Blogging During Infertility {Ask Me Anything}

This post is part of the “Ask Me Anything” series. I answer reader-submitted questions about our experience with infertility and IVF.  It also contains affiliate links.  You can see my full disclosure here. 

A reader asks, “This isn’t about infertility per se, but rather how you get started with blogging about it. I’ve been wanting to start a blog to document our journey, but I just can’t seem to find a good place to start. Any advice?”

I was so excited when I received this question. I’ve learned so much about blogging since I started doing it over two years ago. I love talking about it, but rarely get the opportunity to do so.

If you’re thinking about blogging through your infertility journey, I highly recommend it. Let me share a few tips I’ve learned along the way.

Start off with a free blog

There are several options for starting a blog for free. If you decide that you really like blogging and want to take it to a higher level later, you can always upgrade to a paid site.  

I started off by using Blogger. I found it to be very easy and intuitive. I’ve also had good experiences with free blogs from WordPress.com (not to be confused with WordPress.org– more on that later), and I know a lot of people also like Square Space. I experimented with Wix for work reasons and I do not recommend that.

Most of the free sites are relatively easy to figure out, but there are a lot of tutorials and help online and on YouTube.

Learn From Other Bloggers

Many bloggers have a list of products, tools, and tips they recommend to others.  I always check those out when I see them posted.  If you’re interested in seeing what I use to keep this blog running, check out my Blogger’s Resource Page.

Think before you post

It’s really easy to get caught up in the community support aspect of blogging during infertility. After all, it’s one of the best benefits of blogging! Just be careful that your eagerness to be open doesn’t go too far.

I’m not sure if readers have noticed, but here a a few things I don’t post on my blog:

• My location: Yes, I write about my general location, but I’ve never posted my city.
• My place of work or my husband’s place of work: Again, I write about what I do, but I’ve never posted the name of my school or my husband’s workplace.
• The name of my doctor and clinic: This was a deliberate decision I made. I’ve had several people email me and ask for his name, but I politely refuse to give it. I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize our doctor/patient relationship. I know a lot of people post the name of their clinic and/or doctor, and that’s their right to do so. I just don’t want to go there.

Also, you might want to consider whether or not you want employers and acquaintances to know about your infertility if they were to search for you online. I’m at the point in my life and career now where that’s fine with me. But when I first began this blog, I did not want my employer to know about it. I didn’t post pictures or use my name until about a year into blogging.

Upgrade to a paid blog if you want to take it to the next level

Upgrading to a paid blog (often called a “self-hosted” blog) provides some benefits that a free blog usually does not. I highly recommend using WordPress.org in combination with Blue Host or SiteGround. It requires a little bit more technical know-how, but again, there are tons of tips and tutorials online (I highly recommend Amy Lynne Andrews’ tutorial). With a self-hosted blog you…

• have more control over whether or not ads appear
• can get a .com, .net, .org, etc. URL. For example, this blog used to be located at AmateurNester.blogspot.com. When I upgraded, I was able to switch it to AmateurNester.com
• have access to better blog features and better design
• will probably show up higher in Google search results

Put some effort into your posts

Personally, I have a hard time reading blogs that are just diaries or “stream of consciousness.” I always appreciate it when bloggers take the time to put some creativity and thought into their posts. Blogs are so much easier to read when they consist of shorter paragraphs broken up my bullet points, pictures, or graphics. And I really like bloggers who have regular features. For example, my friend Caroline has a Memory Monday where she posts thoughts each Monday on a passage of Scripture. I have regular features like interviews on Fridays and monthly updates about upcoming infertility-related books. Try to come up with unique ways you can share your experience and knowledge with your readers on a consistent basis, and you’ll see your readership increase.

 

Do you have any tips for blogging during infertility?  Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!

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First image courtesy of Unsplash, Creative Commons Zero License. Second image courtesy of IvoryMix.com. Used with permission.

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