Infertility – The Similarities between Coronavirus Lockdown and a Fertility Struggle

This is something we’re hearing about a lot of within the TTC community – how the Coronavirus pandemic reminds IVF warriors and those struggling to conceive naturally, of how a fertility struggle feels everyday. Whilst I am not going through treatment right now, having been through multiple rounds in the past, I can understand the gut-wrenching feeling that would come with having to park treatment whilst life is on hold.

Over to Eloise Edington, Founder of Fertility Help Hub…

So what are the similarities between an infertility struggle and Coronavirus lockdown?

Here are some of the ways in which we feel lockdown (due to Covid-19) mirrors what it often feels like to be faced with infertility or a fertility struggle:

1) LIFE IS ON-HOLD

You desperately want to move forward with your life but you can’t. It’s out of your control. When you decide you’d like to have a family, for that not to happen is really hard to bear. You live every day in ‘waiting’ mode , waiting for the life you planned to actually start. Here during lockdown we’re faced with similar feelings – when will I be able to see family and friends again? Will I have a job to go back to? When will I be able to get my business back on track. How will I pay the bills? It’s never ending anxiety.

2) UNCERTAINTY WITH NO END DATE IN SIGHT

Here is another similarity. When you’re TTC and months plough on with yet more negative pregnancy tests, or failed IVF / fertility treatments, it’s unbearable not knowing when or if your luck will change. We don’t have the fortune of predicting the future. The same goes for this world-wide pandemic, we don’t know when life will normalise, when we will be reunited with loved ones or when the doors of fertility clinics will re-open. This uncertainty can feel unbearable and depressing. How will things normalise? How will they get better and in what order? This is all out of our control.

Read about how a fertility counsellor might be able to help you here.

3) ISOLATION

As you’ll well know if you’re reading this, the world of infertility, or trying to conceive without luck, can feel like a lonely place. At times you will feel desperate and take that out on loved ones. The same applies here: we’re living in lockdown, not seeing friends or loved ones, confined to a small space. For some that will mean doing this lockdown alone and for others it might mean being on-top of each other, with no space to breathe; perhaps arguing and disagreeing as the situation gets more intense and time goes on.

Find real-life stories of others who’ve had treatments postponed and cancelled, due to Coronavirus here.

4) LOSS OF TIME

When will this end? What about all these months we’re losing with this pandemic? My heart goes out to those who are facing this with cycles being postponed / cancelled. Being told to wait for an unknown amount of time when you’re so focused on getting pregnant is hard. This also adds to the pressure when the biological clock is ticking.

5) LACK OF PURPOSE

There’s temptation to crawl up into a ball and hide away. Time stands still or zooms past with limited structure. It’s hard to plan and all excitement around gatherings and events has gone.

The reasons above are why we are sharing real-life stories each week: to support one another around the globe, to show those of you who are facing these TTC anxieties right now that you’re not alone.

Over the next few weeks we’ll be giving strategies from experts to help guide you through this (via our newsletter and Instagram ‘Lives’). The points above will be addressed, to help give you back some much-needed positivity, purpose and guidance. So sign up to our newsletter, so you don’t miss taking advantage of the tips, podcasts and support coming your way. We’re even adding MORE totally free wellness and fertility discounts to our members’ portal to enhance the next few months and help you save some money.

If you’d like to participate and share your story, please message us here. The more, we talk, the less we are alone. We’re not called TTC Warriors for nothing, so remember that.

You WILL get through this. Promise.

Hugs to all,

Eloise