“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen, nor touched, but are felt in the heart.”  –Helen Keller

Pregnancy doesn’t always happen easily. Sometimes it’s completely out of reach. For so many women, obstacles to conceiving are experienced as shameful secrets. Anxiety, jealousy, disillusionment, and alienation are all common reactions. As one of my clients said to me, “If thousands of couples struggle with infertility, why the --- is everyone around me pregnant?!”

Similarly, suffering the loss of a pregnancy, whether by miscarriage or termination, can feel like being caught in an invisible web of emotions. But unlike grieving along side others at a memorial service, this grief is too often experienced alone.

For couples who are trying to conceive, the path toward parenthood can cause tremendous stress – sometimes testing a relationship to its very limits. The “blame game” is a typical byproduct of the distress couples feel, which can degrade the bonds of a relationship over time. Psychotherapy can help both individuals and couples emerge from a crisis with clarity, resolve, and strength.

Recommended Reading:

Unsung Lullabies: Understanding and Coping with Infertility. (2005) Martha Diamond, David Diamond, Janet Jaffe
Navigating the Land of If: Understanding Infertility and Exploring Your Options. (2009) Melissa Ford
Knocked Up, Knocked Down: Postcards of Miscarriage and Other Misadventures from the Brink of Parenthood. (2010) Monica Murphy LeMoine
Sweet Grapes: How to stop Being Infertile and Start Living Again. (1998) Jean W. Carter, Michael Carter