Fertility Blog

The state of the world right now is stressful, and fertility treatment can be stressful too. The unpredictability of the fertility journey can, as one patient said to me, “take the stuffing out of you.” At the same time, the world seems to be throwing us challenging curve balls every week. Just when we have hope that there will be a respite from the stress, there is more. And many of us are more isolated than ever, given our current social distancing guidelines. Under normal circumstances, the stress of fertility treatment can be enough to make you want to hide under the covers and not come out…and now, there’s no one physically around to stop us.

When you're trying to conceive or dealing with infertility, holidays like Father's Day often bring up a lot of challenging feelings. Stress and tension in your relationship can rise, and it can feel hard to navigate a day that reminds you of everything you're not (at least, not yet).

We are with you.

Hi, I’m Lisa Schuman. I'm the Director of Mental Health Services for Reproductive Medicine Associates of Connecticut. I’m here today to talk to you a little bit about Mother’s Day. Now, Mother’s Day can be a very difficult topic if having a baby is hard for you. So, what can you do today to help yourself?

Grief is all too familiar to patients going through fertility treatment. Whether it is grief over not getting pregnant naturally, not getting pregnant through treatment or the loss of a pregnancy, the loss felt by people going through assisted technology to conceive is very real. Unfortunately, this is not widely understood by many for whom getting pregnant naturally is simple. As a result, infertility feels isolating and patients often internalize other’s comments about needing to feel grateful for the good things they have in their lives, leaving them even more upset. To compound matters further, infertility is unique in that it can create sadness and effect a woman’s self-esteem. Many women feel that their bodies are not doing what they always expected they would do and these women can feel broken and lost.