Psychological help in infertility or assisted reproduction processes.

These processes are usually very demanding at a psychological and emotional level.

Infertility, in all its variables, is an increasingly widespread problem, mainly due to the increase in the age at which we consider becoming parents.Infertility, in all its variables, is an increasingly widespread problem, mainly due to the increase in the age at which we consider becoming parents, although it may be due to multiple factors and, on many occasions, there is not even an explanation as to why the longed-for child does not arrive.

Whatever the reason, what is clear is that it causes psychological stress. It is a situation that is beyond people's control and is not talked about much, so they are often overwhelmed and with few tools to manage it.

The process towards assisted reproduction

The process usually begins when the couple decides to have a child and begins to discover that it takes longer than expected, this generates a variable level of anxiety, which depends on the person, the time it is taking, whether or not the causes of this delay are detected, whether or not they know if they can or cannot have offspring, if there have been previous miscarriages, etc. In other words, it depends on multiple factors, both personal and contextual.

On the other hand, the couple is often faced with the choice of whether or not to begin an assisted reproduction process.. The decision itself is usually a complex one, and if the decision is made, or even if it is made in this way by medical prescription, it is also necessary to be psychologically prepared and psychological support is recommended, since it is not a simple process on an emotional level. It is necessary to work, among other aspects, on the expectations of the treatment (trying to achieve a balance between realism and positivity), tolerance to frustration, uncertainty, fear, anxiety, management of waiting, etc.

Managing stress and anxiety

Of course, if the result is not the desired one, more intensive support is required and work with the person either in the way of persistence and management of stress and pain that this produces, or accompany the couple who decide to abandon the treatment in the feeling of guilt, failure, sadness etc. that this decision can generate, but, which is a logical and very personal decision.

Decisions, as always in therapy, are made by the patients, although it is true that the psychologist must ensure that these decisions are not taken under the influence of emotional states that prevent them from being rational, for example, if the partner / person decides not to continue with the treatment when he/she has just learned that the result has been negative, he/she may do so guided by the frustration of the moment, which is not ideal.

It is of vital importance that the person/partner does not lose functionality, that is to say, it is necessary to work so that they continue doing the same or very similar activities being able to enjoy them and not generate an obsession that can even become pathological and damage the couple. It is very common that these processes can damage the dynamics of the couple, that they only talk about this topic, that irascibility has increased, that they do not feel like doing other things, that sexual relations revolve around the conception, etc. That is why, with the help of a psychologist we work to prevent this from happening or to try to remedy or alleviate it if it is already happening. if it is already happening.

How can psychological therapy help us?

Waiting, together with the feeling of lack of control, is one of the aspects that most disturbs the person. When a child is not arriving, whether or not the couple puts themselves in the hands of assisted reproduction, we have to assume that we do not have the solution in our hands, that there are many elements beyond our control, indeed, as we have mentioned, sometimes we do not even know why it is not arriving, so this feeling creates a great deal of insecurity, to which is added the anxiety of waiting.

Another aspect that usually generates a lot of pain is when the person/partner discovers that they cannot be Biological parents and wanted to be. Obviously, this generates suffering, anxiety and even depression. At this point, therapy has to focus on pain management, expression of feelings, providing tools to channel anger, guilt, sadness, etc., and to help the person/partner to deal with the pain.guilt, guilt, sadness, etc., expansion of objectives, valuing options... according to the situation and the demand of the person/partner and the point at which he/she is.

In short, we have spoken with generalizations of processes that are very personal and different from each other, however, they usually share that they are experienced as stressful, that have a lot of emotional charge and that it is very important that a psychologist accompanies the couple or the person involved to help them manage everything that is happening, in addition, although social support is very important, the people around us usually do not know how to help us, so in Mariva Psicólogos we recommend, without doubt, to put you in the hands of a psychologist who can help you.