What No One Tells You About Fertility Treatment

What No One Tells You About Fertility Treatment

2 min read

5 things we wish we knew sooner

There’s so much about fertility that you just don’t hear until you startΒ trying to conceiveβ€”and the layers peel back even more when you dive into treatment. To help you feel prepared for whatever may be ahead in your journey, we’re highlighting five fertility-treatment truths that we wish we knew sooner.

There are treatments other than IVF.

IVF is the first thing most think of when they hear β€œinfertility,” but doctors have a wide range of approaches they can suggest, including cycle monitoring with or without medication, intrauterine insemination (IUI), cryopreservation (freezing eggs, sperm or embryos) and surrogacy.

It’s a mental battle and you’ll probably need support.

Loss, trauma, jealousy, guilt, shameβ€”fertility journeys often take a serious toll on mental health. Studies have shown that the number-one reason people stop fertility treatment is the emotional hardship. Find a therapist, counsellor or confidant to help you process and validate your feelings along the way and learn how to cope with infertility within a relationship.

It takes way longer than you think.

In the fertility world, nearly everything is linked to your cycles, so each test or treatment tends to take at least a month. Factor in the waiting lists for specialist referrals too and you can see why fertility journeys often require long-haul endurance.

Even a funded cycle can cost a lot.

In Canada, some provinces cover one IVF cycle, but there are extra costs that you may face, such as medication (roughly $4,000 to $7,000), genetic testing (about $5,000) and other supports (supplements, acupuncture, therapy, etc.). In the U.S., coverage comes down to your insurance plan.

IVF isn’t a guarantee.

There’s a common misconception that IVF is a surefire way to conceive. A 2016 report from the Canadian Fertility & Andrology Society stated, β€œA woman under 35 years of age can expect a 41 percent chance of delivering a child per embryo transfer,” noting that the rate decreases with age.