Coping With Infertility and Opening Your Heart to Other Methods

For many men and women, the thought of becoming a father or mother is exciting. They can’t wait for the day that they’ll get to be a parent and hold a beautiful bundle of joy in their arms. But what happens when this dream isn’t happening? Many couples suffer infertility and must cope with the idea of never having a child of their own. With some coping techniques and other alternatives to having a child, not all hope is lost. People may just have to open their heart to other methods to make their dream of being a parent come true. 

Adding Exercise to Your Daily Routine

Exercise provides a great method for helping to cope with infertility. Because it reduces feelings of stress and anxiety, men and women who are infertile and struggling with that fact can use workouts as a way to relieve some of the stress and negative thoughts they have regarding the situation. Exercise also helps people lose weight, which is a significant factor in many people’s inability to conceive. Working out more often and working on weight issues could potentially improve fertility chances. Even if it doesn’t, the exercise is beneficial for overall health and wellbeing and should be one of the first coping techniques to try. 

Trying IVF

Other methods exist for conceiving a child. The success of IVF is something to look into if you’re hoping to grow your family. In many cases, both the woman’s eggs and the man’s sperm get harvested so they can be used to create an embryo in a laboratory setting. The embryo then gets planted into the woman’s uterus, allowing her to have a child belonging to her and her partner. The procedure does not always work on the first try, but with the help of fertility treatments and medications, it can be successful in time. 

This method may require an egg donor if that is the reason for infertility or a sperm donor. A gestational carrier might also be required if the mother-to-be is not capable of carrying a baby to term. A surrogate could also be utilized, providing both her egg and her body to the cause. With various options to choose from, couples experiencing infertility should not give up hope for the family they so desperately desire. The IVF process often works in one way or another. 

Joining a Support Group

Whether you just found out you’re infertile and want some support for the emotions you’re feeling, or you’re on your second round of IVF treatments praying they’ll work, support groups provide an excellent coping technique. You can meet with other individuals going through the same or a similar situation as you and talk about how it makes you all feel. Often knowing that there’s other people going through the same thing helps make the situation easier. You won’t feel so isolated and alone, and can get some perspective from others. Find a group in your area and start attending regularly to get the support and comfort you need during this trying time. 

Infertility plagues countless men and women, but it doesn’t have to mean the end of the dream for a family. People can still grow their family in other ways. It just takes a little more help than usual.