The decision to undergo IVF, and the subsequent multitude of tests, consultations and scans, as well as having to juggle around work or domestic obligations can not only be hugely disruptive to everyday routine, but it can also have a significant impact on your emotional wellbeing. It’s completely natural to have mixed feelings as you go through the process of assisted fertility, and it can be hugely reassuring to know that support is available.
Uncertainty is the hardest factor for many couples undergoing assisted fertility treatment, and it can often lead to anxiety, worry and fear. As well as the fear of pregnancy not happening, people have other everyday anxieties, such as fear of drugs, clinics or doctors.
It is so important that both men and women have someone they can turn to about their concerns. This may be a partner, a parent, a sibling, a friend or a colleague. It really does not matter, provided you can trust someone and feel comfortable with them, which is all that may be needed. However, so many couples we see either do not feel they have anyone they can confide in, or they really don’t want to discuss issues of such an intimate nature. This is where counselling can help. Fertility counselling is a process through which individuals and couples have the opportunity to explore their thoughts, feelings and beliefs in order to come to a greater understanding of themselves and their present situation.
Outcomes of treatment
Even when a couple has taken great pains to make sure they prepared themselves in every way possible to ensure they have the best possible chance of conceiving, sadly it doesn’t always guarantee the best desired outcome. The realisation for some couples that treatment hasn’t worked can still always come as a shock, even if they did not have the most positive mindset during treatment. Again, having someone to talk to is hugely important during this emotionally challenging time.
When the journey for those who have been trying for a long time, have had previous miscarriages or unsuccessful IVF cycles, ends in a positive pregnancy the feeling is incredible. For many women the happiness of finding out that they are pregnant is all too quickly overtaken by a roller coaster of fear, elation and anxiety during the first trimester as they await confirmation that everything is ok. Jane can help with this.
Knowing when to move on from IVF can be one of the hardest decisions a couple has to face. You can never turn around and say, ‘I am only doing IVF three times’ – it’s not always that cut and dried. There are other options that you may wish to consider, such as egg donation or surrogacy. Some couples may choose to look towards adoption or decide to remain childless.
Implications Counselling
Implications counselling is a specific form of counselling for couples going through assisted conception treatments involving the use of donor eggs, sperm or embryos. It is also a requirement of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Association (HFEA) for couples considering surrogacy.
The aim of implications counselling is to enable you to reflect upon and understand the proposed course of treatment for yourselves, your family and any children born as a result of your treatment. At least one session of implications counselling is recommended before consenting to any proposed treatment.
The following issues will be discussed as relevant to your situation:
• How each partner feels about the proposed treatment
• The effects of the proposed treatment on any existing children
• Who will you tell? The advantages and disadvantages of openness
• Attitudes of friends and family to the proposed treatment
• Thoughts & concerns about the future child where one parent is not the genetic parent
• Openness, secrecy and what, when and how to tell a child
• Short and long-term implications of known or anonymous donation
• Short and long-term implications of surrogacy
• The implications surrounding the legalities of egg and sperm donation and surrogacy, both in the UK and abroad.
• Single women and same sex couples will also receive counselling on the child’s need for supportive parenting, as well as support within the family and wider social circle. The changing needs of a child short & long term management for single parenthood. Appointing a guardian, seeking legal advice and making a will.