If you are currently coping with infertility, you are not alone. June is World Infertility Awareness Month; a month to acknowledge infertility issues while educating and raising awareness for something that affects roughly 1 in 6 people worldwide.

As a family-planning agency with over 40 years of experience, we’ve worked with many amazing couples and individuals who are coping with infertility and have helped them have the family they’ve waited so long for.  To get infertility support, connect with us today.

What is Infertility Awareness Month?

World Infertility Awareness Month is celebrated every June to increase awareness regarding numerous infertility issues faced by couples across the globe. This includes problems related to female as well as male fertility. During this month, several myths regarding infertility are debunked, and a lot of options are brought forward to those who may want to conceive.

The purpose of the month is to instill a sense of unity and hope among those who may be experiencing infertility.  If you’ve been trying to conceive, parenthood can still be possible for you through treatment, procedures or family-building options such as adoption and surrogacy. 

Understanding Infertility

Before diving into coping with infertility grief, you should know what the different types of infertility are:

• Primary infertility: You haven’t ever been pregnant before and can’t conceive after one year, or six months if you’re older than 35, of unprotected sexual intercourse. 1 in 5 women between the ages of 15-49 deal with primary infertility.
• Secondary infertility: You can’t get pregnant again after having at least one successful pregnancy. About 1 in 20 women deal with secondary infertility.
• Unexplained infertility: Medical appointments haven’t been able to determine why you can’t get pregnant.

There are many causes of infertility and your treatment may look different from someone else’s. Only a medical professional can determine the cause and help determine the best way to deal with infertility for your situation.

Coping With Infertility

Infertility impacts people differently, no matter if you’re experiencing primary infertility or trying to figure out how to cope with unexplained fertility.

But there are ways to help you deal with infertility to overcome this difficult process as you look to grow your family.

1.      Share Your Feelings

For couples experiencing primary infertility, sharing your feelings, in a positive manner, with your partner and others can give you an open ear to talk to.

Your partner is learning how to cope with infertility too and it can be just as helpful for them as it is for you to realize you and your close circle of family and friends are there for them.

Whether you are utilizing an infertility counselor to talk through what you’re feeling or an infertility support group of others that are going through similar emotions, sharing your struggles can help you move forward.

2.      Allow Yourself to Grieve, Feel Anger and Cry

You may have been dreaming about the family you envision for years. Coping with a secondary infertility can be painful, emotionally and physically.

Bottling up those emotions or hiding them to put on a brave face can lead to more emotional hurt down the road when the top eventually comes off.

Coping with infertility grief by expressing your emotions can be a healthy, cathartic way to help you move forward.

3.      Stay in Touch With Your Partner 

No matter if you’re a couple experiencing primary infertility, secondary infertility or unexplained fertility, its important to stay in touch with your partner.

The emotions you may be feeling and navigating are something your partner could be figuring out how to cope with too.

Being open, honest, strong and loving with each other can help you both deal with infertility together. Whether its talking to an infertility counselor or just planning a special night with each other, coping with infertility with each other can help you both navigate the emotions you feel.

If You’re Infertile Can You Use a Surrogate?

Depending on how long you have been dealing with infertility, you may wonder what other options you have. Surrogacy is an option for infertile couples or individuals particularly if you’ve exhausted medical options like in-vitro fertilization to try and become pregnant.  

Only you can know if surrogacy is right for your situation but surrogacy for infertile couples is another option for you to grow your family. These questions can help determine if surrogacy could be right for you:

• Are you ready to move on from your current infertility treatments?
• Are you OK with not experiencing pregnancy?
• Do you want someone else to carry your baby to term?
• Do you have embryos left over from infertility treatments?
• Are you and your partner on the same page about surrogacy?

These are all questions that require introspection and communication. If you don’t have the answers to these questions, that’s OK.

We have infertility counseling with someone trained in assisted reproductive technology that knows about the emotions you could be feeling and the different options you have moving forward. Infertility counseling can consist of:

• Patient-centered care
• Support counseling
• Psychotherapy

If you’re interested in learning more about surrogacy as an option for infertile couples, our surrogacy specialists that can give you all the information needed to help you make the best decision for your situation. Contact us today.