Thank you to each and every one of you who came to the State House last week to help us with the Massachusetts Infertility State Advocacy Day.
Whether you occupied a seat at the Grand Staircase or electronically supported the day, your voice counted. Your voice was heard, loud and clear. The claps that echoed and pinged off the marble surround of that palatial space were met with nothing but support and praise.
For all of this, we thank you.
We thank the 7 legislators who received RESOLVE New England’s Lifetime Achievement award for supporting the infertility community, of which all five Representatives were able to personally accept their award!
- Rep. Gloria Fox
- Rep. Kevin Honan
- Sen. Thomas Kennedy
- Rep. James Miceli
- Sen. Stan Rosenberg
- Rep. Byron Rushing
- Rep. Angelo Scaccia
We thank the two speakers—women who are undergoing or have undergone A.R.T. treatments —Nicole and Tara—your words and stories were inspirational and strong.
We thank Dr. Christine Skiadas, from Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, who talked about her grandmother’s infertility issues and why she chose reproductive medicine as her path in life.
We thank Paris Panayiotopoulos, President and Managing Director of EMD Serono, Inc. which was RESOLVE New England’s Presenting Sponsor for the day. Mr. Panayiotopoulos not only spoke passionately about the disease of infertility, he attended with other EMD Serono staff to support this important day.
Finally we thank all our sponsors which made this day possible:
- EMD Serono, Inc –Advocacy Day Presenting Sponsor
- IntegraMed –Advocacy Day Silver Sponsor
- FertiliTech – RNE’s Foundation Sponsor
- European Sperm Bank
- Fertility Solutions
The day was a significant one. We needed to remind elected officials that infertility insurance coverage needs to remain in place. We needed to be there with our stories, our faces, our children, so the legislators know the heartache infertility causes, even if you have success with an A.R.T. procedure.
Check out the news coverage from Springfield, MA below:
http://wwlp.com/2014/06/11/state-law-for-insurance-to-cover-infertility-treatments/
The other important factor is a simple “thank you” to the legislators who have supported us through the years—some as far back as 1987! We had to let them know their work on behalf of the infertility community does not go unnoticed.
The day may be over, but the fight never will be. Whether you were able to attend or not and regardless of whether you live in Massachusetts, help spread the word: Infertility is a disease and needs to be covered by insurance. We need to continue the education, advocacy and support of which RESOLVE New England was built. To continue to follow RESOLVE New England’s advocacy efforts, join our email list http://bit.ly/Ugr6Eq or check our advocacy webpage https://allpathsfb.org//advocacy/regional/
Thank you all for making the day a success!