Understanding the Mental Health Impact of Infertility
If you’ve been struggling with infertility, you might be frustrated with the physical and emotional aspects of this difficult path. Going to so many medical appointments and moving forward with fertility treatments can take a toll on your health. You may not feel fully at home in your own body. Additionally, you might be anxious about what comes next or grieving the future you thought you would have. Infertility can go hand-in-hand with depression, especially if there are few people in your life who have been in your shoes.
The mental health impact of infertility is often overlooked. Here are a few emotional struggles to be aware of that commonly crop up in handling the impact of infertility.
Emotional Rollercoasters
Overall, dealing with infertility can feel like an emotional rollercoaster. Some days, your doctors might have good news for you, and you might feel hopeful and encouraged. At other times, you might have your hopes dashed. Getting another negative test or facing a miscarriage can be devastating.
The highs and lows of this journey can be truly exhausting. Shifting so rapidly between these drastically different emotional states can become jarring and destabilizing over time. Even when your partner or doctors feel like you should be encouraged by positive developments, you don’t want to be disappointed again, and you hesitate to believe that things may get better.
Anxiety and Constant Self-Doubt
Infertility is an anxiety-inducing experience. Each time you talk to your doctor, you might be nervous about hearing what they have to say. You may dread the idea of going through another medical procedure that could bring unwelcome side effects, or taking another pregnancy test. Going to family gatherings can be nerve-wracking. You may try to brainstorm answers to your relative’s questions about whether you want children, or why you haven’t had them yet.
Furthermore, making so many medical decisions and facing a bombardment of lifestyle advice might leave you constantly questioning yourself. People may even make comments that cause you to blame yourself for infertility, even though infertility is not your fault.
Depression
Since you began dealing with infertility, you might be experiencing symptoms of depression. Some days, it may be hard just to get out of bed. You might be losing interest in your old passions and hobbies. You wonder if there’s a point to pursuing these activities while you’re so uncertain about your future. Additionally, you might be struggling to keep up with basic self-care.
Loneliness and Isolation
For many people, infertility is a deeply isolating experience, especially if you grew up in a culture that prioritizes marriage and parenthood over all other achievements. You may feel left out among your own community. You might be tired of friends and relatives treating you as though you’re not a true “adult” yet.
If most of your friends have had children, you may not want to talk to them about what you’re going through, out of fear that they won’t understand.
Anticipating Grief
Infertility is often characterized by compounding forms of grief. You may be grieving the pregnancy experience you originally envisioned, grappling with multiple miscarriages, struggling to manage your finances due to the costs of treatments, or losing friends who have disrespected your boundaries around discussing pregnancy and infertility. Infertility brings many types of losses, yet many people don’t conceptualize it as a kind of grief, which makes it hard to communicate your experience to others. You feel alone in this challenging experience.
Infertility can feel like it’s breaking you. The mental load, the hopelessness, the isolation—it's heavy. You don’t have to carry it alone. Let’s get through this together—Schedule a FREE Consultation Today
