I have just entered my fifth month of fertility treatments and yes—once again—it is an emotional process. There have been many emotional ups and downs during the past couple of weeks but thankfully, several people have been there for me to make this process that much easier by lending an ear or making me laugh. There’s nothing like having a community of people (whether they are 3,000 miles away or two short blocks down the street), to be there when I am in need.

Until recently, I only paid attention to stories about someone who knew someone who knew someone who FINALLY had a child after several attempts. But these stories only entailed the related epilogues accompanied by brief sound bites. Somehow, the rest of the stories—the tough ones—always seemed to get left out.

So here I am, volunteering to share the middle part of my fertility story that will hopefully educate others.

Luckily, the middle part has (so far) been virtually pain free. Other than taking subcutaneous hormonal injections ad tedium, feeling fatigued by the round-trip commute to the fertility clinic and developing a bloated belly, I feel pretty good. Plus, this particular part of the fertility process lasts only two weeks.

Admittedly, there are times when I feel sorry for myself for doing this fertility dance. But when I arrive at the clinic, sign myself in and walk over to the waiting room, the diverse group of women sitting patiently for their names to be called ceaselessly amazes me. And as I place myself in one of the chairs, I can’t help but feel I have become a member of a very cool club. So I guess I can say that this point of my personal journey towards parenthood is OK!

As I continue to move forward with the fertility treatments, I would like to give a shout out to all the women who are in the process of trying to be moms for the first or zillionth time. Whether it is through Assisted Reproductive Therapy (ART), adoption or the plain old-fashioned way: Eyes forward. And to help make that easier, if need be: Chin up.