For over two years, Janice* and her husband have been trying to have a child. She considers herself infertile as she has polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), mild endometriosis and fibroids. PCOS is not curable, but is treatable with continued medication. It is caused by elevated levels of testosterone - a male hormone - in the body which does not allow the woman's eggs to be released from the ovaries to create a monthly cycle. The eggs remain in the ovaries, mature and form into a cyst.

Endometriosis is a condition in which tissue that looks and acts like the lining of the uterus grows outside of the uterus. In Janice's case, her overies have been affected. This 'growth' causes excruciating abdominal pain. Janice does not have a menstrual cycle for months at a time. She explained that during her adolescent years, she would sometimes have a cycle every three months for three days, and once she had a cycle that lasted for 30 days.

Medication

Weight gain, especially in the abdomen, is a result of the PCOS and side effects of the medication Janice has been taking. She was first put on Progyluton, which caused rapid weight gain. It also made her constantly dizzy. She was then given the contraceptive Deprovaria and put on Metaphormin (used to treat diabetes) to stimulate the hormones to release her eggs to start a cycle.

Unfortunately, Janice's condition was not diagnosed until 2004, a year before she was married. "We decided we wanted to have children and nothing has happened yet," she said. If diagnosed early, the condition can be treated. Persons with this condition have become pregnant; however, Janice's condition is far advanced.

Adoption is not always easy. "It's easy for someone to say if you can't have, you can adopt. But as far as I am concerned, it is my God-given right. It hurts to see so many women who are having children, but don't want them. The child suffers, but the person who really wants them and can give them all the love in the world, can't. It's heartbreaking."

*Name changed on request.

While many women take the conscious decision to terminate a pregnancy for reasons that seem justified to them, there are others who may never have to make that decision. Uterine fibroids and endometriosis are just two of the medical conditions that render some women in Jamaica infertile or have caused them to have difficulty in becoming pregnant. So while the abortion debate rages on, some women suffer in silence feeling robbed of attaining this defining moment of motherhood.