The Meaning Behind The Infertility Awareness Color & Symbols

Infertility is an isolating disease. But it shouldn’t be. Not when so many people are affected by it. And with National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW) scheduled for April 24-30, 2022, now is a great opportunity to embrace the movement’s color and symbols to show others that they are not alone. So what is the infertility awareness color and symbol?

First, it’s important to know that infertility affects 50 million couples worldwide, according to the Maternal Health Task Force. And yet a stigma persists. By joining the efforts of advocates across the country during the last week in April, you can help other individuals struggling to grow a family to feel seen.

What is the infertility awareness color?

Thanks to organizations like RESOLVE, the group behind the National Infertility Awareness Week, you don’t have to wonder what the infertility awareness color is to don during the seven day movement. It’s orange. Why is orange the infertility awareness color?

The NIAW website puts it this way: “The color orange promotes a sense of wellness, emotional energy to be shared: compassion, passion, and warmth. Helps to recover from disappointments, a wounded heart, or a blow to one’s pride. Studies show that orange can create a heightened sense of activity, increased socialization, boost in aspiration, contentment, assurance, confidence and understanding.

Naturally, a #WearOrange Campaign is part of NIAW, and they encourage participants to not only put on the color but to also share images of themselves wearing orange online using the aforementioned hashtag. You can shop your own closet for an orange outfit, or check out the campaign’s orange swag here.

What is the infertility awareness symbol?

What is the infertility awareness symbol? There isn’t just one. “Most people choose to wear an orange ribbon,” says Rebecca Flick, of Chief External Affairs Officer for RESOLVE. These can be made using your own ribbon and adhering with a sewing pin or safety pin. Or you can buy a lapel pin version.

For others, the pineapple has become a strong symbol for infertility, as the NY Times reported, thanks to anecdotal evidence that for IVF patients pineapple eaten on the day of egg implantation can decrease inflammation. No scientific research supports this, but it’s still become a popular emblem specifically of the IVF journey.

And still others choose to wear orange heart pins, using the movement’s color in a meaningful shape as a way to share support for the campaign.

But why limit yourself to just one symbol? You can wear all three to let people know that they are not alone and that there’s a whole community out there they can reach out to to find support, advocates, and care.