The number of people who face difficulty in their effort to have a child is staggering. However, for each person the journey is deeply personal and uniquely encountered. Being able to convey the impact of your experience in a way that feels anywhere near adequate can seem impossible. It can be uncomfortable, too, sitting with difficult and often new feelings such as anger, envy, unfairness, isolation and desperation. 

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​When the next stage of the life you envisioned gets delayed or becomes ambiguous, your sense of self, identity and purpose can suffer. Having life on hold in relation to something so pivotal, and living with uncertainty, can be frightening and frustrating.

With couples, whilst one person tends to bear the physical burden of fertility treatment, the anguish of wanting a child is usually felt no less intensely by partners and spouses. That the experience is different for them doesn’t make it any less consuming or overwhelming. 

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Having a supportive therapeutic space can be helpful in circumstances such as these:

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•  Trying to accommodate conflicting feelings, such as uncertainty and positivity, during IVF treatment
   

•  Finding it painful to be around friends and family members who are pregnant or have children
   

•  Navigating alternative pathways to having a child, such as donor conception and surrogacy
   

•  Feeling resentful of the sacrifices and demands imposed by fertility treatment - financially, physically, socio-emotionally, logistically
   

•  Struggling with secondary infertility and afraid, perhaps, that wanting a sibling for your child is clouding the current life you hold dear

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