Are you feeling sad and anxious, wondering if it will ever be your turn to have a baby? Are you trying to navigate the complicated emotions that come with IVF or other fertility treatments? Are you dealing with the grief of a pregnancy loss? Are you a LGBTQIA+ individual/couple and facing difficulties while trying to build your family?
Infertility, pregnancy loss, and family-building challenges can be painful and lonely, feeling like it’s taking all the hope, positivity, and excitement out of your life. Every family building journey looks different, but I know how difficult it can be. It can be so hard to feel out-of-control and helpless, because everything you’ve tried has failed. It can be so hard to try to navigate relationships with friends and family when you feel angry and jealous that they’re getting what you so desperately want.
It can be so hard to feel like the old you is gone, and it’s hard to look in the mirror and face the person you’ve become. I understand this experience, because I’ve been there.
There is so much pain that can come from a difficult family-building journey.
The grief of the many losses: failed cycles, failed IUIs, failed IVF transfers, pregnancy losses, loss of fallopian tubes, needing to use donor gametes, embryos, or a surrogate. The frustration of a new diagnosis: PCOS, endometriosis, or diminished ovarian reserve. The lack of sensitivity and support from clinics, family, friends, or workplaces.
The feeling that your body is failing you, and failing all those who are relying on you. The pain of being stigmatized, and of facing an uncertain future filled with hoops to jump through. All of these factors can contribute to sadness, anxiety, and hopelessness.
But it’s possible to find a new way. It’s possible to move past the pain and frustration. To find hope and happiness in life again. It’s possible to embrace the changed you, and to come to terms with the pain that is a part of your story.
At Infertility Counseling Center, I want to help you get to this place.
I want to help you feel hope again.
It is my passion to advocate for and support those going through infertility and reproductive challenges. I want to help you learn coping skills to manage your anxiety. I want you to feel validated and understood.
we focus on addressing:
Here’s what individual therapy looks like at Infertility Counseling Center:
You’ll come in for an initial assessment appointment. This is where you’ll share your story with me, and we’ll set goals that you want to work towards. During therapy I use a multifaceted approach. I focus on healing from past griefs and trauma, becoming more aware of your emotions and thoughts, and learning coping skills to deal with emotions.
You’ll be able to talk in a safe, supportive, validating place. I’ll listen to you and ask questions to guide you. We’ll work towards your goals until you feel like you are in a better place.
Please reach out if you’re struggling. You don’t have to do this alone.
Infertility Resources
For Family and Friends: How to Learn More about Infertility
Those with infertility need support. But sometimes it might feel like you can never win. You say the wrong thing no matter what. I encourage all of my clients to better communicate how they feel to their support people. But you can do things on your own to have a better understanding of infertility and the pain and sadness your loved one feels.
How to Grieve a Negative Pregnancy Test
It's important to recognize that when you don't get pregnant, it feels like a loss. Give yourself permission to grieve that loss. Here are 5 steps to grieving.
What is Infertility?
Infertility is defined as the inability to get pregnant. But the official definition misses out on the emotions surrounding infertility.
