Dina H. Harth, Ph.D.

Dealing with infertility issues and treatments can be extremely stressful.  It is natural to feel a range of emotions and have difficulty coping.  Whether you are newly diagnosed with infertility, just beginning to explore options or have undergone multiple treatments over a long period of time, having infertility and going through infertility treatments can be upsetting and difficult for you and those around you, it can affect your relationships, your general well-being and all areas of your life.

You may feel the sadness or frustration of not being able to get pregnant or not meeting your expectations for creating a family.  You may feel shame, anger or jealousy around others who are having babies or who are expecting you to get pregnant.  You may experience the grief of having miscarriages.  You may find the process of learning about and choosing fertility treatments to be overwhelming.  You may experience the physical and psychological ups and downs of these treatments.  Or you may be confronted with unsuccessful treatments and the feelings of disabppointment, loss and lack of control that can follow.  You may be in the process of exploring options that you hadn't expected to be considering, such as donor eggs or sperm, adoption or surrogacy.  You may be dealing with tensions with your partner as each of you have different ways of expressing your emotions and coping with the process, different opinions about your options and fears about the impact of infertility on your relationship.

Individual or couples therapy can be very helpful as you go through this process.  In our work together, you can learn to cope more effectively by processing what you are going through, mourning your losses, identifying what you need, exploring your options, making decisions that feel right to you and communicating more effectively with those around you so that you can get the support you need.  And if you are a couple, you can learn to come together and support each other through the process.  If relevant, therapy can help you grieve at different stages or explore alternative options for becoming parents.  And therapy can even help you adjust to the transitions of becoming a parent.

The process of infertility and its related stages, treatments and options are typically challenging -- therapy can help you through it.