Totally Insufficient

For a couple of days now, I've been trying to come up with a calm, rational response to Resolve's reaction to the Newsweek brouhaha, and I will tell you that I cannot.  It's rare that an apology offends me more than the original iniquity, but that's exactly what's happened here.

First, I think it's a cop out to begin by saying "Unfortunately, we cannot control the content or tone of what is ultimately published in the press."  This is a little like Bush claiming that the war in Iraq is going just fine--it's just the media that's saying it's not.  Yes, the media gets it wrong much of the time, but knowing that, it's up to Resolve to do what they can to make sure an accurate story is written.

And it seems to me that they had the opportunity to prep for this interview since they "were told [the article] would be focused on the environmental factors that can affect fertility."  Knowing that this would be the focus of the interview, Resolve had the opportunity to pause and say, "Hmmmm....how exactly do we want to talk about this?"

Because here's the thing Resolve folks: you clearly got a lot of angry mail/phone calls from we bitter infertile folks*, but that's nothing compared to the mail/phone calls you're going to get when the naive 25 years olds--whom you've assured will have no problem getting pregnant if they "[p]ractice safe sex, maintain normal weight, avoid environmental toxins, don’t smoke and limit alcohol"--start bumping up against the medical causes of infertility that were completely ignored in this article.

*Must be the booze, food (or lack thereof), drugs, sex, and lack of exercise making us cranky.

Comments

[lorrie]

Good response.

[Moxie]

It's as if the people at RESOLVE haven't ever dealt with ART themselves and have no strategic thinking experience.

[Abby]

It makes me think the whole organization is a joke. Those are the most generalized guidelines I've ever seen.

[akeeyu]

You know, the fact that they're still defending this moron at all speaks volumes.

Having read the article, I can only say that if he was misquoted as badly as they say he was, then it must have been a pretty nifty trick, like the nerds stringing together random taped words to get a particular sentence in the movie 'Sneakers.'

I call shenannigans.

[Moxie]

akeeyu just referenced the movie "Sneakers." Heh.

[lulu]

I found the repsonse lacking, insulting and disappointing as well. If you haven't already, read the bio for the president on the Resolve website. He really has no personal or professional experience with infertility AT ALL. I think someone who did have that experience would have given better repsonses to the interview--heck they might even have told NEWSWEEK when the mag pitched the article that you can't really just talk about environmental issues when talking about infertility, that would give an inaccurate impression of infertility.
UGH. I think the board of Resolve made a huge mistake picking this guy as their president. Maybe it is time to start a new organization, one that has in its bylaws that the top postitions (inlcuding anyone who acts as a spokesperson for the organization) must be filled by individuals with personal and or professional experiences with infertility

[Cecily]

Interesting.

I have to say, though, I have some experience being WILDLY misquoted by the press with rather devastating results (the writer just nipped and tucked my words until they fit her world view--not good). If it really was an hour-long interview that was boiled down to those few paragraphs, it's quite possible that they did pull stuff out of context quite a bit.

But he is still an ass and a bad representative. Even when the press is also rather on the evil side.

[Brooklyn Girl]

I would give the "out of context" possibility more credence if their response didn't indicate the same lack of understanding evidenced in the article.

[Liz]

The only reason this guy was chosen was because RESOLVE is trying to undergo a major reorganization - bring all the nationwide chapters under one umbrella organization to give the group a uniform look and feel. Apparently, this guy knows not-for-profit structure. But he knows fuck-all about infertility. Perhaps he could have just been a consultant?

[Sassy]

As a 22 year old infertile this reeaally insulted me. I have enough trouble being taken seriously by people without this crap and now I guess I must be an obese bulemic, alcoholic, whore of a nicotine addict that sniffs paint to be unable to have a baby at my age. Cheers Resolve, thanks for the support.

[Kate]

Right there with Sassy...in fact, I am drunk right now, smoking out of my nose while I cram half a cake in my face and have an IV of liquid crack going in my foot. (Gotta have free hands for smoking, drinking and eating, ya know.) But my PCOS has NOTHING to do with my IF or my weight! I guess I am just lazy!

The article ticked me off but the response was just infuriating.

[Erin]

I feel sick after reading this.