The Infertility Support Center

Every person is unique, but when you face a challenge like infertility, you are never alone. Countless women and men have faced exactly the same diagnosis and have survived and thrived. The following guide is designed to help you navigate your journey with the best information and resources that helped other survivors when they faced the same challenge.

TSC has scoured the Web to gather together links to the very best infertility resources: articles, blogs, forums, and tools that can help you make better decisions and take action to overcome the range of physical, emotional, and other challenges you're facing now.

As you’ll see, we always welcome your ideas and suggestions to make this infertility guide even more helpful to survivors like you.

JUST FOUND OUT

Survivors Say: The Best Resources for Infertility

• RESOLVE - The National Infertility Association This membership organization is the country's largest and has a wealth of information to help women and couples struggling to conceive, plus in-person and online support groups and seminars about infertility.
• American Society of Reproductive Medicine This organization is for doctors specializing in the treatment of infertility (reproductive endocrinologists and others), but ASRM has an excellent section of patient information as well, and is a good place to look if you want the latest on research in this field.

Here are other good sources for an overview of fertility issues:

• WebMD Infertility Center - Trying to Conceive
• Medline Plus - Infertility

The Big Picture

According to the American Academy of Reproductive Medicine infertility is "a disease of the reproductive system that impairs one of the body's most basic functions: the conception of children." Usually a couple (or a woman) is defined as infertile after a year of unprotected sex that does not result in a pregnancy. Roughly one-third of infertility can be traced to a problem with the woman and one-third can be traced to a problem with a man; the rest of the time the problem is due to both partners or no problem can be found.

Signs & Symptoms

Mayoclinic.com: Infertility - Symptoms

Your Infertility

There are many different causes for infertility among both men and women. These sites explore various causes as well as treatments that have helped many people start or grow their family:

Medicinenet.com: Infertility Causes, Diagnosis, and Fertility Treatment
American Society for Reproductive Medicine: Infertility: An Overview - A Guide for Patients (PDF)

If you've already had a child and are experiencing trouble conceiving a subsequent baby - what's known as secondary infertility - read this article from RESOLVE:

Secondary Infertility

Understanding Your Symptoms

It's important to get the full picture of what may be hurting your ability to conceive and carry a baby to term. To that end, a specialist - your gynecologist or a reproductive endocrinologist - can be a big help in figuring out possible causes. These sites can help you understand infertility signs and symptoms:

Netwellness.org: Infertility - Symptoms and Tests
WebMD: Fertility Problems - Symptoms

How to Determine if You Need a Second (or a Third) Opinion

Getting a full medical evaluation - for the man and the woman -- is a great start to figuring out where you stand and to beginning treatment if you need it. Infertility is a complex condition, though, and one that is expensive and often emotionally draining to treat. So you may want to get another medical opinion before starting a treatment plan:

• Womenshealth.gov: How to Get a Second Opinion

Questions To Ask Your Doctor

• Medicinenet.com: 10 Infertility Questions to Ask Your Doctor
  

Your World

Infertility is not uncommon, and one or both partners may feel embarrassed, angry, guilty, or frustrated. That's normal. But it's not good to struggle alone with this problem; research has shown that dealing with long-term infertility can be as stressful as having cancer for some, and it can put untold emotional strain on a relationship. Here are some sources for help and support from others who are going through what you are, or have:

WebMD: Getting Pregnant Message Boards

Facebook: A Community for Infertility

Fertilityties.com

Infertility Myths

• "Infertility is a female problem."
• "If I'm getting my period I can get pregnant."
• "Stress causes infertility."
• "Most infertility problems are permanent."

About.com: Infertility Myths and Facts on Fertility

Medical Treatments

Medical treatment for difficulty conceiving can range from your doctor simply advising you to increase sexual activity to monitoring a woman's fertility to taking Clomid (a drug that increases the production of eggs) to in vitro fertilization (IVF), in which a woman's eggs are removed, fertilized with sperm, and placed back in her uterus. (IVF is part of what are called "assisted reproductive technologies," or ART.) Your doctor will start with the least invasive approach, depending on the results of your medical evaluation. These sites offer good summaries of the options for treating infertility with medical interventions:

• Mayoclinic.com: Infertility - Treatments and Drugs
• WebMD: Fertility Problems Treatment Overview
• Centers for Disease Control: Assisted Reproductive Technology
• Society for Assisted Reproductive Technologies
• Womenshealth.gov: What medicines are used to treat infertility in women? 
• Babycenter.com: Fertility Treatment - Donor eggs and embryos

Group Support

Infertility, especially if it lasts a long time, can be a serious emotional drain on you and your partner. Group support can be a valuable resource to support you as individuals as well as a couple, especially if you are having different reactions to infertility and treatment:

• INCIID (InterNational Council on Infertility Information Dissemination, Inc.) Forums
• WebMD: Getting Pregnant Message Boards
• Facebook: A Community for Infertility
• Fertilityties.com

What Do I Need to Find Out From My Insurance Carrier?

• Will my treatments and doctors’ visits be covered?
• Are my rates going to increase?
• Will I be limited in where and when I receive treatment?

What Kind of Doctors Do I Need?

You may see your gynecologist or you may talk to other doctors to help figure out what's causing your difficulty conceiving and/or carrying a baby to term. The specialists who know the most about treating infertility are reproductive endocrinologists (RE).

Resources To Find Doctors

• Society for Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Search the society's database to find an RE near you.

Books Suggested by Survivors

• The Fertility Journal: A Day-to-Day Guide to Getting Pregnant by Kim Hahn, Geoffrey Sher, MD, and the editors of Conceive Magazine 
• Fertility and Conception: A Complete Guide to Getting Pregnant by Geoffrey Sher
• Taking Charge of Your Fertility, 10th Anniversary Edition: The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth Control, Pregnancy Achievement, and Reproductive Health by Toni Weschler
• The Infertility Cure: The Ancient Chinese Wellness Program for Getting Pregnant and Having Healthy Babies by Randine Lewis
• Perfect Hormone Balance for Fertility: The Ultimate Guide to Getting Pregnant by Robert A. Greene, MD, and Laurie Tarkan

Keeping the lines of communication open between you and your doctor

• Be rigorously honest with your physician so they may properly address your condition.
• Keep in touch with your doctor and offer updates on your progress with treatments and any side effects.
• Let your doctor know what lifestyle changes you're making.

Information for Co-Survivors

What to say

• Let the survivor know you support them.
• Share your own frustrations with conceiving if you've had them.
• Emphasize that the odds for a healthy pregnancy and child are in their favor.

What not to say

• Don't offer advice about how to get pregnant, or what worked for you.
• Don't tell them to relax, or that stress causes infertility.
• Don't tell them they should think about adoption.

Things you can do for a survivor today and every day

• Make yourself available for updates on progress or milestones with treatment.
• Continue to be supportive and encouraging over time.
• Ask the survivor if they need help while underdoing more complex treatments like IVF, which involves periods of rest for the woman.

How to build a support network

• Set up a TSC co-survivor profile.
• Join group support (in person or in online forums) and start a blog or comment on others'.
• Consult with those you love and trust.

Given the advancements in science and treatment for a wide variety of fertility problems, it's very likely that you will conceive a healthy child and infertility is something you can put behind you:

RESOLVE: Pregnancy After Infertility

Once you've had a baby, there are things you can do to maintain your reproductive health, should you decide to have another baby. Here's good advice for protecting your fertility from the American Society for Reproductive Medicine:

Protect Your Fertility

Advances in fertility treatment are happening all the time. Stay in touch with your doctor to find out about state-of-the-art treatments:

WebMD: New Trends in Infertility Treatment

If you have survived infertility and gone on to start a family you can be a great source of inspiration to others going through exactly what you did. Share your story and how you coped with other survivors. Your words can be a tremendous support and inspiration to others!

In the worst case you will not be able to conceive and/or carry a child to term. In spite of great strides in medicine, this does happen and leaves most couples feeling devastated and heartsick at the thought that they will not have their own biological child. It's important to go through the process of grieving this tremendous loss. These resources can help you during this very difficult time:

• Focusonthefamily.com: The Grief of Infertility 
• FertileCommunity.com: Infertility and Grief - A Transformative Process

If and when you're ready, you may want to explore other options, including adoption and child-free living:

• RESOLVE: Adoption

Adoption.com: Adoption After Infertility: http://infertility.adoption.com/

• RESOLVE: Childfree Living