Hope and caution during infertility treatment

Many years ago, I worked for a reproductive endocrinologist who hosted a yearly gathering of former patients. It was there that I encountered a woman holding infant twin daughters. When I congratulated her on her twins, she had these thoughts to share: “I’m a psychiatrist and I hope you’ll pass this on. Please tell people not to worry about being positive and hopeful. I abandoned hope and went through my last IVF cycle as the queen of negativity.” Then she held up her twins and said, “And this is what I got. Please reassure people that they don’t have to stay positive.” Over the years, I have come to believe that managing hope is a major challenge during infertility treatment. This story illustrates one facet of the challenge: does it matter if one is hopeful during a treatment cycle? Some patients work very hard to remain positive and to nurture hope, while others, like the mom in the story, ride a wave of negativity. People in both groups have healthy pregnancies. And sadly, there are members of both groups who meet repeated disappointment. Managing hope is even more challenging when it comes to the big picture, looking beyond a specific cycle and to the question of when enough is enough. During infertility treatments, there are people who remain hopeful when odds are against them and others who lose hope when test results and medication responses seem promising. Managing hope during infertility A few factors that contribute to or reduce your sense of hopefuln...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Fertility Infertility Mental Health Relationships Source Type: blogs