As a medical professional, as well as within my friendship group, I’ve actually had very extensive experience of people experiencing sub-fertility or infertility. On the basis of that experience I have quite a high prior for this statement. One friend, who underwent 3 years of testing and treatment before becoming pregnant described her feeling on being pregnant as ‘the first time in 3 years I haven’t felt sad, stressed and unhappy for every hour of the day’.
The essay cited seems to conclude that the literature reveals only ‘stress’ but not enough to result in a diagnosis of a psychiatric disorder. I would argue the levels of stress involved do not need to meet the criteria for major depression in order to have a significantly negative impact on one’s life and productivity. A more recent review of the literature (2007) suggests prevalence of depression and anxiety in patients seeking treatment for infertility that are 2 to 4 times the general population. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1521693406001611
Finally, one of the most pervasive emotions experience by people suffering sub-fertility or infertility is a sense of guilt and failure, even among those who know this rationally not to be the case. If you knew you had deliberately produced this difficulty, it seems reasonable to predict those feelings would be very much amplified.
Thanks for your thoughtful response.
As a medical professional, as well as within my friendship group, I’ve actually had very extensive experience of people experiencing sub-fertility or infertility. On the basis of that experience I have quite a high prior for this statement. One friend, who underwent 3 years of testing and treatment before becoming pregnant described her feeling on being pregnant as ‘the first time in 3 years I haven’t felt sad, stressed and unhappy for every hour of the day’.
The essay cited seems to conclude that the literature reveals only ‘stress’ but not enough to result in a diagnosis of a psychiatric disorder. I would argue the levels of stress involved do not need to meet the criteria for major depression in order to have a significantly negative impact on one’s life and productivity. A more recent review of the literature (2007) suggests prevalence of depression and anxiety in patients seeking treatment for infertility that are 2 to 4 times the general population. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1521693406001611
Finally, one of the most pervasive emotions experience by people suffering sub-fertility or infertility is a sense of guilt and failure, even among those who know this rationally not to be the case. If you knew you had deliberately produced this difficulty, it seems reasonable to predict those feelings would be very much amplified.