If you are one of the millions of couples who are struggling to get pregnant, and believe that you may be infertile, there is no doubt that you have had the following thoughts: What is infertility going to do to our marriage and our financial situation? Naturally, these thoughts are reasonable, but before you get too worked up you need to make sure there is a reason for concern.
If you and your spouse have spent a year or more trying to get pregnant without success, you should discuss the issue of infertility with your physician.
If you have not been trying for at least a year, you should keep trying.
For most couples, it takes the better part of a year - between eight and ten months on average - to get pregnant.
Additionally, you may also need to make changes to your lifestyle to ensure that you are eating properly, exercising, and avoiding alcohol and tobacco.
For both men and women, being overweight or underweight can negatively affect fertility and inhibit conception, which makes it important for both partners to maintain proper levels of fitness.
Even things like stress have a direct impact on the possibility for conception.
Of course, it could just be that your reasons for infertility are simple.
In fact, the number of women whose infertility issues require more aggressive infertility treatment procedures is minimal - three percent.
In the vast majority of cases, the causes of infertility are as simple as imbalances in hormone production, and can be treated with drugs.
What is infertility going to do to our marriage? Of course, you still want to know how infertility will affect your marriage.
First recognize that infertility often causes stress between partners in any relationship.
The testing alone can be a major stress inducer, as you endure blood tests and many other procedures just to discover the source of your infertility.
Thankfully, most physicians understand the added stress that infertility can cause in a marriage, and will be able to recommend various counseling programs - individual and group-oriented - that can assist you in managing your emotions as you go through the treatment process.
It is helpful sometimes to discuss your fears and experiences in a setting filled with other couples who have been through the same process.
You don't have to cope alone.
What is infertility going to do to our financial situation? How infertility affects your financial situation is entirely dependent upon your means.
The fact is that infertility treatment procedures - especially the more complex ones - can place tremendous stress on your bank account.
Just one in vitro cycle can cost you as much as $16,000, and most infertility treatment plans require a full three cycles before they result in pregnancy.
Fortunately, there are often insurance policies that you can acquire, depending upon the laws in your home state and what insurance company you currently use.
You can also locate various grants that can either mitigate the financial cost of infertility procedures or cover the costs entirely.
How is infertility going to affect your life? The most important question you might be asking right now is how infertility is going to affect your life.
To be frank, it is going to increase your stress levels - at least for a period of time.
Anyone who tells you that it won't is living in a fantasy world.
Still, you need to know that you have the odds in your favor.
In most cases, infertility eventually passes, leaving you with a clear pathway to conceiving a child and attaining the one of the "Greatest Joys on Earth"- the joy that comes with parenthood.