Coming To Terms with Infertility Grief

The pain and losses of infertility and miscarriage are often not recognized by our society. It is hard to mourn a loss others do not see. This grief can hang around and impair our joy in creating our family through adoption, egg donation, sperm donation, or surrogacy. How do men and women process this grief in different ways? How can you resolve this grief? Our guests to talk about ambiguous or disenfranchised loss are Dr. Ken Doka, professor at The College of New Rochelle, Senior Consultant to the Hospice Foundation of America and the the author of Disenfranchised Grief; and Kris Faasse, Director of Adoption for Bethany Christian Services, who has many years of experience counseling pre and post adoptive parents dealing with the grief of infertility and miscarriage.

Listen

Hit the Highlights

Why is infertility grief referred to as “disenfranchised grief”?
Why is infertility grief sometimes called an ambiguous loss?
What are the typical triggers for infertility grief?
What is the quadruple whammy of infertility?
Why is the right to mourn so powerful?
What triggers can happen after adoption?
Do men and women handle grief in a different manner?
What are the predominant styles for grieving?
How to handle the grief associated with a miscarriage?
How can unresolved infertility grief impact an adoption or adoptive parenting?
What type of pre-adoption education and counseling can help?
Why is adoption not a cure for infertility?
How can infertility grief affect attachment in adoption?
What are some techniques for coming to term with infertility grief?
How do you know if you have healed sufficiently from infertility to move on to adoption?