The fruit has been widely adopted as a symbol for women dealing with infertility. Why?
Pineapples have become a powerful symbol for women struggling with infertility.
The fruit appears in the profile photos and Facebook feeds of women in online infertility communities, and dominates hashtags related to in vitro fertilization on Instagram.
Women arrive for egg retrievals wearing pineapple leggings, T-shirts and dresses. They jot down notes in pineapple-covered notebooks and binders. Some use pineapple cookie jars and boxes to store I.V.F. medications, and ease the pain of daily injections with pineapple-shaped ice packs.
Many who are trying to conceive wear pineapple socks and jewelry to work, and fill their homes with pineapple picture frames and other tchotchkes. Dr. Aimee Eyvazzadeh, a fertility specialist in San Francisco, said that “probably 75 percent” of her patients arrive for their I.V.F. procedures wearing something with a pineapple on it.
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Pineapples have long been a topic of hopeful discussion in fertility circles. Patients tell each other that eating pineapple on an empty stomach the day of your embryo transfer can help you get pregnant. Pineapple contains a mix of enzymes called bromelain, which, according to the N.I.H., may debride scar tissue and decrease inflammation.
