Infertility and relationships
Infertility and relationships – ETHOS HEALTH CARE.
Couples dealing with infertility had a higher chance of experiencing feelings of unhappiness with not only themselves, but their marriages as well. One of the more direct stresses that infertility may place on a marriage is sexual tension. Sex may begin to feel less like an enjoyable experience between lovers and more like a task that needs done.
Infertility tends to have a negative impact on relationships. Family and friends often do not understand how difficult the experience of infertility can be. The partners may feel ashamed and blame themselves or each other for “failing” at something so natural as making a baby. This can lead to relationship distress, communication problems, sexual difficulties and disagreements over medical treatments and alternatives. The couple may become estranged from one another and can lose the humor, spontaneity and love they shared prior to the diagnosis.
Finding a way to deal with these stresses is important not only in preserving the marriage, but in reducing stress as well. There are ways to protect your relationship from the potentially damaging stress of infertility.
Steps to Protect Your Relationship from the Strain of Infertility
- Share your feelings with each other. It will surely lessen the burden of infertility on both of you. It will help to balance the intensity and bring you closer with a deeper respect for each other.
- It may be necessary to put limits on the time you talk about infertility to designated periods, such as 20 minutes in the evening, so that it does not overtake all your communication.
- Reduce the stress and anxiety in your sexual relationship. You and your partner might consider taking a month long break from trying to get pregnant.
- Learning how to accept differences in the way each of you handles and deals with your feelings can lessen conflicts. Like many things in life, men and women will feel and deal differently with infertility.
- No matter how tough things get, being able to find something humorous about the situation that helps to relieve the tension. Laughing together is good for the health of your relationship.
- You may consider joining a support group for people going through infertility treatments.
- Avoid finger-pointing each other. Always approach the issues as a team, working together and finding ways to share responsibility regarding treatment.
- Educate yourself and share informationwith your friends and family about your obstacles to conception and available treatment.
