Teresa and Jason Jones wanted a family.
“Everyone expected us to have children before our first anniversary,” said Jason, a drill sergeant at Fort Benning.
But after trying for more than a year, the couple is still having difficulty conceiving. Now, Teresa goes through rounds of fertility drugs and the couple plans on starting invitro fertilization treatments soon.
“Some people go out for a couple drinks and the next week, they’ve got a kid,” Jason joked. “It doesn’t work like that for everyone.”
The couple is sharing their story with others on TLC’s web series, A Conception Story. Teresa contacted the show after she heard they were casting couples who were having trouble conceiving. They post videos and blog entries about their hopes for children and their worries along the way.
“It’s great,” Teresa said of A Conception Story. “We’ve reached out to a lot of other couples and made some friendships.”
Dr. Mary Jane Minkin, a obstetrician and gynecologist at the Yale University School of Medicine who works with the TLC web series, said fertility problems are increasing as more women choose to have children later in life.
“Mother nature didn’t plan it that way,” she said. “A 20-year-old is more fertile than a 40-year-old. So people have to find an age balance.”
For couples who want to have children, Minkin recommended practicing good health habits, like exercising and eating right and visiting a doctor for a pre-conception check-up. Women should also start taking folic acid before they get pregnant she said.
Minkin recommended that younger couples in their twenties try conceiving naturally for about a year before seeing a doctor. For couples in their 30s and 40s, she recommended trying for six months before visiting a doctor to discuss fertility treatments.
“Don’t just say ‘We’ll keep trying on our own,’” she said.
These days, many couples who have trouble conceiving naturally can be helped, Minkin said.
Still, that doesn’t make talking about fertility problems any easier. Teresa and Jason said their family and friends didn’t know about their struggles until they started filming for A Conception Story.
“A lot of apologies from people who asked us when we were going to have children,” Teresa said. “It wasn’t something we talked about.”
It’s a difficult topic to discuss, Jason said.
“It’s almost like a failure if you can’t have a child,” he said. “You feel like you have to be a father and raise children.”
“As a woman, it’s something you’re born to do. Everyone expects it of you,” Teresa added. “A lot of women hang their heads low when they can’t conceive.”
Since the couple started doing the web series, Jason said he’s been approached by people he works with who are also struggling to conceive.
“I did not expect that at all,” he said.
Teresa said their families have been supportive and she’s also gotten responses from women on the TLC website, including one who has the same fertility issues that she does.
“Now she has two beautiful kids,” she said. Hearing advice and stories from other women gives her hope, she said.
“It gives me a little sense of hope. Anyone who reached out makes our journey easier.”
Sara Pauff, 706-320-4469
