{"id":3474,"date":"2012-12-12T10:00:30","date_gmt":"2012-12-12T10:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/?p=3474"},"modified":"2014-09-23T11:32:55","modified_gmt":"2014-09-23T11:32:55","slug":"low-sperm-count-boy-part-6-the-worst-day-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/the-welford\/low-sperm-count-boy-part-6-the-worst-day-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Low Sperm Count Boy (Part 6) &#8211; The Worst Day of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For couples who struggle to conceive Fathers&#8217; Day and Mothers&#8217; Day can be some of the hardest days of the year. As soon as you check Facebook you are assailed with reminders of the day which then reminds you of the fact that you are not a parent. Church services are full of reminders of the day, and of course you yourself have parents to celebrate with or remember fondly. So when I\u2019m faced with the subject of fatherhood, how do I cope?<\/p>\n<p>I cope by remembering my heavenly Father and how He Fathers me. I can&#8217;t explain why we got pregnant from IVF only to have that joy snatched from us three days later. But as I reflect on what happened and what God was up to I realise something. When I was born I had a condition that ultimately resulted in my low sperm count. Since that point I have been destined to find out that it would be difficult for me to be a biological father. So what is a loving God to do? Watch uncaringly as I find out that information? Sit unmoved as I go through the IVF process? Remain silent as I cry out for answers as to why? Or does this loving God gently guide me into a place where I can rest in Him. Does He withhold the worst of the situation until my faith was in a place where it wouldn&#8217;t be damaged by the hard times but strengthened by it? Does God prove His provision to me in a number of amazing ways before it seems that He isn&#8217;t providing? Does God lead my heart to the place where I can say with Job:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8216;\u201cNaked I came from my mother\u2019s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.\u201d&#8217; (Job 1:21)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I am convinced that God &#8216;held back&#8217; the heartache of miscarriage from Anna and I until we were in a place where we could cope. Yes it was still painful, it hurt and still does, but had that happened any earlier in my walk with God then I am not sure I would have faith enough to be blogging now, let alone calling myself a Christian. I don&#8217;t have all the answers, but I am happy to wait for them, because as Josh Garrels sings: &#8216;Farther along we&#8217;ll know all about it, farther along we&#8217;ll understand why, so cheer up my brothers and live and the sunshine, we&#8217;ll understand this, oh by and by.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/q1wy6MGoG7Y?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-GB&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"linkwithin_hook\" id=\"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/the-welford\/low-sperm-count-boy-part-6-the-worst-day-of-the-year\/\"><\/div><script>\n<!-- \/\/LinkWithinCodeStart\nvar linkwithin_site_id = 897245;\nvar linkwithin_div_class = \"linkwithin_hook\";\n\/\/LinkWithinCodeEnd -->\n<\/script>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/widget.js\"><\/script>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/\"><img src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.linkwithin.com\/pixel.png?w=750\" alt=\"Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...\" style=\"border: 0\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For couples who struggle to conceive Fathers&#8217; Day and Mothers&#8217; Day can be some of the hardest days of the year. As soon as you check Facebook you are assailed with reminders of the day which then reminds you of the fact that you are not a parent. Church services are full of reminders of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<script>\n<!-- \/\/LinkWithinCodeStart\nvar linkwithin_site_id = 897245;\nvar linkwithin_div_class = \"linkwithin_hook\";\n\/\/LinkWithinCodeEnd -->\n<\/script>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/widget.js\"><\/script>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/\"><img src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/pixel.png\" alt=\"Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...\" style=\"border: 0\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[312],"tags":[490,492,78,87,447],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7PoLK-U2","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3228,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/the-welford\/low-sperm-count-boy-part-3-misreading-the-signs\/","url_meta":{"origin":3474,"position":0},"title":"Low Sperm Count Boy (Part 3) &#8211; (Mis)Reading the Signs","date":"24 October 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Upon hearing our story many people are amazed by our faith. I don\u2019t see it entirely that way. As I look back on events that have transpired I see God\u2019s hand at work in a myriad of ways. These are mostly small and the sum of their parts gives me\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Welford&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3467,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/the-welford\/low-sperm-count-boy-part-5-catalogue\/","url_meta":{"origin":3474,"position":1},"title":"Low Sperm Count Boy (Part 5) &#8211; Catalogue","date":"5 December 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"After the miscarriage we decided to try IVF one more final time. There were more occurrences that could have been taken as \u2018signs\u2019 from God. Including almost half the money required arriving on our doorstep over the course of a weekend. We hadn\u2019t asked anyone for any help. But unfortunately\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Welford&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3294,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/the-welford\/low-sperm-count-boy-part-4-time-heals\/","url_meta":{"origin":3474,"position":2},"title":"Low Sperm Count Boy (Part 4) \u2013 Time Heals","date":"7 November 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The famous maxim leads us to believe that time heals, my experience is that this isn\u2019t true. What I am coming to learn is that I don\u2019t want or need it to. Our first IVF cycle progressed all the way to pregnancy. We found out we were pregnant on a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Welford&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3090,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/the-welford\/low-sperm-count-boy-part-2-the-sperminator\/","url_meta":{"origin":3474,"position":3},"title":"Low Sperm Count Boy (Part 2) &#8211; The Sperminator","date":"4 October 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"WARNING: This is a 'raw' entry dealing with masturbation, don't read it if you are likely to be offended. When I was 18 I went on a Christian year out. I don\u2019t remember much of the training but I do remember them shipping in an elderly gent to talk to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Welford&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3479,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/the-welford\/low-sperm-count-boy-part-7-grow-a-pair\/","url_meta":{"origin":3474,"position":4},"title":"Low Sperm Count Boy (Part 7) &#8211; Grow a Pair","date":"19 December 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I have tiny balls. Literally. I wasn\u2019t aware of this incredibly affirming fact until I was examined by a urologist as part of our fertility investigations. I knew that I had been born with undescended testicles and that the local hospital could only find one of them. I knew that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Welford&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2856,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/the-welford\/low-sperm-count-boy-firing-blanks-part-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":3474,"position":5},"title":"Low Sperm Count Boy &#8211; Firing Blanks (Part 1)","date":"12 September 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier this year Nick led a seminar at the Northallerton CVM Men\u2019s day on disappointment with God. During this seminar he talked about Anna and his journey through infertility. After he remarked to Carl that although he was happy to share his story, he didn\u2019t want to be labelled \u2018low\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Welford&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3474"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3474"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3474\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5610,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3474\/revisions\/5610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}