Psychological Aspects of Infertility

Overall research findings on the relationship between stress and infertility are inconsistent, marked by design flaws, and ultimately may only result in a minor delay in time to pregnancy but not in overall pregnancy chances. Although anecdotal data is widely shared, it appears that only anecdotes which support the relationship between stress and fertility are shared, thus creating a confirmation bias which likely supports what patients and others may want to believe: that we as human beings have a great deal of control over our fertility. It is likely the fear that we do not have control over our fertility and that fertility is inherently unfair, and not as easy as we would hope, results in the symptoms of anxiety and depression found among fertility patients. Further, for generations, women in particular have suffered in silence following infertility and miscarriage out of fear that they would be blamed by others for causing these outcomes by being too stressed. Given the psychological sequelae of infertility and fertility treatments, high-quality fertility care should include embedded mental health professionals trained in reproductive health to improve patient mood and coping, to improve the informed consent process, and to reduce premature treatment termination.