Start here · Fertility

Trying for a baby can be frightening. You’re allowed to say so.

When it’s taking longer than you hoped, every month, every test and every appointment becomes something else to brace for. And treatment can bring a whole new layer of fear and loss that nobody around you quite sees. This is the section of Fear Free Childbirth for the fear, anxiety and grief that can come with trying to conceive.

Start with Ellie’s story Write for this section

Every stage is a waittests, collections, transfers: each one a point where it can go wrong

The losses nobody seescycles, embryos and hopes that rarely get talked about

Fear can sit underneathfear of pregnancy and birth can be tangled up in the trying

First, name what’s happening

Start with this

IVF anxiety: what it takes to get to this place

A woman nine cycles into IVF overhears a midwife call a patient “anxious”. Alexia on what it takes to get into that clinic at all, what it costs, and what happened when Ellie finally got to put some of it down.

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The psychology

Fertility treatment trauma, and responding to loss with compassion

Clinical psychologist Dr Tara Seed on why treatment can become traumatic, and how compassion helps.

Before you start trying

Should I wait until I’m pregnant to address my fears?

Why there’s a case for looking at the fear now, not later.

If this is where you are

Start with the sentence that sounds most like you.

It’s taking longer than we hoped, and I’m scared Read this → Treatment has been harder than anyone told me Read this → We’ve lost a pregnancy, and I’m frightened to try again Listen to this → I want a baby, but pregnancy itself terrifies me Start here →

Understanding the trying

Treatment, loss, cycles and the fear that can sit underneath it all. These pieces map the territory.

Recurrent miscarriage, with Naava Carman

Baby loss is taboo enough. Recurrent loss even more so. Naava Carman on what helps.

Learning to love your cycle

Menstrual cycle coach Elizabeth Tidwell on the body’s rhythms as information, not inconvenience.

Spirit babies: fertility and conscious conception

Emma Moon blends nursing and spirituality in her work with women trying to conceive.

From fearful to surrogate: Susie’s story

Susie cleared her fear of pregnancy and birth, then went on to carry a baby for someone else.

This section is being written by the people who know it

Fertility has its clinicians, counsellors and researchers, and women who’ve lived it. Nothing polished required: “I’m still in it but I understand it better” is every bit as valuable here as a tidy ending. If that’s you, this platform is yours to write on.

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Fertility finally has its own address

Fertility is one of the newest sections of Fear Free Childbirth, and it’s built to grow: new essays, expert contributors and women’s own accounts. The newsletter is the easiest way to catch each piece as it lands.

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