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Sharing the Struggle

Should You or Shouldn't You?

By Ellen Speyer, MFT

I recommend my couples investigate joining the American Infertility Association or RESOLVE, the national support group for infertility, or both. There is wonderful emotional support and information they can use to guide their understanding of the process emotionally. Couples will find it easier to make the important medical, practical and financial decisions with access to more information from a professional source.

Interestingly, the most support usually comes from women and men experiencing the same longing for children. Although strangers at first, bonding through a support group for infertility is the safest place to receive understanding.

Sharing one's struggles with infertility is best done with friends and family members who are sensitive, compassionate and willing to become educated about the process of infertility treatment. If this support is available, it is immeasurably helpful and eases the sense of isolation and sadness the couple experiences. In addition, there is professional support available individually or as part of a group that can help each person deal with the flood of emotional reactions that accompany the experience of infertility.

Want to see more?

• Find online support here!
• Talking About Infertility: Telling Family and Friends
• Healing the Mind, Healing the Body: An Interview With Helen Adrienne, MSW, ACSW, BCD
• Talk about it!