Pamela Mahoney Tsigdinos
Pamela Mahoney Tsigdinos (born June 12, 1963 in Detroit, Michigan) is a US-author and blogger of Irish-Polish descent. With her husband, son of a Greek immigrant and a mother of Scottish origin, she lives in Los Gatos, California.
Mahoney Tsigdinos is internationally recognized for her writing on living with infertility and discussing the personal and societal challenges couples face when infertility treatments don't succeed.[1]
Life[edit]
After several years of trying to become pregnant, starting at age 29, Pamela Mahoney Tsigdinos was diagnosed at 33 with endometriosis. Her husband had varicocele. Treating these problems, including undergoing laparoscopic surgery several times did not lead to pregnancy. The couple met with several reproductive endocrinologists and tried various methods to become pregnant, such as artificial insemination and some nontraditional approaches including herbal treatments and acupuncture before finally turning to in vitro fertilization with Intracytoplasmic sperm injection .[2]
When all efforts failed, in 2006, after a dozen years of invasive procedures and emotional stress the couple made the difficult decision to stop pursuing assisted reproductive technology and pregnancy. When Mahoney Tsigdinos could not find resources to help her cope with this difficult situation she began her own blog[3] in which she related the challenges she experienced as a result of infertility and childlessness such as the lack of support for those ending treatments, how to deal with friends‘ and relatives‘ expectations, and the societal misunderstandings about the complex accompanying grieving process.
Publications[edit]
Mahoney Tsigdinos decided to help other women in the same situation destigmatize infertility and to educate around the involuntarily childless and the impact of failed IVF.
In 2009 she published her book Silent Sorority which explores the infertility experience. It is the first memoir about this topic not written by a mother. Concurrently, Mahoney Tsigdinos also wants to give hope to affected women getting over their childlessness and leading a fulfilled life.[2] Furthermore, criticism that concerns fertility treatments and their low success rate is part of her writing and education efforts. Internationally there were mainly positive reactions to Silent Sorority. Readers praised her „witty, fun, heartbreaking, and absolutely bittersweet“ [4] dealing with the issue because it gives them the feeling not to be alone.[5]
Her advocacy on behalf of the involuntary childless and raising awareness about infertility led to an award in September 2010 for Best Book from RESOLVE, the National Infertility Association.[6] In October 2010, Simpukka, the Finnish Infertility Association profiled Mahoney Tsigdinos and her infertility journey in its quarterly magazine.[7] In 2011 Redbook magazine invited Mahoney Tsigdinos to participate in the launch of its Truth About Trying video campaign aimed at ending the shame and secrecy about infertility.[8] The same month a new edition of Our Bodies, Ourselves[9] became available with an expanded chapter on infertility. Silent Sorority is included in the recommended resource section.
Several articles followed, e.g. in The New York Times[10] and for the Center for Genetics and Society[11] where she pointed out the controversial nature of fertility treatments (e.g. egg freezing) and that they are primarily used for making money instead of mothers. Mahoney Tsigdinos also criticized the lack of transparency of the fertility industry, such as the fact that more than 70 percent of IVF treatments remain unsuccessful, not to mention the health and emotional risks that may occur due to hormone therapy.[12]
She wrote a second book, Finally Heard (May 2015), described as "a thoughtful take on infertility and society and business attitudes towards it" [13] and continues her advocacy and education efforts on the emotional trauma that accompanies IVF and failed fertility treatments.[14]
You will not find failure rates or the harmful impacts highlighted in brochures or on clinic websites. In the U.S. this unregulated industry’s nickname is the Wild, Wild West of American medicine.[15]
— Pamela Mahoney Tsigdinos, The Sobering Facts About Egg freezing That Nobody's Talking About
References[edit]
- ↑ Mahoney Tsigdinos, Pamela. "When couples come to terms with infertility," The Globe and Mail, Vancouver, Canada, 23 May 2010 Retrieved on 2010=5/10.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Facing Life Without Children When It Isn’t by Choice, The New York Times.
- ↑ Pamela Mahoney Tsigdinos' Blog Coming2Terms.
- ↑ Grown In My Heart, Marcie Pickelsimer.
- ↑ Customer review, Amazon.com.
- ↑ Resolve award ceremony .
- ↑ Article in Simpukka (Finnish)
- ↑ The Invisible Pain of Infertility, Redbook, October 2011.
- ↑ Our Bodies, Ourselves, Judy Norsigian (2011)
- ↑ Selling the Fantasy of Fertility, The New York Times.
- ↑ The Cash Cow in 'Fertility' Medicine, Center for Genetics and Society.
- ↑ The Tough Truth About Egg Freezing Perks, WIRED.
- ↑ Customer review, Amazon.com
- ↑ Would You Tell Someone You Were Infertile? Medium Human Parts.
- ↑ The Sobering Facts About Egg Freezing That Nobody’s Talking About, WIRED.
External links[edit]
- Pamela Mahoney Tsigdinos' Blog, Coming2Terms
- Website of books Silent Sorority and Finally Heard
- Facing Life Without Children When It Isn’t by Choice, Article New York Times
- Selling The Fantasy of Fertility, OpEd in New York Times
- The Sobering Facts About Egg Freezing That Nobody’s Talking About, Article in Wired
- The tough truth about egg freezing perks, Article in Fortune
- "There is more than one happy ending", Pamela Mahoney Tsigdinos' Contribution to campaign Truth About Trying
- Infertility Etiquette Pamela Mahoney Tsigdinos' Huffington Post contribution
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