10 Best Ways to Go About Dealing with Infertility

10 Best Ways to Go About Dealing with Infertility

Unfortunately, infertility is a common problem among couples. 13% of people struggle to conceive and many more cannot maintain the pregnancy.

Dealing with infertility can make you feel lost, hopeless, and sometimes embarrassed. The range of emotions can even be a hindrance to conceiving.

Thankfully, there is support for infertility and some people do end up becoming a family. Here are some ways on how to cope with infertility.

What is Infertility?

Infertility is when a couple cannot conceive a child or cannot keep a pregnancy after trying for a year or even more. While most people believe that infertility impacts the woman alone, men are just as likely to carry the burden. Even though more women than men struggle with infertility, the statical margin is not wide.

Conceiving a child depends on many different factors and events, and any of these (or a combination) of them contribute to infertility.

• The egg and sperm both need to be healthy
• Fallopian tubes need to be open and functional
• Sperm must meet the egg and properly implant within the uterine wall
• The uterus needs to be healthy to support a growing baby

If any of these are not working properly, getting pregnant can be challenging resulting in infertility.

Only a doctor can diagnose you with infertility if you’ve been trying to conceive for a year without results. You will undergo testing at your doctor’s office so they can make a complete diagnosis.

Dealing With Infertility

Coping with infertility is not easy, and can feel very isolating. However, there are methods of working through the problem and coming to a solution.

1. Work Through Your Feelings

Infertility comes with a wave of emotions: embarrassment, guilt, sadness, grieving, and so forth, and everyone experiences them differently. No person’s infertility journey is identical to another’s. It’s ok to work through your feelings and talk about them with someone closest to you or your partner.

This is especially hard when everyone around you seems to be conceiving without trouble. If you need to, reach out to a professional therapist or counselor who can walk you through this distressing time.  Some licensed therapists deal strictly with people or couples dealing with infertility.

2. Allow Your Partner to Grieve

While you might be having many emotions over infertility, don’t forget that your partner is likely feeling some of the same feelings. Though you both may express it differently, you need to be supportive of them as well.

3. Join A Support Group

You don’t have to struggle through infertility alone! Many support groups exist to walk couples through infertility as they meet other couples on the journey as well. Support groups can be incredibly helpful if you have no outlet or other people in your life who understand what you’re going through

4. Seek to Understand

Again, there could be many reasons for infertility, and you owe it to yourself and your partner to investigate what those are. Make an appointment with your doctor to get tested to refine the reasons why infertility is happening, and collect as much information as you can.

5. Alternative Options

Infertility does not mean the end of being able to have a family for everyone. There are many different options available today for couples.

In-vitro fertilization is a common method in which the women are implanted with sperm in hopes of conceiving. If this is the route you choose, your doctor can walk you through it.

However, other options like adoption, surrogacy, and even medications to help with fertility are also ways in which you can strive to build your family. The best course is to work with your doctor to see how each can benefit you.

6. Don’t Stop Intimacy

Though it might be very difficult, stopping the intimacy between you and your partner will only drive a wedge into your relationship. Infertility is a struggle for both of you and intimacy should be encouraged as you stick together during this time.

If sexual activity has become forced due to trying to conceive, look for other ways to be intimate outside the bedroom and rekindle, rebuild, and reignite your relationship.

7. Face The Inevitable

Even though many couples do overcome fertility, it’s important to recognize that many do not. As tough as it is, being realistic about your situation, especially if it’s dire, is healthy. This is because it will help you set more realistic goals for starting a family instead of continuing to hit brick walls and being disappointed.

8. No Blaming

Especially for women, blaming yourself is not helpful. Infertility is likely due to genetic problems and other things completely out of your control and nothing that you did directly. Holding on to blame only hinders your journey to creating the family that you want.

9. Accept Your Feelings

Without properly addressing your feelings and understanding them, infertility will only be more stressful. There’s nothing wrong with the way you feel about your struggle, and those feelings are real and need to be confronted. Only then will you be able to properly address the situation and think clearly about your next steps.

Be sure to care for and be gentle with yourself during this time.

Infertility: Hope is Out There

Dealing with infertility is challenging, but it’s not impossible. With treatments and methods, you could be holding your little one sooner than you think. Find support today and begin finding hope!

Are you grappling with infertility and looking for help and hope? Our team of experts is more than eager to meet and talk with you! Contact us today for more information.