Being diagnosed with infertility is not easy news to take and different people react in different ways. Feelings similar to denial, shock, anger, guilt and shame are all common, so finding ways to deal with these emotions will help you along your journey.
Fertility treatment can be overwhelming at times, as well as trying to get your head around the whole science part, it can be emotionally draining. Feelings of hope, excitement, stress, worry, and anxiety, to name a few, are examples of what you’ll go through. But there’s lots of support available to help you maintain your mental and physical wellbeing.
How does going through fertility treatment feel?
If there was ever a time to use the phrase ‘a rollercoaster of emotions’, IVF would be that time. Often, it’s down to a fluctuation in hormones which can make your emotions go awry.
Once you’re on your journey, you’ll find yourself having to be patient and wait for the next step - waiting for appointments, waiting to see if the treatment was successful. Waiting is a dangerous time for emotions, the not knowing can often get the better of us and cause us to overthink.
It’s not uncommon to find this process puts pressure on you and your partner’s relationship, this makes it difficult to confide in eachother. If one of you is feeling stressed, it can bounce off each other if you choose not to communicate it, causing the two of you to push each other away.
How should I prepare for fertility treatment emotionally?
There are many tips out there to help you prepare for IVF so we’ve gathered some of the best!
1. Do some research - gain some knowledge around the treatment before you begin. This will hopefully ease some nerves and allow you to feel a bit more in control of the situation. Educating yourself on what to expect reduces any chance of surprises along the way.
2. Prepare yourself - it’s important when going through IVF that you are prepared for whatever outcome. It’s great to keep positive throughout this journey, however, you should be prepared for the chance that the cycle could fail.
3. Surround yourself with supportive people - having people around you who understand how important this time is will really help the process. Knowing you have people to turn to through difficult times will make this time that little bit easier.
4. Avoid negative people - this may be an obvious one but negative people aren’t good for your stress levels so it’s best you avoid them.
5. Identify your stresses - being able to identify what makes you stressed is great because it allows you to find ways to cope with it. This is good preparation for your journey as it allows you to deal with any issues quickly, before they escalate.
