What is infertility? Health care professionals define infertility as a condition when a couple cannot conceive even after one year of not using birth control. With age, the amount of time for evaluation decreases. Health care practitioners recommend an evaluation after six months for women above age 35. If the women are above age 40, immediate evaluation is needed. Infertility is prevalent, it is estimated that one out of seven couples have trouble conceiving. Infertility may happen due to problems with either female or male reproductive organs. The couple may also face issues with having a baby due to undetermined causes (unexplained infertility). Contrary to perception, infertility can occur to a woman who has never given birth and cannot conceive after trying for six months to one year. And to someone who cannot create again even after having a successful pregnancy. The good thing is that there are treatment and fertility options to manage infertility. Did you know that people dealing with infertility experience the same amount of psychological stress and anxiety as someone with a critical illness such as cancer, heart disease, or chronic pain? Infertility stress can be more challenging as most people still don’t treat infertility as a disease. Society, including friends and families, may often judge a couple struggling with infertility instead of showing compassion and offering support. Infertility impacts our lives in many ways. There are many reasons for infertility stress. Be it the societal expectation of conceiving and raising a baby, relational strain with family and life partner, peer pressure, or financial burden of expensive treatment. All these factors affect a couple dealing with infertility. Feeling inadequate, ashamed, jealous, angry, and rejected is understandable. However, at any cost, you can’t hold on to this emotional burden for too long. Because if you do, the stress will start impacting the chances of having a baby. Studies have found that stress can lead to a delayed pregnancy since couples treat sex as work, not a pleasurable activity. It is now a fact that mental health professionals can play a significant role in dealing with infertility cases. To deal with infertility-related stress, you must learn and understand the reasons for infertility issues. Once you do that, you know that there is no reason for self-blame or criticism. Taking care of your mental health can improve your overall well-being and potentially improve your chances to conceive. While the cause of infertility is influenced by both physiological as well as psychosocial causes, improving the psychosocial causes can put you in the right frame of mind to get ready for pregnancy. Here are some things you can do to improve your psychosocial environment include: Your Partner/Spouse: A healthy relationship with your partner is essential to make it through fertility struggles. Make time for each other. Be patient with each other. If one person has the source of the infertility, remember that you are in this together. The blaming game only hurts and does not help. Having intercourse on a time schedule can make the relationship seem scientific and less spontaneous. Spontaneity improves the relationship. Friends and Family: Should you share your fertility concerns with them? The answer to this really depends on your relationship with your friends and family. They are part of your support system and to a large extent you may want their support. However, this can come at the risk of excessive involvement, frequent questions as to why you are not getting pregnant, what are your next steps, etc. Why they are concerned, it can be interpreted as meddling. You know your friends and family, and who you can lean on. Exercise, Acupuncture, Yoga: Exercise, acupuncture and yoga reduces stress levels and can improve your mental and physical well-being. Contact us to make an appointment with our HOPE Fertility specialists, Dr. Aytug Kolankaya and Dr. Christine Schembri Deguara.
