Here's a Kiss Off to the "Just Relax and You'll Get Pregnant" Crap

Stress causes infertility

"Stress doesn't cause infertility," says Dr. Carol Redmond of the LifeQuest Centre for Reproductive Medicine in Toronto, "but infertility sure can cause stress. What bothers me most when people say 'Just relax -- it will happen' is that it blames the victim and implies the sort of control over our fertility that we don't have." A new study from Sweden suggests that there is no link between anxiety and successful in vitro fertilization (IVF). "During IVF, patients often express worries that their own stress may have a negative influence," says Dr. Lisbeth Anderheim of Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden. "The fact that our study does not indicate any relationship is reassuring." And what about that other fertility myth, "Once you adopt, you'll get pregnant"? Around five percent of women who adopt later become pregnant -- the same percentage as infertile couples who don't adopt or have treatment and then get pregnant.

Thank you Dr. Redmond. I'd like to kiss you for writing this.