Inf fertility can be heartbreaking,

can be heartbreaking, isolating, and demoralizing.

Today we talk to a special guest, Mighty Mommy's Cheryl Butler, about her compassionate insights

and practical tips that she shares from her own five-year journey with infertility.

Welcome back to savvy psychologist.

My name is Dr. Jade Wu. I'm your host, and every week I'll help you meet life's challenges

with evidence-based research, a sympathetic ear,

and zero judgment.

So a couple of years ago, I spent a year working as part of the psychological support team at a fertility center.

I provided therapy to women and men who are on their journey to becoming parents,

a journey that some of them had already been traveling for 10 or more years.

As a clinical psychologist, I've worked with patients struggling with a wide range of very

real and very deep challenges. But never, not even at the

cancer clinic had I worked with people who were more heartbroken than the ones I met at the

Fertility Center. They had a desire so deep, so

existential that everything turned into desperation and despair when the universe turned a cold shoulder towards them, and nobody

could tell them when their journey would end.

In fact, it wasn't just my gut feeling.

Research shows that the degree of distress people feel when experiencing infertility

is comparable to the distress people feel when they have cancer or heart disease. Infertility not only affects a person's

mood and confidence, but it also strains relationships, makes people feel isolated, and often throws a wrench into a person's whole life plan.

And even though infertility is common, occurring in about 13% of women and 10% of men, we don't often talk about it openly.

...