anyone who was willing to listen, about what we were going through. Infertility is unfortunately a pretty taboo subject so talking about it and making sure our family and friends knew what we were going through really made our journey a lot easier. They understood if I needed to pass on throwing another baby shower, if I cried during random movies, or if we sometimes just needed to say no. So instead of moving away from our friends who were having children of their own, we were able to grow closer to them and their families because they had a mutual understanding of what we were going through.

The second thing that really helped was that we became friends with a couple who have also struggled with infertility. They have been through everything (every treatment and procedure, miscarriages, donor eggs, and the list goes on and on) to only get pregnant naturally as they stopped seeking treatments and started reconsidering their marriage. They lost many of their friends, incurred a large amount of debt, and almost let infertility destroy their marriage. Hearing their story, and knowing they had “been there, done that” but that they were now happier than ever and have an adorable 2 year-old son, has made our journey so much easier!

While it’s still a daily struggle to deal with, I am very much at peace with our infertility situation and our marriage is getting stronger. My focus is again on my husband, my health (mental and physical), and my happiness. These two pieces (being “out of the closet” and our dear friends) were such an integral part of “surviving” infertility that there needed to be an organization that helped others to understand that 1) you are not alone and 2) infertility is not the end all, be all of your life.

I have come to realize that every stumbling block thrown in your way can be used as a stepping block to making a difference, so it’s now or never to give this organization a chance.

I hope that you find that ICFI is working towards breaking down the stereotypes while building couples struggling with infertility up!

Welcome to the ICFI blog. Macara Aloi, Executive Director, plans to regularly blog about the organization, infertility, and all that comes along with it.

Thank you for visiting and please check back soon for updates!