Albany – Though nearly 10 percent of the population has experienced the heartache brought on by infertility it is a condition that doesn’t always garner a great deal of attention.

Therefore, the anguish that accompanies infertility is often dealt with privately. The money an infertile couple spends on trying to have a child, the anxiety the process produces and the tears that are shed are aspects as real, painful and traumatic as those endured by someone afflicted with an obvious debilitating condition.

RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association has spent years fighting for infertile couples, working to make the process of having a family an easier one. The organization is recognizing National Infertility Awareness Week this week in an effort to bring attention to this condition and let those couples that are infertile know that they are not alone in their struggle.

Assemblywoman Amy Paulin (D-88th) has also taken up the cause in an attempt to make it easier for infertile couples to have a child in New York State. She has introduced The Child-Parent Security Act, which will update New York law, making it easier to establish parentage in cases of assisted reproductive technology. The bill, which is in committee, will allow gestational carrier agreement contracts, which are currently unenforceable in New York.

“RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association applauds Assemblywoman Paulin for introducing this important piece of legislation,” RESOLVE president and CEO Barbara Collura said. “We look forward to working with the entire infertility community in New York to get this passed so that residents of New York have legal access to all family-building options.”

The bill also includes a process for obtaining a ‘Judgment of Parentage’ to be issued prior to birth so that the intended parents’ names can appear on the birth certificate without having to go through a lengthy court process.

“The couples that are struggling with infertility are already suffering,” Paulin said. “This bill will help ease their burden and make it simpler for them to have a child in New York State rather than go to other parts of the country to have a child. Why would I, or anyone else, want to cause these people any more anguish than they are already experiencing?”