Natural Trying, IUI or IVF? When the Journey Starts Taking a Different Direction

Most women do not begin trying for a baby imagining fertility clinics. We imagine something private and simple. We stop contraception. We wait. Maybe we buy a pregnancy test.

And somewhere in our imagination, there are two lines.

When that does not happen and medical language begins entering the story – ovulation induction, IUI, IVF – it can feel as though the journey has suddenly become much bigger than you expected.

I remember that emotional shift.

It is not only a medical decision. It can feel like saying goodbye to the way you hoped your baby would come to you.

So if somebody has recently mentioned IUI or IVF and you can feel frightened, powerless, overwhelmed or even strangely sad. But that does not mean you failed.

There is no failure in needing medical help. I think many women need to hear that more than once.

Depending on your situation, there may be reasons to continue trying naturally for a while. There may be reasons to consider IUI. There may be situations in which IVF offers a better route.

What matters is understanding why a particular step is being recommended and it´s best choice to you.

You should never feel that IVF is a mysterious train you have been pushed onto and can no longer get off.

It’s important that you feel as comfortable as possible throughout this whole situation. So, ask your doctor to explain you every detail, everything you need to know.

What problem exactly are we trying to solve?

Why this treatment rather than another one?

What would happen if we waited?

What does the treatment involve physically?

What should we expect emotionally and financially?

Sometimes simply having those answers makes the decision feel less frightening. And if you need a little time to absorb everything, that is understandable too.

There may be situations in which age or a medical issue means that time genuinely matters. In those circumstances, your doctor should be able to explain why.

But even when a decision needs to be made relatively quickly, you still deserve to understand it as much as possible.

For many women, there can sometimes be another layer.

Perhaps your family knows nothing about fertility treatment. Perhaps IVF is whispered about as though it is shameful.

Perhaps somebody says that you should “just keep trying naturally” because treatment feels unnatural to them.

Or perhaps the opposite happens and relatives begin pushing you toward a clinic before you feel ready.

Try, as much as possible, to keep the decision where it belongs: between you, your partner and the professionals caring for you.

Other people’s fears do not have to become your treatment plan.

If you eventually choose IVF, you have not abandoned hope. You have acted on it.

If you decide to try naturally for a little longer after discussing your situation with your doctor, that can also be an active choice.

If you seek another medical opinion before deciding, that is not indecision. It is information gathering.

If you eventually choose IVF, you have not abandoned hope. You have acted on it.

If you decide to try naturally for a little longer after discussing your situation with your doctor, that can also be an active choice.

If you seek another medical opinion before deciding, that is not indecision. It is information gathering.