Tamron Hall felt guilty for being a Black woman able to afford IVF
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Infertility has been a taboo topic in the Black community, and fertility services are not always as readily available to Black women. As a result, many have been left to suffer in silence. 

According to the CDC, 12 percent of all women under the age of 44 struggle with infertility. Black women are twice as likely to experience it. Unfortunately, only 8 percent of Black women aged 25 to 44 needing treatment seek medical attention compared to 15 percent of white women, indicating a gap

Most of these women citing the cost as an outstanding problem could be what led talk show host Tamron Hall to feel guilty. She had her “miracle baby” at 48.

Tamron Hall poses with her son Moses. Photo: Parents.com

Her son Moses, now 2, is here today because Hall underwent an IVF procedure, which allows couples to combine eggs and sperm outside of the body. Hall was born to a 19-year-old single mother, so this issue deeply resonates with her. 

“I have to be honest with you, being in the IVF clinic, for a while I did feel guilty for being able to afford it,” the talk show host admitted in a recent interview. 

“I felt like the game was rigged.”  

Finances aren’t the only barrier for Black women. There is often a lack of trust in the medical system.  

Desiree’ McCarthy-Keith M.D., M.P.H, who is a reproductive endocrinologist at Shady Grove Fertility in Atlanta, Ga., suggests that this mistrust comes from incidents such as the infamous Tuskegee Study

In this study, researchers withheld proper care and medication from Black men for years without their knowledge.  

“People were just victimized by the medical system and monitored without treatment,” McCarthy-Kieth said. “So there are people who are still very skeptical about it.”