Instagram and the infertility community- where to start?

[goldflakepaint]

Recently I've realised that it would be helpful to have some kind of outlet for my feelings around our fertility 'journey' and a way to connect to others experiencing similar things. I have appreciated the bravery of people like Chrissy Teigan and others who have shared their experiences and want to contribute in a small way to breaking the silence around infertility and loss. So I thought I would start with Instagram as I have heard a lot about the supportive community on there. I also like to write but am a bit commitment phobic about starting a blog!

I have not used Instagram before and feel unsure about where to start with connecting to others. I also feel like a serious dinosaur when confronted with all the pretty graphics as I still like using my DSLR! Anyway, I wondered if anyone here had any tips on how to use Instagram specifically for infertility support- I'm going to stay as anonymous as poss due to the nature of my job, no pictures of my face although probably several of my dog! Also, if anyone wants a mutual follow, I'm @from.the.spare.room x

The only thing I would say is Instagram is literally full of people documenting their journeys. Also wouldn't be putting my dog on it if you want to stay anonymous...but happy documenting what ever you
choose to do😀😀

Hi, thanks for replyingm, yes, I know that there are a lot of people on Instagram documenting their experiences and that's exactly what I mean, with so many people out there doing it, I'm just wondering whether there was a way to meaningfully connect with other people in a similar place aside from just following people randomly. But I guess that is a good place to start.

I get it about the dog, although my main reason for staying anonymous is because I work in the health and social care sector. The people I work with have no idea what my dog looks like so wouldn't be able to connect that to me, I don't think. Family and friends are aware of my fertility issues

I find the best way to do this is find a few pages you like and interact with them, so don’t just follow but reply to Instagram stories, comment on their posts etc. Don’t worry about all the o😌pretty graphics. I love and prefer to go on people’s instagrams who post lovely photographs they have taken so I say get creative with that and post what you want to post and channel the way your feeling in to these posts in your own way 😊 I’ll check our your page and look forward to seeing what you post.

Start following the TTC hashtags and you will find lots of people in the infertility community. I love the support of the insta infertility community. Things like #infertilitywarrior #infertilitysucks #ttccommunity #ivfjourney #ivfwarrior
I found more people to follow by clicking on profiles and looking at who they were following.

@goldflakepaint
Hi, I have followed you and messaged you from my own anonymous ivf insta! 👋 x