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Photo of baby surrounded by heart of syringes stirs emotions

Jessica Durando
USA TODAY

The Sher Fertility Institute, a network of clinics, posted an image recently on its Facebook page of a baby surrounded by a heart of syringes.

A baby born with the assistance of fertility treatments.

The post read, "Thank you to Sher Fertility St. Louis and Dr. Dayal patient Angela, who shows the true definition of love that went into making this gorgeous new baby girl."

A patient sent the Institute the striking image, which has been shared nearly 3,000 times since October 5.

"We felt like it was a provocative, emotional photo that captures the joy and pain of IVF," Lisa Stark, director of communications for Sher Fertility Institute told USA TODAY Network. "We are overwhelmed by the response pouring in from women who can relate to the photo."

Stark says that the Institute is not trying to get a message across but instead "encourage a culture of openness and elevating the dialogue around infertility."

She says the feedback has been mostly positive. "Some of the comments took my breath away they were so powerful." Stark has also undergone IVF four times to have two of her three children.

Jada Williams Jones wrote, "Man I wish I would have saved all my syringes to take a pic like this with the twins that Sher fertility & dr. Browne helped us to create!" 

A few commented on the needles in the image, Stark said, and the safety of the baby. "A few others have mentioned that IVF itself is pointless and people should adopt," she added. 

But many were heartfelt with people sharing their own IVF experiences and posting photos of their children in the comments. 

Barbara Solomon wrote, "Been there, injected that. (...) For those of you that are still in the trenches fighting the war, my heart goes out to you." 

Sara Husson posted, "Didn't even tell my husband what this was, I just handed him my phone. I saw tears form in his eyes as he probably also went through the memories of countless nights, over our four year journey, that he gave me shots. We finally were successful with twin boys and I've never been happier!" 

The Sher Institute has eight centers across the United States and was founded in 1982.

Follow @JessicaDurando on Twitter 

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