How to Cope with Stress During Fertility Treatment
For those that undergo fertility treatments on their journey to parenthood, there are a number of stressors that can potentially impact your outlook. If you are at this point, you’ve likely already experienced difficulty conceiving, you have a medical condition preventing natural conception, or you’re LGBTQ+, 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 be 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. Unfortunately, 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.
Stress is very common
Patients should not worry that they are stressed out by fertility treatment – this is expected and is highly common. Your hopes and dreams of having a family now rely on the care and attention of a specialist. Expectations should be adjusted for how patients will build their families, and even as you begin treatment, it can take a long time to adjust. Give yourself permission to process what you’re feeling, and then work on expressing those feelings. 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. Processing through your emotions and what you’re dealing with in an open and honest manner makes the emotions less stressful, volatile, and can make the burden feel lighter knowing you have the support of those around you.
Join a Support Group
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.
Do your research
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 take statistics that are presented to you at face value, and that you collect a wide range of information and discuss your findings with a fertility specialist. A specialist will be able to explain to you what is fact, and what is fiction. Talking with your specialist often makes you feel better if you know more about your fertility and treatment plan.
There are many ways to cope with stress while undergoing fertility treatments, and what works for some people might not work for you. Make sure you are looking for ways to help you and your partner cope, and take the time to pursue those avenues. The issue with conceiving might be physical, but you have to take care of your mental health as well.
Please reach out to those around you, and us, if you need advice, guidance, or help finding resources.
