Dealing with the emotions of fertility treatment

Some fertility clinics require single women (and ideally couples as well) to have a mandatory counseling session. We believe this is a good thing, and that everyone building a family -- especially in a non-traditional way -- should have the benefit of talking over any emotional issues, not just physical ones, with an expert in the industry.

Understandably it can make some people nervous, if not resentful -- as if they have to "prove" themselves worthy of sperm donation. So we asked noted NYC-based mental health counselor Patricia Mendell, who conducts many of these sessions with anyone using donated gametes, to offer Choice Moms a kind of cheat sheet on the kinds of questions they should be prepared to answer. See her insight in the PDF at right.

We encourage ANYONE interested in taking this step to answer these questions, even if it's in the privacy of your own thoughts.

We also offer a podcast with Patricia Mendell, about dealing with the emotions of fertility treatment, that you can easily listen to in 15 minutes.