How is the best way to control fertility treatment stress

At Texas Fertility Center, we understand the stress that couples undergoing fertility treatments face. Patients undergoing treatment often feel they do not have any control over their lives as the fertility treatments become their primary focus. This focus can create both financial and emotional stress. The treatments themselves can be the source of physical stress on the body.
By planning ahead, there are several ways that a couple can avoid adding additional stress during treatment cycles.

Travel

In today’s society, many professions require employees to travel extensively. We are a very mobile society, and leisure travel is a way we reward ourselves for our hard work. By planning ahead, couples can reduce the stress that may come about if a patient or her partner is required to be out of town during a treatment cycle.

• If an out of town trip is required, patients can sometimes be monitored at another facility during some parts of the cycle. This may not always be possible if the timing of the trip falls within a certain time of the treatment cycle.
• If a male partner is going to be out of town, he may elect to freeze sperm ahead of time. This frozen sperm can be used if he is not available on the day it is required for the procedure.
• Patients planning a vacation may consider postponing the treatment cycle until after their trip. They can enjoy a relaxing vacation without the added pressure of appointments and medications.

Some patients find that trying to find a monitoring facility or planning appointments around a meeting or a trip adds to the stress that they feel, and they may choose to wait for their next cycle when these issues are not a factor. Other patients feel that they can manage the appointments and the trip with no problem.

Medications

We encourage patients to plan ahead to ensure that they have the medications they will need when they are called for during the treatment plan.

• Patients planning to do a treatment cycle using any of the injectable medications should contact TFC prior to the cycle to ensure that any authorizations can be obtained and the medications can be ordered. These injectable medications typically must be ordered from a specialty mail order pharmacy and delivered directly to the patient. Some insurance companies have their own specialty pharmacy; these insurance-mandated specialty pharmacies generally require more time for the patient to receive her medications. It is important for patients to notify the office as soon as they know they will require these medications.
• It is the responsibility of the patient to ensure they have enough medication to complete their cycle. Patients are given several refills on their injectable medications. If refills are needed, patients must contact their pharmacy for refills. If there are no refills, the pharmacy will contact our office for approval.

Failure to obtain medications in a timely manner adds to the stress a patient is already experiencing; a cycle may be delayed for a month or may cause a financial burden if medications have to be obtained through a local pharmacy at a significantly higher cost.

Military families

Texas Fertility Center is supportive of our military families. We understand that separation during deployment can be even more stressful to couples who are experiencing infertility and who feel that this separation may cause a setback in their fertility journey. Males who have orders to deploy are able to freeze sperm for their partner to use during a treatment cycle. If the couple is planning on an IVF or donor oocyte cycle, the required consents can be signed before the deployment.