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Penelope Marshall McCown struggled for years to have a baby.
She and her husband, Emanuel, planned to enjoy their first year of marriage then get pregnant the next.
The year stretched into two, then four.
”Once we started, we were surprised month after month with negative, negative, negative,” said McCown, a 40-year-old Atlanta nurse practitioner .
They didn’t share their struggle with many people.
In many communities, including the Black community, there’s a stigma attached to infertility forcing many women and couples to suffer in silence.
While McCown may feel alone, she’s not. Black women are more likely to face infertility issues than white women, studies show. Now she and others are speaking up to help other African-American women learn more about the condition, treatments and options to growing a family.
A 2015 University of Michigan study focusing on African-American women of different socioeconomic backgrounds, found that, for many, not being able to have children affected their gender identity and sense of self worth.
“There was a fear of being judged for...
