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Sir William Osler, a famous physician, once said that human beings have two basic desires - to get and to beget. To have your own family is a universal dream. This dream can become a nightmare for the infertile couple and learning that you have an infertility problem can cause painful and difficult emotions. Infertility is like a chronic illness that uses up a large amount of a couples' resources - emotional and financial - and involves the expenditure of a considerable amount of time, money, physical and emotional energy.
Everyone's response to infertility is different depending on individual situations, emotional strengths, coping methods and personality. You will be confronted with the emotional impact of infertility before, during, and after treatment. It is better to prepare yourself for these difficult periods, so that with emotional support and mental preparation, you can successfully reduce the potential pain of infertility.
Although you may have friends who have experienced infertility and you're aware that it is a common disorder, the news that you are affected by it is almost always unexpected. As you examine the issues surrounding infertility, you may find yourself experiencing some uncomfortable emotions. Some of the most common ones are:
In most cases, infertility is not diagnosed until after one year of unsuccessfully trying to conceive. Because of this, you may suspect that you have a problem before finding out for sure. For many couples, infertility is very difficult to accept. Most couples initially respond with feelings of shock and disbelief. After planning for years to have a child "one day", you may feel that your life's plan has been put on hold. These feelings generally only last for a short while and are not emotionally harmful when you recognize and address them.
© Dr. Aniruddha Malpani and Dr. Anjali Malpani www.drmalpani.com
Credits: How to Have a Baby: Overcoming Infertility
