Infertility Awareness Week – Raising infertility awareness and offering hope
When you visit Dallas IVF, you’ll find that our physicians make every week Infertility Awareness Week. Because education leads to empowerment, the Dallas IVF team strives to provide hopeful parents with valuable and current infertility information. Your fertility specialist will help you understand your reproductive health and the fertility treatments that are most likely to help you conceive.
Understanding the basics of infertility awareness
National Infertility Awareness Week strives to debunk common myths about infertility and help men and women receive access to the treatments they need to become parents.
Many men and women who come to our DFW fertility center feel like they are the only ones struggling with infertility. But fertility issues are common, affecting 1 in 8 couples. Infertility also doesn’t discriminate based on ethnicity, race, sexual orientation or economic status.
Another myth about infertility is that it is a female problem. In reality, male factor infertility is responsible for almost half of all fertility struggles. For this reason, it is important for both the male and the female partner to receive fertility testing before beginning treatment.
Fertility testing and treatment – beyond National Infertility Awareness Week
Understanding the role of age in fertility is another important component of infertility awareness. Female fertility, and male fertility to a lesser extent, decrease with age. Keeping this in mind, the physicians at our DFW fertility center recommend that you adhere to the following guidelines when deciding the right time to partner with a fertility specialist.
- Women who are younger than 35 should visit a fertility specialist if they haven’t conceived after one year of having unprotected intercourse.
- Women who are 35 or older should make this appointment after six months.
- Women or men who have a medical condition that could affect their fertility should visit a fertility specialist as soon as they want to start a family.
If you fall into any of these categories, it’s time to take action and schedule an appointment at Dallas IVF. Our board-certified reproductive endocrinologists can provide fertility testing to diagnose the issue before they suggest effective fertility treatment options for you.
By extending National Infertility Awareness Week, our physicians hope to raise awareness about infertility and increase access to the fertility care that so many men and women need.
Contact Dallas IVF to schedule an appointment and learn more about infertility. Our team of fertility specialists is here to help you take control of your fertility.
It’s not surprising that there is a relationship between stress and infertility
Each patient at Dallas IVF has a different diagnosis, but all fertility patients experience stress to some degree. Since fertility issues can impact every aspect of a patient’s life, our physicians know that stress and infertility often go hand in hand. For this reason, it is important for patients to understand the relationship between their emotional and physical health, and to learn ways to manage their stress.
There is no definitive proof of a cause-and-effect link between stress and infertility
Researchers have been unable to prove that stress causes infertility. However, everyone in the field of reproductive medicine agrees that infertility can cause stress, and sometimes even depression. This information will come as no surprise to fertility patients. After all, infertility impacts all areas of life, including work, relationships, health and finances.
The team at our Dallas fertility clinics may take notice when patients deal with this stress in unhealthy ways. Some may isolate themselves from their friends and family, the very people who can provide crucial emotional support. At the other extreme, some men or women will excessively pursue fertility treatments beyond a reasonable number of cycles. They may expect a positive outcome regardless of age, limitations and diagnosis. However, neither approach is healthy or productive.
For the best results, our fertility specialists recommend taking a proactive approach to fertility treatments, while taking steps to manage stress and anxiety.
It’s important for fertility patients to find ways to manage stress
Not only can stress management help patients cope with an infertility diagnosis, it can also help them make informed decisions about their fertility treatment options and improve their mental and physical health. When a patient takes control of her stress, she feels more in control of her life as a whole.
Our Dallas IVF clinical team realizes that not every stress management technique will work for every patient. As a result, our fertility specialists recommend that patients try more than one technique to determine which one works best.
Some patients find success with deep breathing exercises, which involve taking slow and deep breaths from the abdomen. Others find relief with progressive muscle relaxation, which involves tightening and relaxing the muscles from head to toe.
Other popular stress reduction activities include:
- Acupuncture
- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
- Exercise
- Journaling
- Massage
- Meditation
- Support groups
- Yoga
Friends and family of fertility patients can also help with stress relief. Although it might be tempting to offer advice to fertility patients, sometimes it can be more helpful to be a supportive listener.
If you’d like more information about stress and infertility, please contact our office.