Why Pineapple?
Us infertile ladies no longer see pineapples as simply a sweet fruit. It is a symbol of hope we hold onto as we face our infertility head on. There is a very technical reason on why the pineapple is a symbol in the infertility community, something to do with bromelain and eating the core for a few days after ovulation or embryo transfer to aid implantation. I have no experience or expertise in that, but when I look at a pineapple I see a resemblance of myself as an infertile woman.
The pineapple is a beautiful fruit in its own right. Just like all of us who make up this great big world, we are beautiful in our own way. Each with our own story to share.
The exterior of a pineapple has a mix of yellow and greens. Green symbolizes the color of life, growth, and friendship. Yellow symbolizes energy, enlightenment, and honor. These colors alone embody women fighting infertility. Each and every cycle we face our biggest fear, fertility, and counter that fear with honor through perseverance and strength. Consistently working to know more about ourselves and deciding what is best for our family; which protocol to follow, which doctor to see, which treatment is best. We connect ourselves with a community that truly understands and supports each other hoping that together we can overcome infertility.
We are often viewed as angry or bitter, similar to the pineapple’s rough exterior. Some days we are angry, some days we are bitter, but how could we not be. We are struggling every day, every month, every year to create a miracle that seems so common to most. We have a rough exterior not because we are angry, but because we are constantly protecting ourselves. Protecting our hearts and our minds so that we can stay strong, stay hopeful and keep fighting each and every day. We don’t protect ourselves because we are fragile we are stronger than we have ever been. We are strong and richly sweet because our ability to love and empathize has grown through infertility.
We stand tall on the front lines for our families and we stand together with other women who feel our pain as we lift each other up to fight for our miracle.
So as women battling infertility, we are the pineapple.
