Infertility and Loss Counseling
Facing infertility can be a scary, isolating and distressing time. It is common to feel overwhelmed and distraught by the uncertainties and drastic life changes that accompany infertility. Research has shown that people experiencing infertility have stress levels equal to those with cancer or HIV 1.
When these stressors are accompanied by those around you having children and celebrating pregnancies, births and milestones, normal coping skills can feel inadequate and it can be hard to maintain connections with your support network of family and friends.
People who have struggled with recurrent pregnancy loss are often in a state of sustained grief and dispair. It is critical that they receive counseling and support by a qualfied mental health practitioner who can assist them in coping with their experiences and how to move forward.
Family Building Options
Clients are given unbiased guidance and support to explore their options and the issues important to them in a safe, non-judgemental environment. These issues include fertility treatment, donor and surrogacy options, adoption, and the choice to live child-free.
Transitioning From Infertility to Adoption
It can be difficult to let go of the hopes and expectations of having genetic children. In order to move forward and embrace adoption in a healthy way, clients are helped to fully explore and resolve their grief. They are then assisted to examine long-term issues regarding their adoption choices and make an individualized adoption plan that suits their needs.
Homestudies and Adoption Preparation
In addition to being a legal document critical to the success of an adoption, the homestudy process is an opportunity for pre-adoptive parents to begin exploring their thoughts, expectations and questions about parenthood and parenting through adoption.
Pre-adoptive parents often feel anxious about having a homestudy. I treat all clients with sensitivity and respect for their privacy and empower them to feel a sense of dignity and control during the homestudy process.
Post-Adoption, Post-Donor and Post-Surrogacy Services
Parenting, under any circumstances, is difficult at times. Adoption, surrogacy and the use of donor gametes brings a host of additional challenges. When parents are educated and empowered with information and resources, they are better able to address situations as they arise, and better able to minimize or avoid other problems by being proactive.
Counseling, education and groups are available to meet the needs of these clients.
1 J Psychosom Obstet Gynaelcol. 1993; 14 Suppl: 45-52. Domar A.D., Zuttermeister PC, Friedman R. Harvard Medical School
