For those that undergo fertility treatment on their journey to parenthood, there are a number of stressors that can potentially impact your outlook. As you’ve already experienced difficultly conceiving, you have a medical condition preventing natural conception or you’re LGBT, you and your partner are already all too aware of how infertility can cause stress.

Now that you’re seeking treatment, this stress may change from “Will we ever conceive?” to “When we will conceive? Will treatment be successful? Can we afford this? Should we try another option?”

Sometimes the stress can from external sources like friends and family who don’t know the right way to talk to someone with infertility.

Fortunately, these questions can be answered by a trained fertility specialist. However, the stress that accompanies your journey is not as easily remedied. It’s essential that fertility patients practice coping techniques to help manage their stress levels and keep a healthy line of communication between you, your partner and your fertility doctor.

Patients should not worry that they are stressed out by fertility treatment – this is a very common experience and is frankly expected because your hopes and dreams now rely on the care and attention of a specialist. Fertility patients must shift their expectations for how they will build their families, and even as you begin treatment, it can take a long time to adjust to this line of thought. Give yourself permission to feel what you’re feeling, and then work on expressing these feelings to your partner, physician or a support group. It’s perfectly natural to be angry, disappointed and stressed when facing an infertility diagnosis – the key is to not bury these emotions and not to push past it as you undergo treatment.

One way that a lot of patients relieve stress is to learn as much information as they can about their particular fertility issue. We do advise that you not go overboard with statistics that are presented to you but that you collect a wide range of information and discuss your findings with a fertility specialist. A specialist will be able to differentiate between fact and fiction, and you’ll feel better if you know more about your fertility and treatment plan.

Fertility Solutions also encourages patients to join a fertility support group. Regardless of your stress level, a support group is an excellent opportunity that can allow patients to choose what they reveal while learning from others who are also going through the same situation.