A diagnosis of infertility is considered one of the most stressful life crises a person or couple can face. According to The Harvard Medical School, a study of 488 American women who filled out a standard psychological questionnaire before undergoing a stress reduction program concluded that women with infertility felt as anxious or depressed as those diagnosed with cancer, hypertension or were recovering from a heart attack. Infertility affects about 7.3 million women and their partners in the United States. That’s about 12 percent of the reproductive age population or one in eight couples (The National Survey of Family Health).
And it’s not just women affected. About one third of infertility cases can be attributed to male factors, about one third to factors that affect women and for the remaining one third of infertile couples, infertility is caused by a combination of problems in both partners, or in about 20 percent of cases it is unexplained (The American Society for Reproductive Medicine). From a mental health perspective, men’s emotional needs are generally less likely to be attended to and men often feel greater stigma in accessing mental health services for infertility and related issues. We’d like to change that.
For many women and men, having a baby is a “normal” and “expected” life event. It can be devastating to learn that this may not or cannot be. You may experience feelings of:
- Loss
- Grief
- Fear
- Anger
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Powerlessness
- Isolation
- Lowered self-esteem
If you, or your partner is experiencing any of these feelings we can offer a safe space to process these difficult emotions, help guide you through your options and support you in your journey, wherever it leads.