Put a Pin In It

“Go ahead and put a pin in it” is what we tell our patients who visit us from around the nation and world. Pin in what? A large map of the world on the office wall as you check in.

A Map of Life

Several years ago, the staff of The Turek Clinic thought it would be fun to see where our patients are from and began the tradition of having them stick a pin in their city of residence. As the map has filled up with pins, the tradition has taken on a deeper symbolism. I had one of the staff make some estimates from the map this week:

• The map has pins from 45 different countries (there are 196 countries in the world)
• The map has pins from over 50 different cities in America

A Convergence of Cultures

So many different languages, so many different cultures, all converging in one place. What does this mean? Despite our vast political, demographic and cultural differences, it appears that we all have the same basic needs, in this case, the desire to build a family. Some travel half way around the world for a 4-hour visit and head home again that evening or the next day. The motivation and drive of these patients is tremendous and inspires us every day. We are glad to have them in our medical family and, thanks to the World Wide Web, we can walk-the-walk with them until their goals are met wherever they may be.

A Human Quality

Personally, the map with the pins in it is a real life example of how fundamentally important it is for couples of all cultures and countries to solve the problem of infertility.  It is also a palpable demonstration of what our previous research revealed: that infertility significantly impacts the quality of life of those affected by it. In fact, I would wager that that same man travelling around the world to see me for infertility would easily give up 5 years of life to have a child. No question, where do I sign? And finally, seeing all those pins on the map was a great motivator for us to recently offer our on-line support forum for men.
So, for all of our patients from near or far, please know that the door to The Turek Clinic is always open for you.  A place to have some tea, collect your thoughts and find solutions. How can we help you?